Burlington grad Stockbridge making his mark in Houston Rockets' front office
High school basketball fans may not recall Travis Stockbridge from his playing days.
NBA fans will want to remember the name moving forward.
The 2012 Burlington Central salutatorian is the first to admit he was not a star player. He appeared in 9 games as a 6-foot-3 senior and scored 10 points.
"I didn't exactly have the playing career 10-year-old me dreamed of," joked Stockbridge, who grew up on Main St. in Burlington. Still, his passion for the sport grew exponentially.
Fast forward eight years. The now 26-year-old continues to ascend within the front office of the Houston Rockets, where he started as a Rice University freshman intern.
In addition to his ongoing role within the Rockets' scouting department, Stockbridge served this season as general manager of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston's G-League team. He was named to the post last fall at the age of 25, making him the youngest active general manager in the league and the second youngest ever.
How he earned such a position at his age is a testament to hard work and capitalizing on opportunities when they come along.
Stockbridge was brought in eight years ago to handle administrative duties in the Rockets' basketball operation but the intern did "whatever and everything" to be of service, he said.
That summer he remained in Houston to help with draft preparations. He began watching video of players. Not that his opinion mattered at that point, he said, but it was an opportunity to wet his feet in player evaluation.
Three members of the Houston front office were lured away by other NBA teams prior to the next season. Sam Hinkie became GM of the Philadelphia 76ers, Arturas Karnisovas was named assistant GM of the Denver Nuggets and Gersson Rosas was hired as GM of the Dallas Mavericks.
The departures left a void in the scouting department. Stockbridge seized the opportunity. While the organization's remaining veteran scouts focused on top prospects from Duke, Kentucky and Kansas, he and another intern looked for under-the-radar talent at smaller schools. He watched a ton of video and made inroads.
"Right place right time matters a lot," Stockbridge said. "I know plenty of people who are smarter than me or whatever, but maybe they just got some bad luck with where they're at. I've been really, really fortunate. I don't want to pretend it hasn't been hard work. At the same time, to pretend this is something I've had complete control over would be a lie."
Stockbridge worked in a similar vein for the next two seasons while learning as much as possible. He said his parents joked that he majored in Houston Rockets and minored in Rice. Still, the hard worker graduated a semester early in the fall of 2015.
Stockbridge made all personnel decisions for the Vipers this season in consultation with Houston assistant general manager and personal mentor Jimmy Paulis. He was the point person in terms of the G-League draft, trades and waiver claims. Meanwhile, he communicated daily with coaches, players and staff to ensure the basketball operation ran smoothly.
His long-term goal is to be an NBA general manager. Only 30 such jobs exist, so for now the year-to-year goal is "to just take on a bigger role than the year before, apply what I've learned from the previous year and do more," he said. "Then let the parts fall where they may."
Those parts align with a bright future for Travis Stockbridge.
Remember the name.