{"id":277346,"date":"2025-11-07T13:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T13:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/277346\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T13:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T13:59:07","slug":"inside-onsi-salehs-journey-from-small-town-alberta-to-hawks-gm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/277346\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Onsi Saleh\u2019s journey from small-town Alberta to Hawks GM"},"content":{"rendered":"

In what promises to be a crowded and unpredictable Eastern Conference playoff race, the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> and the Toronto Raptors could easily be butting heads and jostling shoulders all season long.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Raptors struck first by handing the Hawks a thorough defeat in their home opener on Oct. 22. The teams meet for the second time in nine games at State Farm arena Friday night, this time in a match-up that will have important implications for the NBA Cup competition.\u00a0The Raptors and Hawks are both 1-0 in Group A, so the winner will likely have a significant leg-up to advance to the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Given that the Hawks are run by a general manager who considers Edmonton his hometown, you might think there would be a small twinge of conflict within the basketball soul of Onsi Saleh, who was promoted into the Hawks’ top basketball decision-making role in April.<\/p>\n

Turns out, that won\u2019t be a problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s crazy \u2014 and people are going to hate me \u2014 but I grew up a Lakers fan,\u201d Saleh said when we spoke before the 2025-26 season began. \u201cThis was before Kobe and Shaq too. This was Cedric Ceballos, Nick Van Exel and Vlade Divac and all those guys. My brothers were diehard Knicks fans, John Starks and all of that, but I was a Lakers fan for a good chunk of my childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old\u2019s basketball fandom might be the least quirky element of his unlikely path from the “City of Champions” to the GM role in Atlanta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is almost nothing in his background that would have predicted his rapid climb to one of the most difficult positions to gain in professional sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saleh was born to Jordanian immigrants in Texas before the family moved to Alberta for better opportunities when he was an infant. They moved first to Lougheed, a village of less than 300 people southeast of Edmonton, then Vermillion, a little further north, running roadside hotels before running another hotel property in west Edmonton during his high school years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Alberta,\u201d Saleh says. \u201cMy parents are still there, one of my brothers. I go back every summer to hang out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a biography you might find linked to an NHL executive, but an NBA general manager?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Extremely unlikely. But then again, the front office is the one pocket of the NBA that Canadians haven\u2019t been able to populate in significant numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Canadian players are everywhere in the league \u2014 there were 25 Canadians on NBA rosters on opening night, more than any country outside of the United States \u2014 and there is a growing representation in the coaching ranks, Saleh follows Marc Eversley, general manager of the Chicago Bulls, as the only other Canadian passport-holder with a GM title. Former Canadian national team player Prosper Karangwa is the vice-president of player personnel with the Philadelphia 76ers and general manager of their G-League team, the Delaware Blue Coats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOnsi shines a light on the success of Canadians in the front office,\u201d says Eversely. \u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic example of basketball vision and leadership \u2026 and shows that there are pathways to the league that exist beyond the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

But how to find that path?\u00a0<\/p>\n

At six-foot-five and as a member of a provincial championship team at Ross Sheppard High School, Saleh was good enough to play post-secondary hoops in Canada, but it wasn\u2019t an option with his responsibilities with the family business. He attended the University of Alberta and did an undergraduate degree in biology, as the son of immigrants from the Middle East, and the plan was to be a doctor. He later added a degree in history that he enjoyed so much he considered pursuing a master’s or PHD in that field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he couldn\u2019t shake his fascination with the NBA. And while he didn\u2019t have any connections or insight on how to get some, what he did have was the willingness to try, and the benefit of not knowing any better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His passion was legit. He and his older brothers would shovel off the courts at the school yards to get up shots in the Alberta winters and even going back to his days on NBA 2K, roster building held his interest more than the video games themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caroline Gualt, a high school friend whose late twin brother was a teammate of Saleh\u2019s,\u00a0recalls endless arguments between Saleh and her brother about the nuances of NBA basketball, and also whether LeBron was better than Kobe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing I remember that might have suggested (his success) was that even though he was really popular on the basketball team and funny and really social, he was different in that he was also really focused,\u201d says Gault. \u201cHe was either playing basketball or working at his parents\u2019 motel on the weekends. It didn\u2019t mean he wasn\u2019t social or well-liked, but he was focused on what he needed to do and wasn\u2019t as distracted in the same way as we all were in high school.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had great drive and competitiveness,\u201d said Dave Young, his high school coach, who keeps in touch with Saleh.\u00a0\u201cHe understood the game very well. But really, he was just very smart, had great character and was just a solid person and very down-to-earth. I can\u2019t think of a nicer person than Onsi, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even if working in an NBA front office was miles from working after school and on weekends at the small motels and restaurants his family owned when he was growing up in Alberta, Saleh believes the experience ultimately translated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cool thing about growing up in Alberta was it was really a blue-collar province. There\u2019s a natural grit to everyone there that was instilled in me, and from a work ethic standpoint, from my parents,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd the good thing about working at the hotel was it really taught me social skills. You had to deal with different types of clientele, whether it\u2019s the nicest person walking in trying to rent a room or get a meal at the restaurant, or dealing with a tougher clientele that is frustrated with something, and being able to manage those conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were kids helping out wherever we could, and growing up in that industry helped me build relationships with people and understand the dynamics of communication with different people and cultures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you deal with that in the NBA. You have to figure out how to talk to other GMs, agents, players, with Tony (Hawks owner Tony Ressler),\u201d he said. \u201cI had to figure that out, and having grown up in the family business has really helped me at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n

