Jan Volk is a former basketball executive who served as the general manager of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

from 1984 to 1997. Volk joined the Celtics in 1971 after graduating from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

. His early work with the team included ticket sales director, manager of equipment purchases, traveling secretary, business manager, and general counsel. In 1976 he was promoted to vice president. After assistant general manager Jeff Cohen left in 1981 to become GM of the

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, Volk was chosen to succeed him while remaining the team's chief legal counsel. When

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

announced that he would retire as Celtics general manager following the 1984 NBA draft, he designated Volk as his preference as his successor. On July 11, 1984, Volk was officially named general manager of the Boston Celtics. Volk's first move as Celtics General Manager came on October 16, 1984, when he traded Gerald Henderson to the Seattle SuperSonics for a 1st round pick in the 1986 NBA draft. In his first season as GM, the Celtics had a 63–19 record and returned to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, losing to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in six games.1984–85 Boston Celtics Transactions
basketball-reference.com For the 1985–86 season, Volk drafted Sam Vincent and traded for

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...

and Jerry Sichting.1985–86 Boston Celtics Transactions
basketball-reference.com In his second season as GM, the Celtics won the NBA Championship, defeating the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

4–2. Using the draft pick he obtained as compensation for Gerald Henderson, Volk selected

Len Bias Leonard Kevin Bias (November 18, 1963June 19, 1986) was an American college basketball player for the Maryland Terrapins. In the last of his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a consensus first-team All-American. Two days after being s ...

with the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. On June 20, 1986, three days after the draft, Bias died of a

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

related to usage of cocaine. Despite the death of their top draft pick, the Celtics finished the 1986–87 season with a 59–23 and appeared in their fourth consecutive NBA Finals, losing to the Lakers 4–2. The Celtics made the playoffs during each of Volk's next six seasons as GM, but did not return to the NBA Finals. After a 32–50 1993–94 season, many of Volk's responsibilities, including the drafting and signing of players, were reassigned to director of basketball operations

M. L. Carr Michael Leon Carr (born January 9, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and former head coach and General Manager of the Boston Celtics. ...

. He resigned from the team on May 6, 1997, which allowed incoming team president and head coach

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...

to hire his own general manager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volk, Jan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Boston Celtics executives Colby College alumni Columbia Law School alumni NBA general managers