HOUSTON – Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey has earned selection to the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily Forty Under 40 Class of 2010. The Forty Under 40 Awards program honors the most promising young executives in sports business under the age of 40. The accomplishments of these bright, young stars of sports business will be celebrated at the 2010 Forty Under 40 Awards Banquet on March 18 at the JW Marriott, Los Angeles at L.A. Live.

Morey, who has spearheaded an innovative integration of statistical analytics into the evaluation of NBA talent, was recognized in 2009 as one of “The 10 Most Creative People in Sports” by Fast Company magazine. ESPN.com recently named the Rockets the second-best management team in basketball. Morey’s ability to manage and bolster the Rockets roster also earned him YAHOO.com Executive of the Year accolades in 2008-09. In addition to earning votes for 2008-09 NBA Executive of the Year, Morey was named “Top 50 Most Influential in Basketball” in 2009 by HOOPSWORLD. Morey also co-chairs the annual MIT Sloan Sports Conference, which is the largest annual sports conference hosted by a business school.

The Forty Under 40 Awards program was initiated in 1999 by Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily to identify and select the most promising young executives in sports business under the age of 40. A committee of SportsBusiness Journal editors and writers carefully study each nomination for consideration and select the forty executives from among hundreds of nominations received each year, which consists of more than 600 annual candidates. The Forty Under 40 selection committee seeks to recognize extremely talented and accomplished individuals who are responsible for significant achievements and success in sports business.