Zachary Z. Kleiman

Zachary Z. Kleiman, General Manager & Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, enters his sixth season with the Memphis Grizzlies. As the Grizzlies’ lead basketball operations executive and personnel decision-maker, Kleiman oversees and manages all basketball matters, including professional and amateur scouting, draft preparations, player acquisitions, salary cap management, team operations and sports medicine programming.

Shortly after his promotion to lead Basketball Operations in April 2019, Kleiman hired Taylor Jenkins as head coach and acquired Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke in the 2019 NBA Draft. Morant, the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year, and Clarke were each named to the 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie First Team, and the duo represented the Grizzlies alongside 2018-19 NBA All-Rookie First Team selection Jaren Jackson Jr. at the NBA Rising Stars as part of NBA All-Star Weekend 2020.

Kleiman served the Grizzlies as Assistant General Manager during the 2018-19 season. In this role, he participated in strategic efforts of the front office (including those related to salary cap management and the Collective Bargaining Agreement), handled various negotiations on behalf of the group and served as the team’s primary liaison to the NBA on basketball operations-related matters.

Kleiman joined the organization in 2015 as the team’s in-house legal counsel and worked in this capacity in addition to his responsibilities with the basketball operations department. In his role as team counsel, he was responsible for drafting, reviewing and negotiating agreements and providing guidance in connection with a broad range of business and basketball matters.

Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Kleiman practiced law at Proskauer Rose LLP, an international law firm based in New York. At Proskauer, Kleiman represented clients in the sports industry – including the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball and the Buffalo Bills – in connection with a wide array of corporate matters, including team acquisitions and sales, financings, media rights, sponsorships and other commercial transactions. Kleiman began his career in professional sports with internships with the then-Charlotte Bobcats (Basketball Operations), Oakland Raiders (Legal), Los Angeles Lakers (Public Relations) and New York Knicks (Basketball Operations).

Kleiman earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Southern California and his J.D. from the Duke University School of Law.