05NOV12_Basketball_Feature_06:15SEP08_Hamptonia_Text_Draft_07.qxd
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7:33 AM
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Draft 6 (05NOV12)
TAKING THE LEAD
JOSH KROENKE ’99 HOMETOWN: Columbia, Missouri RESIDENCE: Denver, Colorado POSITION: Team President and Governor, Denver Nuggets There are few things that connect central Missouri and central New Hampshire, but in 1998 basketball did just that. When Josh Kroenke and his parents thought he needed another year of hoops before matriculating to a Big 12 program, Kroenke found his way to New Hampton, and helped an incredibly skilled Huskies team to a solid season. Along the way, Kroenke exhibited his versatile game. With a spectacular eight three pointers, he helped the Huskies knock off a Maine Central Institute squad that included DerMarr Johnson and Caron Butler, giving MCI its first loss in a year-and-a-half. Kroenke returned to his hometown of Columbia the following year, prepared for what became a productive career in a Tiger uniform. Kroenke averaged 17 minutes per game as a junior, shot 45 percent from behind the three-point line, and was named to the Big 12 All-Academic team. He averaged 16 minutes his senior season in 2004. He was the team captain in each of his final two seasons. After graduating from Missouri with a degree in financial management, Kroenke was an intern with the NBA, learning all the nuances of the front office business in the player development department. He worked for Lehman Brothers for a few years, but felt the tug of basketball and the NBA in 2007 and moved from New York City to Denver where he joined the family sports business and became a vital cog in the Denver Nuggets organization. Over the last three years as President of the Nuggets, he has led the team to unprecedented success, and
magazine. Finished size is 11.0 inches tall by 8.50 inches wide.
(L–R) Josh Kroenke ’99, Denver coach George Karl, and GM Masai Ujiri
earned tight-rope skills as he immediately engaged in the difficult conundrum that Carmello Anthony and his contract brought to the Nuggets. Kroenke, who is also a Governor for the Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, brings a dynamic blend of business insight and basketball experience from his playing days into the NBA front office. What was the biggest challenge making the move to the NBA from the corporate world? They are similar but different. The biggest challenge for me was to look at everything objectively. Growing up, I was such a fan. I was a player. It was more about learning the intricacies of how the league operates. I had a head start, playing at New Hampton, playing at Missouri, and after school I did an internship with the league office. On the
business side, it’s the driving forces behind sports business—your ticket base, your sponsorships. I had a leg up because I did an internship with league office and then I worked for Lehman Brothers in real estate and investment banking for two years. Business is business. It’s just how you’re generating revenues and how you go about balancing budgets. It’s been a lot of fun. I can tell you that much. How much influence do you have on shaping the team? From my background in basketball, that’s where the base of my passion is: the actual product on the floor. I’m involved in all our meetings whether it’s our marketing guys briefing me or other meetings. The way our company is structured, it’s different from
HAMPTONIA
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