John Hollinger is well known in basketball circles due to his famous PER stat. That being said, it looks like Hollinger is going to be taking his work to a new area. It appears that the Memphis Grizzlies have hired Hollinger as a member of their front office.
BREAKING: Griz have hired ESPN’s John Hollinger to front-office position, per sources. CA story coming…
— Commercial Appeal (@CAGrizBlog) December 13, 2012
Believe it or not, this is starting to become a growing trend. You are beginning to see more and more writers get hired by teams in order to give them a boost. Hollinger’s breakdowns will certainly help the Grizzlies figure out what players to add and at what cost. It will be a loss to fans but the team will benefit in the long run.
Do not be surprised if moves like this start happening a lot more. Writers may not have played the game but they do have ample time to break down samples and look at trends. This type of resource is invaluable in a league that is very balanced. Anything that can help improve a team while not spending a ton of resources is a smart thing. A guy like Hollinger can make a big impact in short amount of time.
I know that a lot of basketball fans are going to be upset about this but this is a good thing in the long run. Although I will miss his writing, I am happy to see writers continue to get chances to help teams improve.