Daryl Morey

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Daryl Morey (born September 14, 1972) is an American basketball executive and the president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers. He is best known for an analytics-first approach to building teams, especially a emphasis on three-pointers and layups over mid-range shots. This strategy is often called “Moreyball,” a nod to Moneyball, and he helped start the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

Education and early career: Morey grew up in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and went to Highland High School near Medina, Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a statistics focus from Northwestern University in 1996 and an MBA from MIT Sloan. He began his career at STATS, Inc., where he helped adapt the Pythagorean theorem to basketball to predict wins and losses. He later worked at EY-Parthenon, and then joined the Boston Celtics in 2002 as senior vice president of operations, helping design analytical methods for drafting, trades, free agency, and scouting.

Houston Rockets era: In 2006 Morey became the Rockets’ assistant general manager and was promoted to GM in 2007. Under his leadership, the Rockets became one of the NBA’s most successful teams, making the playoffs nine times and reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2015 and 2018. He orchestrated the Rockets’ famous trade for James Harden in 2012 and earned NBA Executive of the Year honors in 2018. Morey’s approach blended advanced statistics with traditional scouting, making him one of the league’s most influential analytics-driven executives. He stepped down as Rockets GM in October 2020, with the team beginning a rebuild after his departure.

Philadelphia 76ers: Morey joined the 76ers as president of basketball operations on November 2, 2020. He has continued to apply analytics to team-building and decision-making. In March 2021 he suggested changing how points are valued for three-pointers, proposing they could be worth 2.5 points and that the court be widened to stretch out corner threes. In March 2025, Morey disclosed that the 76ers used artificial intelligence to assist key decisions, a move that drew mixed reactions from players and observers.

Other interests and notes: Morey is co-chair of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. He has been involved in esports, was part-owner of Clutch Gaming, and is passionate about musical theater, producing Small Ball in 2018. He is a chess enthusiast and has competed on Chess.com, where he has been described as a strong player and even a chess bot on the site. Michael Lewis’s book The Undoing Project highlights Morey as a real-world example of applying analytical thinking to basketball and decision-making.