ATLANTA, GA (October 1, 2007) - "Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees", exclaimed Atlanta Krunk Founder and President Duane "Spyder D" Hughes, after stepping aside as acting General Manager for the franchise. "Our potential new partners were very adamant about the position of GM, and who would permanently fill that position since I was only "acting" GM. The position is a very important postion in any sports franchise and I had reached out to a few persons, but had no firm commitment from anyone. It is not an easy position for a minor league basketball franchise, in a major league city. This position is hard work, and I can vouch for that after having sat in that chair for the past few months. I was on the phone talking to Vincent about possibilities to fill the position, and BAM!!, it hit me...duh! I am talking to my general manager right now! It was an absolute no brainer. The only reason why I hadn't made the move sooner, was I firmly believed Vince and Kenny (first year Head Coach and former NBA All Star Kenny Anderson) were joined at the hip as coaches", continued Hughes. "There are some other persons that I have a lot of respect for, and were highly considered for the position, but Vincent Smith (who is the brother of two time NBA champion Houston Rocket and TNT/NBA analyst Kenny "The Jet" Smith) is a natural selection considering his incredible basketball resume of finding and developing players, as well as his longtime mentoring of Kenny Anderson. I called majority owner Freedom Williams, and he asked me did Vincent want the position, as he too thought that Mr. Smith and Kenny Anderson were inseperable as coaches".
Freedom Willams, former lead vocalist and brainchild behind multi platinum pop/dance group C&C Music Factory, who has known Vincent Smith and Kenny Anderson since childhood days in Lefrak City in Queens, NY, offered the following: "Vincent Smith has discovered and developed a ton of ballplayers throughout his lifetime of dedication to the game. What he brings to the table as our General Manager makes Spyder and myself look like geniuses. I am happy for him, as he deserves this opportunity to show the world what we in the basketball community have know for a longtime". Williams is the majority owner in the Krunk, which joined the Continental Basketball Association in August of 2006.
Added Hughes, "We will now replace Vincent with second assistant Lamont Moreno as Kenny's right hand man on the bench. Lamont did an excellent job for us in the draft this past week, and we are equally happy for him with becoming lead assistant coach. He has worked tirelessly for us these past few months.
Kenny Anderson was elated for his longtime mentor, stating from his Florida home, "Vincent will make an excellent GM, and I for one, am glad that we stayed inside the organization and family with this choice. We will miss him on the bench, but Lamont and I work well together, and we will still have Vince's support".
One of Smith's first acts as GM was to tab James Williams as Assistant GM, and name Corey Allen as VP of Sales & Marketing.
The Krunk, who have signed a development deal to do a reality show begin play on November 16th against the longtime CBA powerhouse Albany Patroons, and make their home debut in Atlanta at Morris Brown College's John H. Lewis Gymansium on November 21st, 2007.