ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Magic introduced its newly named general manager, Rob Hennigan, at a news conference on Thursday.
Magic CEO Alex Martins announced Hennigan's arrival on Wednesday.
"It is with great enthusiasm and optimism that we announce Rob Hennigan as our new General Manager," said Martins in a release. "Rob is an astute strategist and evaluator of talent who comes to the Magic family from two championship-level organizations. We feel he is an outstanding fit and the right choice to lead our Basketball Operations team in achieving our championship goals."
Hennigan told Local 6's Jamie Seh that he is looking forward to meeting with Dwight Howard and doing what he can to keep him in Orlando.
"He's one of the best players in the NBA, so clearly we'd like him to be here if he wants to be here, we certainly want him here," Hennigan said. "We're going to continue to reach out and have dialogue with Dwight. I'm looking forward to meeting him and spending some time with him and expressing the vision that we're trying to build here and the identity we're trying to build."
One of Hennigan's main priorities will be to help the team find and hire a new head coach.
"I think we want someone who embraces player development," Hennigan said. "We want someone who is going to communicate and express exactly what it is he wants from his players and at the end of the day we want someone with an elite competitive spirit and someone who's aligned with the vision and the values of the organization."
Hennigan spent the past four seasons with Oklahoma City, including the last two seasons as the Thunder's assistant general manager/player personnel. Hennigan spent his first two seasons with the Thunder as the team's director of college/international player personnel.
Prior to joining the Thunder, Hennigan spent four seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. He was named director of basketball operations in September of 2007. Hennigan began as an intern during the 2004-05 season and was later named the team's basketball operations assistant during the summer of 2005. The Spurs won the NBA World Championship in 2004-05 and 2006-07.
A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Hennigan graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from Emerson College in 2004. He was named a Division III All-American and an Academic All-American as a senior and was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons. Hennigan finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer.