I found this interesting article on the former Hawks GM, Billy Knight. Knight essentially, built the core of the team, including Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Al Horford, and Josh Smith. The article truly displays how much of what a general manager does lives after them.(figuratively) When you're a player, you work hard in practice and you go out and pick up the triple-double, your team wins and you feel great. When you're a GM, you put together a package and sometimes don't see the results for a few years. I don't do justice by explaining it here so check out the link. It's worth a read.

edit: apperently the link is not working so go to nba.com, and type in Hawks GM

courtesy: nba.com