This is the story of a man who has left a legacy of success in various professional sport and business ventures.

Among many other accomplishments, Jerry Colangelo owned the NBA's Phoenix Suns, built two state-of-the-art sports facilities and brought Major League Baseball to Phoenix with the Arizona Diamondbacks expansion team. Additionally, he won a world championship with the Diamondbacks and was the architect of the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team return to greatness. He was also responsible for bringing America an international victory by creating the team that won the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

After a stint with the Chicago Bulls working as marketing director, scout, and assistant to the president, Colangelo departed to accept a position with the Phoenix Suns. He arrived in Arizona in 1968 with his wife, three kids, and $300 to his name. At age 26, Colangelo became the youngest General Manager in sports history with the Phoenix Suns.

Colangelo worked hard to fulfill his dream of owning the Phoenix Suns. He stepped up and coordinated a group of investors that purchased the club for $44.5 million on October 14, 1987. During his 40 years with the Suns, Colangelo was a hands-on leader. In his entrepreneurial role, he headed all business and basketball facets of the franchise from selling tickets to coordinating sponsorships and brokering media deals. Having served as Chairman and CEO, general manager, and head coach of the Phoenix Suns, Colangelo boasts the second longest tenure with one franchise in the NBA.

Purchasing the Phoenix Suns was the first of many transactions that helped Colangelo not only stabilize the basketball organization, but also be branded as a business mogul. While in Chicago for a Suns game, Colangelo attended a Cubs baseball game. Soon after, he had a group of investors and in 1994 he bought the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise, a Major League Baseball expansion team. The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees in a thrilling seven-game series in 2001. Colangelo delivered the first major sports Championship to the Phoenix area.

Colangelo was also instrumental in the start-up of other teams such as the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury. Colangelo was paramount in bringing the NHL to Arizona in the form of the Winnipeg Jets, in 1997. The hockey team now plays in the suburb of Glendale as the Phoenix Coyotes.

Jerry Colangelo is a respected American businessman and sports mogul. He has changed the landscape in the game of Basketball. As former Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors, Colangelo has been a major influence on the growth of the NBA. Colangelo has been named the NBA's Executive of the Year an unprecedented four times. In 2004 he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Taking into account all that he has accomplished for the NBA, basketball in general and his country, all while overcoming prostate cancer, Jerry Colangelo is clearly one of the most inspiring, passionate and dedicated men in sports history.