Josh Bartelstein (born July 17, 1989) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

executive and former

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player who is currently the CEO of the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

of the

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

(NBA),

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA), and the

Footprint Center The PHX Arena (formerly America West Arena, US Airways Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix Suns Arena and Footprint Center) is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It opened under the name America West Arena on June 6, 1992, at ...

. Prior to his ascension to his current position, he spent 7 and a half years in various roles for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

of the NBA. He played

for

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album) or the title song, 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album) or the title song, 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album) or the title song, 1992 *''Walk On'', by Kellie Coffey, 200 ...

and was a 3x Academic All-Big Ten honoree. He served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the national runner-up

2012–13 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. He was a two-year starter at Highland Park High School before spending a post-graduate season playing for

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

where he set a couple of school records. He is the son of NBA and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) sports agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports and Entertainment.

Early life

Bartelstein is from

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in southeastern Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipali ...

in the North Shore of the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. He is the son of Mark and Sheri Bartelstein and has three sisters. He played basketball with a core group of friends from second grade through organized high school basketball. As a 10-year-old in 2000, Bartelstein played for the Highland Park 11-year-old traveling baseball team as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and attended a skills academy run by former

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

minor leaguer John Stutz and professional baseball player Pete Dallas. He also played his first year of organized basketball in the Highwood Small Fry youth basketball 2000 spring season. Because his father, Mark, was an NBA and NFL sports agent, Bartelstein had the opportunity to fill his bedroom wall with pictures of himself alongside many famous athletes. The first picture he put on his bedroom of a non-relative was one with

Bobby Phills Bobby Ray Phills II (December 20, 1969 – January 12, 2000) was an American professional basketball player. He played shooting guard and small forward for the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets. A n ...

. The first basketball game that he ever missed was the night he learned of Phills' death in an automobile accident in 2000. As he grew, he had the opportunity to have

workout Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovasc ...

s with athletes such as

Mo Williams Maurice Williams (born December 19, 1982) is the head men's basketball coach at Jackson State University and a former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high scho ...

, Bobby Simmons and

Kirk Hinrich Kirk James Hinrich ( born January 2, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He has also been a member of the USA National Team. Growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, Hinrich was exposed to basketball at an early age. His father, ...

. In 2002, Bartelstein was one of the leaders of The Highwood Heat of the Highwood Small Fry basketball league. The team went 7–1 to earn a trip to

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

for the Small Fry International youth basketball tournament.

High school

A summer 2005 area recruiting guide listed Bartelstein as a player to watch. As a sophomore guard, Bartelstein was expected to start for Highland Park High School until he endured an ankle

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running ...

that limited his season to 3 games. He had to have screws put in his ankle. He returned as a junior reserve. He regularly reviewed game film of every high school game with his father, who helped him make acquaintance with several professional athletes, such as

Brad Miller Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

and

Antoine Walker Antoine Devon Walker (born August 12, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft out of the University of Kentucky and played in the NBA from 1996 to 2008. Walker ...

of the NBA and

Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, whi ...

of the NFL. At Highland Park, he was considered one of the leaders of the team (along with

Chris Wroblewski Christopher William Wroblewski (born 1989/1990) is an American former college basketball player. He played college basketball for Cornell of the Ivy League, where he is the school's all-time career assists (482) leader and the school's only two ...

). Bartelstein's steal started a 15–0 run as part of the comeback in the 2007

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National F ...

(IHSA) Class AA regional championship for the four-seeded Highland Park Giants against fifth-seeded

John Hersey High School John Hersey High School (also referred to as Hersey or JHHS) is a four-year public high school located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago in the United States. It enrolls students from Arlington Heights as well as parts ...

