Mike Bianchi: Outgoing Magic GM John Hammond discovered Giannis and helped choreograph Pistons powerhouse

ORLANDO, Fla. — One thing I’ve always admired about the Orlando Magic is that when one of their players retires or one of their coaches or general managers steps aside — or even gets fired — they often find a soft landing spot for them within the organization.

We’ve seen it in the past with ex-players such as Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw, ex-coaches like Matt Guokas and Brian Hill and former general managers like Pat Williams and John Gabriel.

And now GM John Hammond is stepping down to take a “senior advisor” role, which is professional sports jargon for “We still value your input and we’re still going to pay you, but you just aren’t going to have to work as hard as you used to.”

“I was an NBA assistant coach or executive for 33 years and I was a college assistant coach for 11 years before that,” Hammond told me during a phone conversation Friday from the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. “I’ve been traveling nonstop for 44 years. I guess there comes a time when the travel just wears you down. To have the Magic organization — Jeff Weltman [president of basketball operations] and Alex Martins [CEO] — understand where I’m at in my life right now, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Hammond, who will turn 69 later this month, has not only stepped down but he has stepped aside so the Magic could move assistant general manager Anthony Parker into the GM role. Parker, a former NBA player, has worked his way up through the Magic’s front-office hierarchy and is considered a rising star in NBA circles. It had seemingly reached a point where the Magic needed to either promote him or lose him.

“Anthony is the perfect guy to be the new GM,” Hammond said. “He checks every box. He knows what it’s like to play in the NBA. He’s extremely bright, he’s poised and he has a great rapport with everybody he deals with.”

Parker sounds a lot like former Orlando GM Otis Smith, who helped build the Magic into Eastern Conference champions in 2009. Of course, Weltman is still in charge of the front office, but he is known as a team president who listens closely to his GM, scouts, etc. That was certainly the case with Hammond — and why not?

Why wouldn’t you listen to a guy who has done as much in the profession as Hammond has? He’s coached in high school, college and the NBA. He’s been through rebuilds; he’s won championships. He’s hit big on draft picks (see Giannis Antetokounmpo); he’s missed big (see Darko Milicic). Weltman worked under Hammond in Detroit and Milwaukee, but Hammond has worked under Weltman the last six seasons in Orlando.

There’s no denying it has been six seasons of mostly losing, but after pivoting two years ago and starting a total rebuild, it appears Weltman and Hammond may finally have the Magic on the right path.

“We need some breaks, but if we stay healthy I think you’re really going to see this team blossom in the next couple of seasons,” Hammond said. “… Jeff and I have made a good team over the years. I’m a little more reactive and Jeff is more of deep thinker. I’m always chipping away at him and saying, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s get this done!’ And he’s saying, ‘No, we’ve got to think about this one last time before we make a decision.’ We’re the yin and the yang. My wife says Jeff and I are like an old married couple. We argue and fight, but we love each other.”

When Weltman was asked six years ago why he hired Hammond, he cracked, “Because he’s better than me.” Weltman has said many times over the years that he listens closely to Hammond’s advice because of Hammond’s vast knowledge and experience. Even those of us in the media love listening to Hammond because he always gives you a little nugget you didn’t know before.

For instance, when I was interviewing him on Friday, he told me he was an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska for Moe Iba, who is the son of legendary college and Olympic head coach Hank Iba. It was in Lincoln where Hammond attended his first major college football game at perennially sold-out Memorial Stadium.

“My first Nebraska football game, I’ll never forget those 77,000 fans all dressed in red cheering when their team took the field,” he recalled. “It was love at first sight. I’ve been a Husker fan ever since.”

There was a time in his career when Hammond’s goal was to become a college head coach, but that all changed in 2000 when he got a call from Joe Dumars, who had just been named the president of basketball operations with the Detroit Pistons. Dumars and Hammond had developed a close relationship when Dumars played for the Pistons and Hammond was an assistant coach.

Hammond became Dumars’ vice president of basketball operations and together they put together a roster that made it to the Eastern Conference finals for six straight years, the NBA Finals twice and won one championship. They even bamboozled the Magic along the way, getting Hall of Famer Ben Wallace in Orlando’s ill-fated sign-and-trade for Grant Hill. The Pistons also signed free agent point guard Chauncey Billups to a mid-level exception, drafted Tayshaun Prince with the 23rd overall pick and traded Jerry Stackhouse to the Washington Wizards for Richard Hamilton.

“You get into this business to win,” Hammond said. “Those were great times with the Pistons. You never forget a run of success like that.”

But Hammond wanted to run his own show and left Detroit to become the general manager and head of basketball operations for the Milwaukee Bucks. He was named NBA Executive of the Year in 2010, but his claim to fame came three years later when he drafted a little-known Greek teenager with the 15th overall pick. Giannis Antetokounmpo has gone on to become a two-time league MVP and led the Bucks to their first championship in 50 years.

When Hammond left the Bucks to join Weltman with the Magic, Giannis posted an emotional farewell message on Instagram:

“Where can I start … this man gave me the opportunity of a lifetime!’’ Giannis wrote of Hammond. “He taught me how to be a professional on and off the court. He helped mold me into the man that I am today. This guy took a chance on me at 18 years old and I am forever grateful. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for changing, not only my life, but my family’s life as well!”

It’s no wonder Hammond, to this day, calls himself an “Iba guy.”

It was Hank Iba himself who once said, “You must be sure that you give back something that’s beneficial to the game. Any of the teaching you do must be for the benefit of the men who play.”

In nearly a half-century of working in basketball as either a league executive or a coach at every level of the sport, John Hammond has certainly given back a lot to the game he loves.

As was the case in Detroit and Milwaukee, here’s hoping his fingerprints will someday be found on a championship trophy in Orlando.