Before becoming General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Koby Altman once played college basketball, but instead of playing professionally, he decided to become a coach and was eventually appointed to his current position on July 24, 2017. A former student of the Posse Foundation at Middlebury College, Koby Altman later became one of the College’s national directors.
Learn more about the General Manager below, including information about his biography, background and other interesting facts.
Koby Altman Biography
The basketball manager was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York on September 16, 1982. He attended Middlebury College on a scholarship from the Posse Foundation, where Koby Altman played college basketball as mentioned above and served as the team’s starting point guard for three years.
After graduating from college, Koby Altman entered the real estate investment sales business and later enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), from where he earned a master’s degree in sports management. During this time, he worked as an assistant coach at Amherst College, Massachusetts for two seasons, helping to lead the team to a record 48-11 over two seasons.
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Career
After completing his master’s program, the Brooklyn, New York-born student remained active as a college coach for many years, first in Southern Illinois as an assistant for the 2009-10 season, and then for two seasons as a full-time assistant at Ivy League Columbia University. At Columbia University, he was also an impressive leader of the school’s basketball development program.
The Basketball Manager has a lot of experience with the US basketball program. In 2009, he supported the US U19 basketball team during the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) U19 World Championship, which was held in Auckland, New Zealand, and with his help, the team won its first gold medal in this age group since 1991.
In the summer of 2010, Koby Altman participated in the first FIBA U-17 World Championship in Hamburg, Germany, and served as team manager for the U-17 team of the United States of America. With his help, the team was also the first in this age group to win a gold medal and also placed three players in the top ten of the 2012 National Basketball Association Draft.
In August 2012, Koby Altman joined the Cleveland Cavaliers. Before being appointed General Manager of the basketball team, he was part of the team for 5 years. He joined them as Pro HRM and was promoted to Director of Pro Player Personnel in September 2013, where he was responsible for evaluating the talents of athletes at all levels of basketball, both local and international. He also coordinated the team’s domestic professional scouting efforts and also supported every other aspect of the team’s basketball operations.
He was promoted to Assistant General Manager in September 2016 and finally appointed General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 24, 2017. As a member of the Cavaliers’ front office, Koby Altman was an integral part of a team that made it to four consecutive NBA finals (from 2015-2018) and was promoted to the winner of the 2016 NBA Championship. With him as General Manager in the 2017-18 season, the Cavaliers earned the crown of the Central Division with a record 50-32 (.610) and won the Eastern Conference final, moving the team to the NBA finals for the fourth consecutive year.
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As General Manager, Koby Altman was determined to take the team to new heights. The first players he acquired were point guard Isaiah Thomas, Center Ante Žižic, little striker Jae Crowder and a 2020 Boston Celtics second-round pick that was replaced by star point guard Kyrie Irving. In his second major move in September 2017, GM signed Dwyane Wade, a three-time NBA champion and multiple All-Star Guard. In February 2018, he also made a series of swaps where the team received Rodney Hood, George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr.
Facts And Other Interesting Details About Koby Altman
1. Koby Altman is married to a nurse named Rachel Garson. The two got married on 18 August 2018 in a ceremony that was officiated by Koby’s former boss, Cavs GM David Griffin. The couple has a daughter named Sophie Jane Altman, born on December 27, 2017.
2. The NBA General Manager earns an annual salary between $47,986 to $51,568.
3. When he was hired as the GM of the Cavaliers’ in 2017, he became one of just four African American GMs in the basketball league.
4. Koby Altman is also Jewish.
5. Koby Altman is the 11th general manager in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