. Bartelstein scored 19 points on 5–6 three point shooting the help Highland Park won its 11th consecutive game during his senior season. As of January of his 2008 senior season, he had

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

offers from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

as well as promising interest from some

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

programs such as

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, Northwestern and Pepperdine. As a senior he made two all-tournament teams (Moline and Elgin). In April 2008, he committed to play for

. He finished his senior season with a total of 51 three point shots, a 9.8 scoring average and 3.9 rebounds for a Highland Park team that finished as the 2008 IHSA Class 4A regional champions. In the regional championship game for number 3 seeded Highland Park, Bartelstein posted 10 points in the 51–50 victory over number eleven seeded

Waukegan High School Waukegan High School, or WHS, is a public four-year high school located in Waukegan, Illinois, USA, a city to the north of Chicago, Illinois. It is part of Waukegan Community Unit School District 60. Students attend classes at the Washington Cam ...

. The 2008 Highland Park senior class was the first in school history to have back-to-back 20-win seasons. Because of his "bridge year" commitment, he was eligible to play an additional season of the AAU summer basketball circuit, where he posted multiple 30-point games. In the fall of 2008, Bartelstein nearly signed Division I scholarship offers with

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, the university is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or ...

and then

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

, but he was eventually attracted by the appeal of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

and Michigan's

Ross School of Business The University of Michigan Ross School of Business (branded as Michigan Ross) is the business school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school was originally established ...

. Michigan

Head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

John Beilein John Patrick Beilein ( ; born February 5, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach who currently serves as a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network. Before being hired by the Big Ten Network, Beilein served as the head coac ...

had been a walk-on player himself and the 2008–09 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team was co-captained by former walk-ons David Merritt and C.J. Lee who played significant roles. While averaging 15.5 points per game, Bartelstein set two school records at Phillips Exeter: single-half scoring (21 points vs. New Hampton) and single-season three-pointers (52). Because he had grown 7 inches late in high school, the extra year gave him a chance to grow into his body and show his potential. The year marked progress in his "long-range shooting and off-the-dribble game", according to Beilein. He was recruited by Penn and had walk-on offers from Michigan and Northwestern and claimed 9 Division I scholarship offers. Bartelstein's Exeter coach, Malcolm Wesselink, confirmed 3 of these D I offers (San Diego,

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and Elon). Bartelstein was connected to Michigan by former Beilein assistant Mike Maker. He was in communication with athletes that he had met as a youth such as

Chris Quinn Christopher Quinn (born September 27, 1983) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the top assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school Quinn played his high school ...

and

Shannon Brown Shannon Brown (born November 29, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He attended Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2003, and played college basketball for Michigan State ...

during his recruitment. On May 22, 2009, Bartelstein was announced by Beilein as one of two (along with Eso Akunne) preferred walk-on (non-scholarship) players to join an incoming 2009–10 class of six new players (Blake McLimans, Jordan Morgan, Darius Morris, and North Shore native Matt Vogrich). Bartelstein and Akunne brought the number of walk-ons on the roster to 4 (with Eric Puls and Corey Person). Morris, Vogrich and Akunne were all guards.

College

On November 14, 2009, in the 2009–10 Michigan Wolverines season opener and the first game of his college career against Bartlestein played in what would be his career high 4 minutes. He posted his first points on December 28, 2010, against (#11 ESPN/USA Today, #12 AP)

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

on a

three point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a Field goal (basketball), field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, ...

as a sophomore for the 2010–11 Wolverines. He was one of 41 men's basketball 2010–11 Academic All-Big Ten selections. The March 4 victory over

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

clinched a share of the 2011–12 Big Ten Conference season regular season championship for the 2011–12 team. One of Bartelstein's 4 career assists came in an appearance in the February 5, 2012

rivalry game Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a university or college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry, whic ...

against (#10 ESPN/USA Today, #9 AP)

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

in which he was credited with zero minutes played. Bartelstein's' other points came on a three pointer against (#7-ranked)

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

on March 10 in the 2012 Big Ten men's basketball tournament. As a junior, Bartelstein was among 37 Academic All-Big Ten men's basketball players. Prior to the first

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

on November 1, 2012, Bartelstein was named team captain of the 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines. Although Bartelstein was the official captain, he only played 10 minutes all season, and the team was led on the court by

Trey Burke Alfonso Clark "Trey" Burke III (born November 12, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Leones de Ponce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines where in the 2012–1 ...

and Tim Hardaway Jr. Despite his modest role in the games, he is noted for his "leadership, motivational abilities and commitment to success" according to ''

Bleacher Report ''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...

