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Game Changer
From groundbreaking trades to team-saving negotiations, Bob Whitsitt reveals the behind-the-scenes deals that changed the destinies of three iconic Pacific Northwest sports teams: the Seahawks, the SuperSonics, and the Trail Blazers.
In 1994, Whitsitt was named the NBA Executive of the Year—but in 1978 he was just an intern for the Indiana Pacers. Over the next decade and a half, he would find his way to the front lines of an athletic revolution, leading a transformation that took the NBA from an asterisk in sports to a global phenomenon.
By 1986, at the tender age of thirty, Whitsitt had been recruited to salvage the Seattle SuperSonics, whose glory had faded after the 1979 NBA championship. In just one season, and after many daring player trades, Whitsitt guided the team back to fighting form and into the playoffs. Whitsitt’s grit and risk-taking moves caught the eye of billionaire Paul Allen, who coaxed the savvy executive into taking the helm of the Portland Trail Blazers and leading them back into championship contention. Whitsitt went on to play a pivotal role in convincing Allen to purchase the Seahawks to keep them in town, lobbying for a new stadium—and the implosion of the iconic Kingdome—and ushering in a new era of professional football in Seattle. Whitsitt is the only person to have been both the president and general manager of the Seahawks, Sonics, and Trail Blazers.
In Game Changer, Whitsitt offers insights and stories from the glory days of three beloved teams, including
• how he earned the nickname Trader Bob by mapping his trades many moves—and even years—ahead;
• his prescient recruitment of one of the first straight-to-pro basketball players, Shawn Kemp—and why his second signing of Kemp was one of his worst missteps;
• his time-tested negotiation tips for any situation;
• how he knew the mercurial George Karl was the right man to coach Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, and the rest of the scene-stealing Sonics team;
• the truth behind the heroics needed to keep the Seahawks in Seattle;
• his rankings of the all-time-best NBA players and coaches;
• advice for how to get a job in professional sports.
An unprecedented view into the front office of three of the most beloved franchises in the NBA and NFL during their most pivotal years, Game Changer offers a new vision for pro sports, perfect for students of the game, lifelong fans, and sophisticated dealmakers alike.
In 1994, Whitsitt was named the NBA Executive of the Year—but in 1978 he was just an intern for the Indiana Pacers. Over the next decade and a half, he would find his way to the front lines of an athletic revolution, leading a transformation that took the NBA from an asterisk in sports to a global phenomenon.
By 1986, at the tender age of thirty, Whitsitt had been recruited to salvage the Seattle SuperSonics, whose glory had faded after the 1979 NBA championship. In just one season, and after many daring player trades, Whitsitt guided the team back to fighting form and into the playoffs. Whitsitt’s grit and risk-taking moves caught the eye of billionaire Paul Allen, who coaxed the savvy executive into taking the helm of the Portland Trail Blazers and leading them back into championship contention. Whitsitt went on to play a pivotal role in convincing Allen to purchase the Seahawks to keep them in town, lobbying for a new stadium—and the implosion of the iconic Kingdome—and ushering in a new era of professional football in Seattle. Whitsitt is the only person to have been both the president and general manager of the Seahawks, Sonics, and Trail Blazers.
In Game Changer, Whitsitt offers insights and stories from the glory days of three beloved teams, including
• how he earned the nickname Trader Bob by mapping his trades many moves—and even years—ahead;
• his prescient recruitment of one of the first straight-to-pro basketball players, Shawn Kemp—and why his second signing of Kemp was one of his worst missteps;
• his time-tested negotiation tips for any situation;
• how he knew the mercurial George Karl was the right man to coach Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, and the rest of the scene-stealing Sonics team;
• the truth behind the heroics needed to keep the Seahawks in Seattle;
• his rankings of the all-time-best NBA players and coaches;
• advice for how to get a job in professional sports.
An unprecedented view into the front office of three of the most beloved franchises in the NBA and NFL during their most pivotal years, Game Changer offers a new vision for pro sports, perfect for students of the game, lifelong fans, and sophisticated dealmakers alike.
272 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 28, 2023
This is a great look behind the scenes at the NBA in the 1980s-2000s and the NFL in the late 90s.
My favorite part of the book was the behind the scenes stories. My favorite was the one about how Mr, Whitsitt got Paul Allen to agree to pay Shawn Springs and Walter Jones' rookie contracts even if he didn't buy the Seahawks. Throughout each of these anecdotes, Mr, Whitsitt takes full accountability for mistakes he made. That boosted his credibility and allowed the book to rise above the usual behind the scenes tell-all.
