INDIANAPOLIS — Kelly Krauskopf, the Indiana Fever’s original top executive, will leave her position as the Pacers’ assistant general manager to return to the Fever as president of basketball and business operations at the end of the 2024 WNBA season according to a news release Monday from Pacers Sports and Entertainment.

Krauskopf was the Fever’s president and general manager from the team’s inception in 2000 until 2018 when she joined the Pacers’ front office and became the first woman in NBA history to hold an executive basketball management role, according to the team. The Fever reached the playoffs 13 times in her tenure, making the WNBA Finals three times and claiming the league championship in 2012. The Pacers reached the playoffs twice in her first two seasons, went through a brief rebuild and reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2023-24.

Lin Dunn, who coached for seven years under Krauskopf in her first tenure, will maintain her role as the Fever’s general manager.

“The WNBA and the Fever have always been a part of me, and it is truly a privilege to be asked to return to lead this team at this unprecedented time of the growth in women’s basketball,” Krauskopf said in the news release. “I want to thank Kevin Pritchard for asking me to join his management staff six years ago. There’s no doubt that experience will serve me well as I enter this next chapter.”

Krauskopf, who was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, played college basketball at Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M, transferring for her junior and senior seasons before graduating in 1983. After graduating, she joined Texas A&M’s athletic department and rose to the level of assistant athletic director before joining the Southwest Conference in 1990 and becoming assistant commissioner there. In 1996, she helped launch the WNBA, becoming the league’s first director of operations and helping craft the rules, scheduling and officiating policies before the league began play in 1997. She joined the Fever in 1999 when it was added to the league and has been with Pacers Sports and Entertainment since, but she also helped the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team select its rosters for the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

“Kelly’s entire career has been about stepping into critical roles and providing unparalleled leadership, and I am incredibly excited to have her lead the Fever through this historic moment for the franchise and the sport,” Mel Raines, Chief Executive Officer of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, said in the press release. “She laid the foundation for the success we are enjoying and is a true trailblazer for the sport, and there is no one better equipped to lead us into this exciting new chapter.”

Said Pacers president of basketball operating Kevin Pritchard, in the same release: “Kelly has long been a trend-setter and trailblazer, and we could not be more excited for her as she returns to lead the Fever into a very bright future,” said Kevin Pritchard, Pacers President of Basketball Operations. “During her time with us, she was a key part of our front office and was integral in helping build the roster that reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season. As she leaves to write a new chapter in her already successful career, we are grateful for her contributions to the Pacers and wish her the best!”