'' author Lee Schechter (especially as evidenced by his output in "The Bartelstein Blog"). On March 10, 2013, Michigan lost its regular season finale to

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

(#2 AP/#2 Coaches), failing to defend its conference co-championship. Michigan celebrated senior day for five seniors: Akunne, Bartelstein, McLimans, Corey Person, and Vogrich. The loss kept Michigan from its first undefeated home season since the 1976–77 team. In the April 6 national semifinal against

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, Michigan earned its thirty-first victory, the most since the 1992–93 team went 31–5. Michigan lost the April 8, national championship game against Midwest number one seed

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

by an 82–76 score. Louisville's championship has since been vacated by the NCAA. Bartelstein appeared in 2 tournament games (against VCU and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

). As a senior, Bartelstein was among the 38 Big Ten men's basketball players recognized as Winter Academic All-Big Ten for maintaining 3.0 averages. Six players from the 2012–13 Wolverines team that Bartelstein captained were future

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

ees:

(

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, 9th), Tim Hardaway Jr. (2013, 24th),

Nik Stauskas Nikolas Tomas Stauskas (born October 7, 1993) is a Canadian former professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Stauskas played two seasons of college basketball for the Mi ...

(

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, 8th),

Mitch McGary Mitchell Neil William McGary (born June 6, 1992) is an American former professional basketball player. A native of Chesterton, Indiana, McGary declared for the NBA draft after completing his sophomore season for the 2013–14 Michigan Wolverines ...

(2014, 21st),

Glenn Robinson III Glenn Alann ‘Tre’ Robinson III (born January 8, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Seoul Samsung Thunders of the Korean Basketball League (KBL). He was drafted 40th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2014 N ...

(2014, 40th), and Caris LeVert (

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, 20th). Bartelstein's father became the agent for three of those players: his former roommate, Hardaway, Stauskas, and McGary as well as future Wolverine and NBA player

Derrick Walton Derrick Walton Jr. (born April 3, 1995) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and sp ...

. In September 2013, Bartelstein released an

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

that chronicled Michigan's rise from a sub-.500 basketball team to the NCAA Championship game. It included elements from his blog, photos, videos and contributions by his past teammates.

Professional career

In August 2015, Bartelstein and Wroblewski hosted a two-day basketball skills development camp in the North Shore for youth between 3rd and 12th grade. At the time Bartelstein was a 7th and 8th grade basketball coach in Highland Park. Bartelstein was hired by the

in October 2015 "as an assistant to Palace Sports & Entertainment vice chair

Arn Tellem Arn Herschel Tellem

". In his 8 years with the Pistons, he went on to hold the titles of Chief of Staff and then Executive Vice President of Business and Basketball Operations before becoming Assistant General Manager in June 2022. Then he was hired as CEO of the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and the operating entity for Footprint Center on April 10, 2023. Among his notable roles for the Pistons was his oversight of the design and construction of the Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center. His role as CEO gives him authority over business operations while the team tasked its basketball operations to its President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. Mat Ishbia bought a majority share of the Suns from Robert Sarver in February 2023, leading to the resignation of Phoenix Suns president and CEO Jason Rowley and clearing the way for an organizational cultural reset. The story regarding Bartelstein's hiring as part of an overhaul by Ishbia, who like Bartelstein was a walk-on Big Ten basketball player (for

), broke on March 4, 2023. Bartelstein was not officially named CEO until April 10, 2023. During his first season as Suns CEO, Bartelstein played a pivotal role in orchestrating trades that saw the acquisition of

Bradley Beal Bradley Emmanuel Beal Sr. (born June 28, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida Gators before being selected by the Wa ...

Jusuf Nurkić Jusuf Nurkić ( ; born 23 August 1994) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, be ...

, and

Grayson Allen Grayson James Allen (born October 8, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played four years of college basketball at Duke University, where he helped Duke win a ...

Notes

External links

Michigan biostats
at

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

stats
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...