Kelly Krauskopf joining Pacers as NBA's 1st female assistant GM

The Indiana Pacers hired former longtime WNBA executive Kelly Krauskopf as assistant general manager, making her the first female to hold that role in NBA history.

Krauskopf was the president and general manager of the WNBA's Indiana Fever for 17 years before overseeing the Pacers' esports team in the NBA2K League in 2017.

"Kelly has played the game, worked in the WNBA league office, helped build and run the Fever franchise from its beginning and eventually built a championship team," Pacers' President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard in a statement. "She is very well respected in all basketball circles and she has great knowledge of our entire operation, so when we looked at this position, it made complete sense to just look in our own building. We think she will be a great asset to myself, general manager Chad Buchanan and senior vice president of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie as we pursue our goal of building a winning team for our state and our city."

She'll now work under Pacers president Kevin Pritchard, who's been with the organization since 2011.

Krauskopf helped the Fever build a title contender, winning the 2012 WNBA championship and reaching the finals in 2009 and '15.