Bob Whitsitt has led a very interesting life. I highly recommend reading about it.
My favorite part of the book was the behind the scenes stories. My favorite was the one about how Mr, Whitsitt got Paul Allen to agree to pay Shawn Springs and Walter Jones' rookie contracts even if he didn't buy the Seahawks. Throughout each of these anecdotes, Mr, Whitsitt takes full accountability for mistakes he made. That boosted his credibility and allowed the book to rise above the usual behind the scenes tell-all.
Bob Whitsitt has led a very interesting life. I highly recommend reading about it.
October 19, 2025
If someone followed professional sports in the Pacific Northwest during the 1990’s, chances are good that he or she has heard of Bob Whitsett. He was the general manager for the two NBA teams in that region at the time, the Seattle SuperSonics and the Portland Trail Blazers. Plus, for a short time, he was also the GM of the Seattle Seahawks. All of this work made him one of the more prominent front office personnel at the time and he writes about this work in this memoir.
The most interesting story of the book, in my opinion, was the work he did to keep the Seahawks in Seattle. For those who were not aware or did not follow football at that time, the team threatened to move to Anaheim unless Seattle built the team a new stadium. Whitsett worked hard to secure the votes to get the stadium, negotiated contracts (his arrangement to sign two players in the midst of the campaign for the new stadium was very good) and still ran the Trail Blazers at that time. It shows just how much multitasking that he was doing.
Multitasking is a good word to describe what Whitsett writes about, as he was constantly at work – or so it seemed. Whether it was contract negotiations, putting out fires, public relations, working with players or a multitude of other tasks, Whitsett was on top of his work. It goes with his upbringing, and he started out in the business by doing anything needed. As he called it, he started as a “gopher” with the Indiana Pacers and worked his way up, becoming one of the youngest GM’s in the NBA when he got the job with the SuperSonics.
One of the big topics he has in the book is negotiations. On this topic, I do believe that this topic had the best stories and also included a nice checklist for anyone who has to do negotiating in their job. While each skill he describes is explained by how he handled contract negotiations with players and their agents, they had great tips for everyone else as well. Also, he had a great story about his first draft choice signing, Clark Kellogg. Kellogg was a first round draft choice by the Pacers, but at the time, the team didn’t have enough revenue to pay Kellogg the going rate for a first round draft choice. As Whitsett could only amount one maximum amount and let Kellogg and his agent know this, he nonetheless signed the player. How he pulled it off is an excellent tale on how one can still accomplish their negotiating goals. An excellent book by an excellent sports executive.
I wish to thank Flashpoint Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
The most interesting story of the book, in my opinion, was the work he did to keep the Seahawks in Seattle. For those who were not aware or did not follow football at that time, the team threatened to move to Anaheim unless Seattle built the team a new stadium. Whitsett worked hard to secure the votes to get the stadium, negotiated contracts (his arrangement to sign two players in the midst of the campaign for the new stadium was very good) and still ran the Trail Blazers at that time. It shows just how much multitasking that he was doing.
Multitasking is a good word to describe what Whitsett writes about, as he was constantly at work – or so it seemed. Whether it was contract negotiations, putting out fires, public relations, working with players or a multitude of other tasks, Whitsett was on top of his work. It goes with his upbringing, and he started out in the business by doing anything needed. As he called it, he started as a “gopher” with the Indiana Pacers and worked his way up, becoming one of the youngest GM’s in the NBA when he got the job with the SuperSonics.
One of the big topics he has in the book is negotiations. On this topic, I do believe that this topic had the best stories and also included a nice checklist for anyone who has to do negotiating in their job. While each skill he describes is explained by how he handled contract negotiations with players and their agents, they had great tips for everyone else as well. Also, he had a great story about his first draft choice signing, Clark Kellogg. Kellogg was a first round draft choice by the Pacers, but at the time, the team didn’t have enough revenue to pay Kellogg the going rate for a first round draft choice. As Whitsett could only amount one maximum amount and let Kellogg and his agent know this, he nonetheless signed the player. How he pulled it off is an excellent tale on how one can still accomplish their negotiating goals. An excellent book by an excellent sports executive.
I wish to thank Flashpoint Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
June 9, 2023
This book was provided to me from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it’s published.
