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Koby Altman, General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers

Published on17 OCT 2019
Topic:
Builders & Innovators 2019

In this episode, filmed at Goldman Sachs’ Builders + Innovators Summit, Koby Altman discusses how he evaluates talent for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the impact technology has had on the game, and how he is building the culture of the team. 

On evaluating talent: “I want people with great attitude, [which is] sort of the non-negotiable now as we’re starting to form this thing and recreate our culture - people with great attitude, great work ethic and people that really want to be in Cleveland - that’s very meaningful. And so when you’re sort of recruiting your talent bases, they have to check some boxes for you, and those are the boxes for me. You have to have a great attitude and show up to work every day with positive energy.”

On the impact of technology on the game: “Every decision we make is data-backed and so there’s a gut instinct. There’s obviously a visual. There’s intel. Sometimes I think I’m half CIA in terms of collecting real information that you have to make million-dollar decisions on. But the data is really important. So we moved one of our top analytics guys who had a really good rapport with players to the coaching staff. And so now he sits behind the bench, is in game planning and in strategy sessions. And so instead of us just saying, ‘Hey, we see this. Take a look at this.’ We have him now entrenched within the coaching staff.” 

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