Sixers

Cavaliers Fans Don’t Seem to Know Anything About Mike Gansey, But You Can Always Trust a West Virginia Guy

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jun 1st, 2026 · 1:41 PM EDT

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Shams reported on Friday night, right when everybody was logging off for the weekend, that the Sixers were naming Mike Gansey president of basketball operations.

Gansey was general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, serving under POBO Koby Altman, and therefore Cavs fans don’t seem to know much about what he actually did for the team. That’s the gist I got from reading this Reddit thread from a Sixers fan asking for opinions on Gansey.

Said u/barkinginthestreet:

“No one really knows what he did, Cavs FO doesn’t talk a lot. Gansey is a certified baller tho, our radio announcer, has said he was the best HS player he saw and his tourney runs with West Virginia were a lot of fun 20 years ago.”

Yes they were.

Here’s DDiabloDDad:

“Followed the team my whole life and I barely know the guys name. No one knows shit about him.”

Another user wrote:

“Honestly don’t know. Always seemed like he was GM in name only because Koby Altman is the real decision maker”

Other fans seemed to think he was a really good scout and talent evaluator, pointing to his work with the G League’s Cleveland Charge. Gansey had a GM spell with the Charge and was named the 2017 G League Basketball Executive of the Year. He had been in the Cleveland organization since 2012 and worked his way up, but he wasn’t the guy who traded for James Harden. We’ll have to see how the Sixers fill out their front office in the post-Daryl Morey era to figure out what Gansey is even going to be doing here anyway.

What I can tell you is that Gansey was awesome at WVU. He transferred from St. Bonaventure and was part of those John Beilein teams that went to the Elite 8 and Sweet 16. There was nothing better than watching Gansey and Kevin Pittsnogle bombing three pointers in that offense. It seemed improbable on the surface, like here’s this ridiculous 6’11” white guy with tattoos and then Gansey wearing the baggy XL t-shirt underneath his jersey.

But those Beilein squads featured a lot of unheralded guys who played a cohesive team game that was perimeter-focused and fundamentally sound. Gansey was a guard/wing tweener who made smart decisions, killed teams with backdoor cuts, and could shoot the hell out of the ball, too. They spaced the floor and moved the ball quickly and played this high-IQ offensive game. On the defensive side, they used a 1-3-1 zone to effectively mask their lack of athleticism and rebounding ability, and it worked more often than not.

All of the guys from that era are smart basketball minds. They kind of had to be because they weren’t freak athletes. Gansey is an NBA executive now. Teammate Darris Nichols is coaching La Salle and Joe Mazzulla won a title with the Celtics. Pittsnogle became a teacher. Beilein’s son is a college coach, as are Frank Young and Da’Sean Butler. Everybody who came through West Virginia University between 2005 and 2015 is a very erudite individual with high-level critical thinking and people skills as well. I have no doubt that whatever Gansey ends up doing for the Sixers, he will do it very well.

WVU produces very intelligent (and humble) individuals.