Joseph A. Axelson (December 25, 1927 – May 31, 2008) was an American sports executive who served as general manager of Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City Kings/Sacramento Kings from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1982 to 1988.
After a one-year stint as the sports publicist at Furman University, Axelson returned to GTC as the school's public relations director.
Axelson traded Bill Dinwiddie and a draft pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Cousy's playing rights.
[9] That same year, Axelson dealt Jerry Lucas and Adrian Smith, whose style of play was not suited to Cousy's fast-break offense, to the San Francisco Warriors in separate trades.
During the offseason, Axelson traded star Oscar Robertson for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk, both of whom were not effective with the Royals.
[13] On June 25, 1973, the Jacobs family sold the Kings for $5 million to Missouri Valley Pro Sports, Inc., a group of Kansas City businessmen headed by Ray Evans and H. Paul Rosenberg that also included Axelson.
[16] Magic Johnson had strongly considered leaving Michigan State after the 1977–78 season to join the NBA, but after meeting with Axelson he changed his mind, because the Kings were in line to have a high draft pick and Magic was completely unimpressed by Axelson and considered the notion of being chosen by him in the 1978 draft a non-starter.
[17] On April 30, 1982, The Kansas City Kings announced that Axelson would return as president and general manager on a five-year contract.
[18] On June 17, the Kings were sold to New York City businessmen Irwin Feiner, Al Steinberg, and B. Gerald Cantor.
[21] Although the city officials made efforts to improve the lease, the Kings announced on January 21, 1985, that the team had asked the NBA for permission to relocate to Sacramento, citing revenue and attendance problems.
They were the first team in NBA history to sell out every home game in their inaugural season, finished fifth overall in ticket sales, and had the third highest local television ratings.
[25] On March 7, 1988, with the Kings sitting at 17–41, Russell was removed as head coach and was named vice president in charge of basketball operations.