The makeover of the New Jersey Nets front office began in earnest on June 2, 2000, when Rod Thorn was introduced as the team's new president. Rod had spent the last four decades serving in the NBA as a player, assistant coach, head coach, general manager and league official before being named as Nets' team president.

Known for his hard work and dedication, Rod made a major impact in the re-shaping of the team's basketball operations early in his stewardship when, on June 27, 2000, he named three-time NBA championship player Byron Scott, a 14-year NBA veteran, as the Nets new head coach. The very next evening, the Nets selected the consensus National Player of the Year, Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin, as the Number One draft pick in the 2000 NBA Draft.

As president and general manager of the Nets, Rod had the responsibility of managing the basketball side of the organization, including all team personnel and player-related issues. Rod put his firm stamp on the direction of the Nets on-court fortunes when he engineered two major deals the final week in June of 2001. On June 27, 2001, Rod traded the Nets first pick in the 2001 NBA Draft (Eddie Griffin- 7th overall) to the Houston Rockets for their three first round picks (Richard Jefferson-13, Jason Collins-18 and Brandon Armstrong-23).

One day later, on June 28, Rod negotiated a major six-player blockbuster trade with the Phoenix Suns that landed the Nets three-time First Team All-NBA guard Jason Kidd in exchange for Stephon Marbury. This deal was the first time in the Nets' NBA history that the team had a First Team All-NBA performer on its roster, and sent a strong signal to the teams and fans of the NBA that Rod would be taking a very aggressive posture in transforming the Nets into a playoff-caliber team. This transformation was rapid, as the team took the NBA by surprise in year two of Rod's tenure as the head of the Nets' basketball operations. The Nets achieved unprecedented success as a franchise during the 2001-02 campaign, establishing a new benchmark for wins (52), as well as copping the Atlantic Division title for the first time. The Nets posted the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference, earning the team home-court advantage for the 2002 NBA Playoffs. The Nets took full measure of that advantage, as they knocked off Indiana, Charlotte and Boston to win the Eastern Conference title for the first time in franchise history, advancing to the NBA Finals. The Nets were subsequently ousted by the defending World Champion Los Angeles Lakers in four games, but Rod's input into this magical season did not go unnoticed, as his peers voted him the 2001-02 NBA Executive of the Year.

The following season, the Nets continued as the leaders of the Eastern Conference, compiling a 49-33 regular season mark, once again winning the Atlantic Division title, and then marching through the Eastern Conference Playoffs, eliminating Milwaukee, Boston and Detroit (sweeping both Boston and Detroit) before falling to the San Antonio Spurs in six games in the NBA Finals.

Although they had just made their second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, the Nets offseason was anything but tranquil, as Rod solidified the immediate future of the team by re-signing All-Star Jason Kidd to a long- term contract.

In 2003-04, the Nets won their third straight Atlantic Division title and fell to the subsequent World Champion Detroit Pistons in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. This three-year stretch under Rod's stewardship, which included three Atlantic Division titles, two Eastern Conference championships and two trips to the NBA Finals, was unparalleled in Nets history and transformed the image of the team throughout the NBA.

In December of 2004, Rod once again displayed his personnel mastery when he engineered a three-for-one trade that brought the Nets then five-time All-Star Vince Carter to join Kidd in the Nets backcourt.

Before taking on his current role with the Nets, Rod spent 14 years working for the NBA's league office in Manhattan, where he was the NBA's Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. At the NBA office, Rod oversaw all on-court operations, including officiating, game conduct and discipline. He has also served as chair of the Senior Men's Basketball Committee for USA Basketball (1992-2000), the committee responsible for selecting players and coaches for the Olympics and the World Championship of Basketball. Rod was also a member of the select NBA Rules Committee formed in March of 2001 and chaired by Jerry Colangelo, CEO of the Phoenix Suns, that advised the NBA's Board of Governors on changes in the league's playing rules. These innovative rules changes included the elimination of illegal defense guidelines, the institution of a new defensive three-second rule, eight seconds instead of 10 to advance the ball past midcourt and the elimination of incidental contact if it does not impede the progress of the player with the ball.

This is the second time Rod has been associated with the Nets. In 1973, as an assistant to former teammate and Nets Head Coach Kevin Loughery, Rod helped lead the New York Nets of the ABA to their first- ever ABA Championship. Two years later, Rod became head coach of the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis. In 1976, Rod once again joined Loughery as an assistant coach with the Nets in the NBA, staying two more seasons. In 1978, Rod began a seven-year stint as general manager of the Chicago Bulls, which included the drafting of Michael Jordan in 1984. During his tenure with Chicago, Rod was also the interim head coach for 30 games in 1982.

Rod first entered the league in 1963, drafted by the Baltimore Bullets as the second overall pick in that year's NBA Draft. After playing one season in Baltimore, Rod spent a year and a half in both Detroit and St. Louis before finishing his career in Seattle with the Sonics. While in Seattle, Rod enjoyed the best season of his career in 1967-68, averaging 15.2 ppg and 3.5 apg. He finished with career averages of 10.8 ppg and 2.6 apg. An All-American guard at West Virginia, Rod followed in the collegiate footsteps of such NBA stars as Jerry West and Rod Hundley. At the conclusion of his playing career, he became an assistant to Seattle coach Lenny Wilkens in 1971.

Rod graduated from the University of Washington (Seattle) with a B. A. in political science. He also holds an honorary degree from West Virginia University. Rod served on the Board of Directors of West Virginia University for five years, and was the commencement speaker for the WVU winter graduation in 2003.

Rod and his wife, Peggy, reside in Rye, New York. They have a son, Jonathan, a teacher in the Washington, D.C. area, and twin daughters- Amanda, who is a senior manager in the marketing communications department of the NBA, and Jessica, who is a practicing lawyer in Washington D.C.