Neil Olshey (born January 10, 1965) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

executive who most recently served as the general manager of the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). Prior to that, he was general manager and vice president of basketball operations of the

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

Early life and education

Olshey is a graduate of

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college in DeWitt, New York.http://www.ongov.net/planning/haz/documents/Section9.7-TownofDeWitt.pdf It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946 and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. At its fo ...

in Syracuse, New York where he played on the D3 lacrosse team. Neil grew up in Flushing, Queens, but attended

Xavier High School A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

in Manhattan.

Career

Olshey originally sought to become a professional actor following his graduation from college, and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to pursue this career. He appeared in television commercials and print advertisements, and had roles on '' All My Children'', '' One Life to Live'', and '' Loving'' before moving to

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. Olshey later served as director of player development for SFX Sports Group, Inc., where he created, organized and conducted NBA pre-draft training camps that produced 15 lottery picks, 25 first-round selections and 57 current NBA players. He was also an assistant coach at Artesia High School in

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on the east, ...

, where he coached future

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and NBA player

Jason Kapono Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...

. Prior to the start of the 2003–04 season, he joined the

as director of player personnel and became an assistant coach at the beginning of the 2004–05 season. Prior to the start of the 2008–09 season, Olshey was elevated to the position of assistant general manager. He was named general manager on March 9, 2010, upon the firing of Mike Dunleavy Sr. In June 2012, he became the general manager of the

. He appeared as himself on the IFC series ''

Portlandia ''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Br ...

'' in episode 7 "Trail Blazers" of season 4. After a month-long investigation into allegations of the Trail Blazers organization being a toxic environment created by Olshey, the team fired him on December 3, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olshey, Neil 1965 births Living people American sports executives and administrators Le Moyne College alumni Los Angeles Clippers assistant coaches Los Angeles Clippers executives National Basketball Association general managers People from Flushing, Queens Portland Trail Blazers executives Xavier High School (New York City) alumni