I had no clue about this book, until I saw this book on a list provided by @SprtBookReviews. I, immediately, put this book in my Amazon Wishlist, only to know that I would have to wait till October to read it. Well, thanks to Netgalley, I found this book on their website and requested to read it. A few days later, my request was accepted.
As a fan of the NBA, I knew the name of Bob Whitsett, and after reading the book, I was amazed at everything he did with the Kansas City Kings, Seattle Supersonics, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Seattle Seahawks. I also enjoyed reading about how he got started in sports administration immediately after finishing graduate school. It started with an internship with the Indiana Pacers in 1978. Just two years prior, is when the ABA merged with the NBA and the Pacers were one of the four teams to merge with the NBA. How cool is that? He started low on the totem pole but did anything and everything asked of him and that he eventually became a GM and President for other teams.
Kings, he helped as the team moved from Kansas City to Sacramento and also helped with the naming rights to ARCO Arena (one of the first companies to put their names on a sporting facility).
Supersonics, he drafted Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Nate McMillian, Dana Barros, and traded for key players like Dale Ellis, Ricky Pierce, and Sam Perkins. He hired George Karl as the head coach. He walked away from a deal for Dennis Rodman in 1993.
Trail Blazers, he helped bring Arvydas Sabonis to the team after several years of playing almost nine years of international basketball and he traded for Rasheed Wallace in 1996. In the 1996 NBA draft, he really wanted to select Kobe Bryant, but he was chosen number 13 by Charlotte – the Trail Blazers had the number 17 pick, and they chose Jermaine O’Neal.
Seahawks, he helped keep the team in Seattle, and assisted with the building of the football stadium.
Those are just a few things he did. When you read the book, you will find a lot more things he did.
For those that want to follow in his footsteps, he provides a brief overview of a GM and negotiating.
Lastly, the Seattle Supersonic team moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, and when Seattle gets a new NBA team, you will very likely see Bob’s name and several other former Sonic players involved.
I had no clue about this book, until I saw this book on a list provided by @SprtBookReviews. I, immediately, put this book in my Amazon Wishlist, only to know that I would have to wait till October to read it. Well, thanks to Netgalley, I found this book on their website and requested to read it. A few days later, my request was accepted.
As a fan of the NBA, I knew the name of Bob Whitsett, and after reading the book, I was amazed at everything he did with the Kansas City Kings, Seattle Supersonics, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Seattle Seahawks. I also enjoyed reading about how he got started in sports administration immediately after finishing graduate school. It started with an internship with the Indiana Pacers in 1978. Just two years prior, is when the ABA merged with the NBA and the Pacers were one of the four teams to merge with the NBA. How cool is that? He started low on the totem pole but did anything and everything asked of him and that he eventually became a GM and President for other teams.
Kings, he helped as the team moved from Kansas City to Sacramento and also helped with the naming rights to ARCO Arena (one of the first companies to put their names on a sporting facility).
Supersonics, he drafted Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Nate McMillian, Dana Barros, and traded for key players like Dale Ellis, Ricky Pierce, and Sam Perkins. He hired George Karl as the head coach. He walked away from a deal for Dennis Rodman in 1993.
Trail Blazers, he helped bring Arvydas Sabonis to the team after several years of playing almost nine years of international basketball and he traded for Rasheed Wallace in 1996. In the 1996 NBA draft, he really wanted to select Kobe Bryant, but he was chosen number 13 by Charlotte – the Trail Blazers had the number 17 pick, and they chose Jermaine O’Neal.
Seahawks, he helped keep the team in Seattle, and assisted with the building of the football stadium.
Those are just a few things he did. When you read the book, you will find a lot more things he did.
For those that want to follow in his footsteps, he provides a brief overview of a GM and negotiating.
Lastly, the Seattle Supersonic team moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, and when Seattle gets a new NBA team, you will very likely see Bob’s name and several other former Sonic players involved.
October 29, 2023
Among the best-written memoirs (let alone sports biographies) I've read. So many valuable lessons on leadership, judgment, management, and determination. To make an impact on one major sports franchise would be significant. Whitsitt impacted three franchises, all for the better. Was a fun time machine for me, as Whitsitt came of age as an executive precisely as I came of age as a fan. (We both have daughters who graduated from Wesleyan, so that matters, too.) Inspiring read, cover to cover.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews