Kiki VanDeWeghe ended his NBA playing career after the 1992-93 season, during which he appeared in 41 games for the Los Angeles Clippers, missing the other 41 games due to persistent injuries. “I was hurt over my last four years of playing,” VanDeWeghe recalled. However, Clippers head coach Larry Brown invited him to join the young Clippers as more of a hybrid player-coach. “Larry asked me to come on and help the young players, and show them a good work ethic, and footwork… and he said if I need you, I’ll play you, but I want you to learn how to be a coach.”
To show his appreciation for all of Kiki’s hard work in educating the youthful Clippers, Coach Brown elected to give him a proper send-off into retirement by starting him for the final game of the regular season. “It was my last game, and Larry came up to me and said ‘I’m going to start you and play you for the first few minutes. It’s your last game and I want to do that for you.’” Feeling like a young rookie in 1980 again, Kiki went out early to warm up, and as the game started, he thought he might as well get up a couple of shots, which would find nothing but the bottom of the net. Expecting to be subbed out at any moment, Kiki embraced every second of his time on the court. To his surprise, Coach Brown kept him in the game for 28 minutes. Kiki would cap off his career with a stellar performance, scoring 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, along with six assists and a block.
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers Photo by Juan O’Campo/NBAE via Getty Images
“After the game, Coach Brown came up to me and said why didn’t you tell me you could still play?” Kiki recalled with a laugh. However, the immense back pain he felt the next morning confirmed he was making the right decision to retire, and as one chapter in his life came to an end, the beginning of a new one was about to begin by serving the league for more than two decades as a player developer, head coach, general manager, and ultimately the NBA’s Vice President of Basketball Operations.
Kiki’s first post-playing role was in 1998 with the Dallas Mavericks, where he was primarily tasked to develop a young international center by the name of Dirk Nowitzki, as well as another young future league MVP, Steve Nash. “They gave me a lot of responsibility just because I was in the gym all the time.” VanDeWeghe remembers, “I would sleep in the training room so I could be the first one there.” Before he knew it Coach Don Nelson and new team owner Mark Cuban were asking him for his opinion on trades. They would also give them full autonomy to use the contacts he made over his years with the league to make trade proposals. Kiki had proven himself to the Mavericks and it wasn’t long until Coach Nelson asked Kiki to join the team on the road as an advanced scout, which included preparing the pre-game notes and pre-game lessons.
Armed with the knowledge and experience he gained in Dallas, Kiki VanDeWeghe was ready to take the next step in his career. As fate would have it, the Denver Nuggets were searching for a new general manager. At the time, Dan Issel was serving as the team’s head coach and approached his former teammate with an offer to join his staff as an assistant coach. “I told Dan, I really prefer to be a GM.” After several conversations where VanDeWeghe pled his case for the general manager role, Issel ultimately agreed that he would make for the candidate but emphasized that team owner Stan Kroenke would have the final sign-off.
“I go to Denver, and we go to this restaurant called the Doghouse for lunch. There’s like eight or nine people including the President of the team Don Elliman.” Kiki remembers, “In walks Stan… and we hit it off right away, but the first thing he says to me is ‘I heard you want to join our team as an assistant coach’”.
Caught off guard in the quiet, formal atmosphere of the steakhouse, VanDeWeghe responded in a shocked manner, “No….. I’m really here for the General Manager’s job.” After an awkward pause that felt like an eternity to VanDeWeghe, Kroenke, equally surprised, simply replied, “Okay, well then let’s talk about it.”
After discussing the opportunity, Kroenke had heard enough and invited Kiki out to his home in Los Angeles to further continue the conversation and ultimately offer him the role in 2001 as the new General Manager of the Denver Nuggets.
Kiki Vandeweghe/ Issel
As Kiki settled into his new role as a first-time general manager, he faced an immediate challenge in preparing for one of the most celebrated draft classes in NBA history. The groundwork for the 2003 NBA Draft began almost immediately after Kiki VanDeWeghe became general manager in 2001. Over the next two years, the Nuggets focused on accumulating first-round picks through trades, setting the stage to build a young roster brimming with potential.
