Pat Croce
| Pat Croce | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Pasquale Croce November 2, 1954 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, sports team executive and owner, author, TV personality |
Pasquale "Pat" Croce (born November 2, 1954) is an American entrepreneur, sports team executive and owner, author, and TV personality.
Croce is the son of an Italian American father and Irish American mother. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in 1977. He began his career as a physical therapist and was a physical conditioning and rehabilitation coach for the Philadelphia Flyers and an administrative director of the Sports Medicine Clinic of Haverford Community Hospital. Later an athletic trainer for the Philadelphia 76ers for more than 10 years, originally hired to help thin 7'6" center Shawn Bradley bulk up.He is a black belt in taekwondo, and commentates on Olympic Taekwondo during the Summer Olympics. He founded Sports Physical Therapists in 1984 and grew the business into a chain of 40 centers spanning 11 states before selling it in 1993 for $40 million. As of October 22, 2014, Croce had a net worth of $300 million.
He became president of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team in 1996 as part of a group led by Flyers founder Ed Snider and Comcast that bought the team. Under their ownership, the Sixers went from last place in 1996 to the NBA Finals in 2001. He resigned after the 2001 season. He appeared on the cover of Success magazine as the first trainer to rise to an ownership position with a professional sports team. He has also been featured in Inc. and Sales & Marketing Management.
...
Wikipedia