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 league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

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

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. 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 Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the olde ...

, 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. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. ...

announced that he would retire as Celtics general manager following the

1984 NBA Draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...

, 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 The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

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 and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is a ...

, 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 league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

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

Sam Vincent James Samuel Vincent (born May 18, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Vincent won the State of Michigan "Mr. Basketball" award in 1981, the first year the award was given. He attended Lansing's Eastern High Sch ...

and traded for

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...

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 team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

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 who attended the University of Maryland. During his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a first-team All-American. Two days after being selec ...

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, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adult ...

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 college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA ...

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 National Basketball Association general managers