But first, he had to figure out how to crack a seemingly impenetrable club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His solution? He turned to his old pal Google and began studying the biographies of NBA front office staff, looking past those who came up through the coaching ranks or had playing backgrounds and homed in on the fact that there were a fair number of front office staffers who had law degrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CBA is essentially a book of laws that you break down, try and find loopholes in,\u201d he says. \u201cNegotiations are critical for contracts, you’re working with agents all the time, and trying to figure that stuff out, so I was like, this makes a lot of sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He decided to enrol in law school, doing one year at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and then transferred to Tulane University, which he identified as the leading sports law program available, and which also offered a placement program with the San Antonio Spurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Saleh would go to the NBA Summer League or the G League showcase, splitting his hotel room with friends, spending money he didn\u2019t have while simultaneously spamming the inboxes of anyone in the league whose email address he could figure out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He did manage to land that placement with the Spurs, but didn\u2019t hear anything about the prospect of work after graduation when he had already accepted a job with a law firm in New Orleans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Spurs offer, when it came, was too good to refuse: $7 an hour, minimum wage in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDude, it was tough,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Saleh jumped at it and, over four years in San Antonio, was exposed to nearly every aspect of the organization. Most importantly, he had the chance to work alongside the likes of RC Buford and Gregg Popovich, the legendary management and coaching tandem that had led the Spurs to four of their five NBA titles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRC Buford and Pop were amazing mentors of mine,\u201d Saleh says. \u201cThey were phenomenal in my growth and development and then, after (four) years there, the Warriors ended up hitting me up. I didn\u2019t think I was going to leave San Antonio, but 15 minutes in a room with (then Warriors president) Bob Myers sold me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His timing was excellent as the Warriors won their fourth championship in Saleh\u2019s second season with the organization in 2021-22. And while his job title was initially assistant team counsel, a nod to his legal background, he quickly progressed to vice-president of basketball strategy and team counsel, responsible for areas as wide-ranging as salary cap compliance to immigration matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also came upon a specialty developing long-range roster-building forecasts based on extended salary cap models that wowed insiders with their level of detail. He was hired by the Hawks as assistant general manager in the spring of 2024 and was promoted to the GM role this past April after the Hawks fired Landry Fields.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a rapid ascent, even if Saleh had spent nearly a decade sweating over the minutiae of team-building inside two of the NBA\u2019s most successful organizations. But he wasn\u2019t prepared for everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His first general managers’ meeting was held the afternoon of the NBA draft lottery on May 12th,\u00a0and he turned some heads when he arrived wearing a flat-brimmed ballcap and hoodie. \u201cNobody told me the dress code,\u201d jokes Saleh, whose preferred casual style is a mild hybrid of hip-hop and hipster in keeping with his personal brand that comes across as genuine, disarming and a level of low-key that belies his role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill Hardy (Utah Jazz head coach and a friend from his Spurs days) was there and he was like, ‘You\u2019re going to the GM meeting like that?’ But Andre Iguodala (former Warrior and now executive director of the NBPA) was like, ‘I love it,’ and (Lakers GM) Rob Pelinka was very supportive, so it was all good.\u201d<\/p>\n

(But) guys like Bob (Myers) and RC have always told me \u2018Just be yourself.’ You can\u2019t take yourself too seriously when it comes to this,\u201d Saleh said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re super blessed and fortunate to be in these positions, but you can\u2019t change who you are, and being authentic yourself is the right way to do this. But I\u2019ll be more prepared for that meeting next time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being new to the job hasn\u2019t otherwise hindered him. The Hawks were acknowledged as having had one of the best off-seasons of any team in the league, signing Nickeil Alexander-Walker in free agency, trading for big man Kristaps Porzingis and lengthening their bench with the addition of Luke Kennard. As well, the Hawks made what could end up being a franchise-shifting trade on draft night when they swapped the rights to the 13th\u00a0pick (Derik Queen) to New Orleans for the rights to the 23rd\u00a0pick (Asa Newell) in return for the rights to swap picks in a loaded 2026 draft, a move that looks particularly good given the Pelicans are 2-6 and projected to be a lottery team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If it works out, it will be another example of Saleh\u2019s penchant for having the right mix of hard work and ambition to be ready when good fortune finds him, a strategy that has taken him from small-town Alberta to the NBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In what promises to be a crowded and unpredictable Eastern Conference playoff race, the Atlanta Hawks and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-277346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}