With the draft looming, the Nuggets meticulously scouted top prospects, including LeBron James, Darko Miličić, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and others. But one player stood out for VanDeWeghe on a personal level. “I knew Dwyane Wade very well because he attended one of my camps…. I’ve known him since junior high school and watched him really carefully. I really, really liked Wade, but sometimes you find yourself in this thing where you like all these players and trying to decipher what the other teams are going to do”.
2003 NBA Draft Class Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
About a month before the draft, the Nuggets learned that the Detroit Pistons planned to select Miličić with the second overall pick. This narrowed the debate to two players: Carmelo Anthony and Wade. “We thought clearly that Carmelo and Dwyane were better,” VanDeWeghe said. “They were huge for us and more of what we wanted. But drafts are funny.”
VanDeWeghe and the Nuggets front office entertained a variety of trade scenarios to navigate the unpredictable draft. They explored trading up to secure Anthony or Wade at number two as well as moving down to the fourth or fifth pick to gain additional assets. Kiki even tested the waters by placing a phone call to Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert about the availability of LeBron James just in case. “Why not?” VanDeWeghe joked, emphasizing the importance of considering every possibility. “We talked to the top five teams fairly extensively just to make sure no one had changed their minds”.
In addition to the extensive communications, scouting reports, and training sessions, Kiki took his preparation a step further by analyzing past drafts and past draft night trades. His deep dive into NBA draft history aimed to uncover patterns and strategies that could give the Nuggets an edge. Still, as Kiki acknowledged, the draft often comes down to a combination of educated guesswork and a bit of luck. “We were very lucky to end up with Carmelo. He was fantastic! Couldn’t have asked for anything better . . . and he ended up with a spectacular career.
DENVER CO., JUNE 27, 2003 - Denver Nuggets General Manager KiKi Vandeweghe , left, hands the Nuggets uniform to Carmelo Anthony from Syracuse University with Denver Nuggets first pick (third overall) in NBA Draft 2003 at Pepsi Center on Photo By Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images
After the 2005-06 season, Kiki VanDeWeghe’s tenure with the Denver Nuggets came to an end when his contract was not renewed. Embracing a fresh opportunity, he joined ESPN as an NBA analyst, spending a season sharing his insights from the booth.
In 2007, VanDeWeghe returned to team operations, joining the Brooklyn Nets as a special assistant to team president and general manager Rod Thorn. His role evolved unexpectedly in 2009 when the Nets stumbled out of the gate with 16 consecutive losses, prompting the organization to part ways with head coach Lawrence Frank. Once again, VanDeWeghe stepped into uncharted territory, taking on the role of interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
In 2013, Kiki shifted his focus from managing individual teams to taking part in overseeing the entire league, serving as the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for eight years before transitioning into an advisory role to both NBA commissioner Adam Silver and President of League Operations Byron Spruell. Kiki played an integral role in the league’s development of its instant replay system which debuted in 2015. In an official NBA press release from 2015, VanDeWeghe was quoted, “Many instances in our 15 instant-replay triggers are very straightforward and do not need the involvement of the on-court game officials to accurately determine the result,” said Kiki VanDeWeghe, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. “Flow of game is crucial to basketball so a quicker result will help our players and coaches return to action faster.”
2018 NBA Summer League - Las Vegas Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
Today, Kiki VanDeWeghe stays busy as a consultant for various companies, focusing on strategic team building, goal setting, and identifying organizational strengths and weaknesses. Beyond his professional work, he remains deeply involved in youth athletics and cherishes staying connected with former teammates and opponents. It would be a lie, however for Kiki to say that he doesn’t miss playing the game. “I will always miss playing. I love to play basketball, and I’m a fan. I enjoy the camaraderie and the competitiveness. I appreciate the athleticism . . . it’s incredible what players can do. I love watching the game*.* But do I miss being a part directly with the team or directly with the front office?... I do miss that . . . I had fun, but I am very, very grateful.”