This isn’t the first comeback Grunfeld has engineered, of course. When Grunfeld assumed general-manager duties in 2003, the Wizards were reeling from the departure of Michael Jordan. The team lacked direction and young talent to build around. Grunfeld quickly executed a series of brilliant maneuvers: He signed unheralded free agent Gilbert Arenas and acquired Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler for pennies on the dollar. The new team clicked and made four consecutive postseason appearances. Arenas became one of the league’s most recognizable stars, winning fans over with his colorful style of play and even more colorful commentary via the now-defunct “Agent Zero” blog. For a moment, Grunfeld seemed like a genius: He had resurrected a franchise on life support in the narrowest of time frames.

All at once, it all fell apart. Arenas tore his MCL in 2007. He underwent several surgeries to repair the joint, but he never recovered the explosive first step that made him so un-guardable during his prime. The team also now lacked young talent. But Grunfeld doubled down on the team he had, signing Arenas and Jamison to massive contracts. With a significant portion of their salary cap tied to an injured superstar and an aging veteran, the Wizards could not attract marquee free agents.

Then things just got weird, as Arenas admitted to storing firearms in his official team locker and received a lengthy suspension from the NBA front office for behavior detrimental to the league. What was once an upstart team led by a rebellious misfit quickly evolved into an uncomfortable example of professional athletes exhibiting tone-deaf behavior. The team hit a new low during the 2008-09 season by winning a mere 19 games. Soon after, Arenas, Butler, and Jamison were gone, supplanted by Nick Young, Javale McGee, and Andray Blatche, three players who made up for in on-court cluelessness what they lacked in talent.

Grunfeld rightfully shouldered the blame for the sudden decline. He had invested too much in Arenas and Jamison and failed to build through the draft. Despite having four first-round picks between 2003 and 2007, Grunfeld did not select a single player of consequence. The national media advocated for Grunfeld’s dismissal and criticized him relentlessly. When the team drafted University of Kentucky phenom John Wall with the first pick of the 2010 draft, they were a middling franchise in need of a savior. To the chagrin of the team’s few hardcore fans, recurring injuries to Wall’s knees and consistently shaky play during his first three seasons raised doubts about the young point guard’s ability to resurrect Washington basketball. The calls for Grunfeld’s dismissal continued.

To his vast—and, up to this point, unrecognized—credit, Grunfeld ignored the critics. After acquiring Wall in the 2010 draft, he coordinated a complete roster revamp.