Chris Wallace (NBA General Manager)
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Chris Wallace is the general manager and vice president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He has been in this role since June 18, 2007. His main responsibilities include free agent signings, trades and draft preparation. Before assuming that position he was the general manager of the Boston Celtics for 10 seasons and has worked in the NBA since 1986, yet unlike many of his general manager peers he has never been a player or coach in the NBA.[1]
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[edit] Work in Boston
Several of Wallace's management decisions while in Boston have been characterized as erratic. E.g. in the 2001 draft when the Celtics had three first round picks they chose Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joseph Forte, the latter two never making the expected impact in the NBA while Johnson did become an All-Star yet with other teams, as Chris Wallace traded him to the Phoenix Suns midway through the 2001-02 NBA season.
[edit] Work in Memphis
Wallace stated in an initial press conference that his goal is to one day win a championship with this team and head coach Marc Iavaroni.[2] He was brought to work in Memphis just days before the 2007 draft, where the Grizzlies chose the promising young point guard Mike Conley Jr. with the fourth pick.
Chris Wallace was heavily criticized for soon trading away the Memphis Grizzlies Superstar and greatest player, Pau Gasol, to the Los Angeles Lakers on February 1, 2008. Many fans and sports commentators believed that the Grizzlies received way too little in return in this trade (ironically one of the players they got was Pau's younger brother Marc) and just tried to reduce the salary cap of the team with expiring contracts.[3][4] The move also puzzled some rivals. San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich was quoted by Sports Illustrated saying "What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension. There should be a trade committee that can scratch all trades that make no sense. I just wish I had been on a trade committee that oversees NBA trades. I would have voted no to the LA trade."
[edit] Private life
A native of West Virginia, Wallace and his wife Debby have one son named Truman.
