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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NBA Memo Outlines Workplace Recommendations After Mavs Issues

The NBA has sent a memo to all teams with appropriate workplace recommendations in the wake of last week's investigative report around the Mavericks. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, "We used it as an opportunity to remind our teams what we view as best practices in terms of how to conduct an appropriate workplace and frankly avoid the kind of issues that were discovered in the Dallas Mavericks workplace. There is about a five-page section in the report that outlines 13 workplace recommendations that the investigators made in this case specifically for the Dallas Mavericks. But we at the League office thought it was so well done that it ... clearly put in one place a set of rules that we think all work places should follow, frankly, in the NBA and in all industries." He added, "We saw this as an opportunity to send those directly to our teams and say, 'Take a look at what you're currently doing, ... go down this checklist and make sure that you're doing those things as well.'"

SUSPENSION NOT WARRANTED: Silver said while the league imposed a $10M donation to be made by Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban to various women's groups as a penalty, he did not suspend Cuban because he was not implicated in any of the harassment issues and the team was very cooperative in the investigation. "I'll begin by saying I don't know what dollar amount could possibly compensate employees over a long period of time for that type of misconduct," Silver said. "I would say that I had to begin with, from a financial standpoint, with what my fining authority is in the NBA constitution. As you know, that's $2.5 million dollars. I arrived on a number that was four times that. In terms of why I did not suspend Mark Cuban, I was heavily influenced by the fact that after reading what was initially a much longer and detailed report from the investigators, that Mark Cuban was never directly implicated in the misconduct. So that was an important factor for me in making that decision. Should he have known in many cases? Absolutely. I would then say ultimately in deciding that a suspension wasn't appropriate what I very heavily weighed was the organizational reaction from the moment the Sports Illustrated story came out. And I can only say there, I've been with this organization for 26 years, I was a practicing attorney before then, and I cannot think of any situation where somebody was more transparent and more forthcoming, more accepting of responsibility than Mark was in this situation. The ability to talk directly about the very specific facts about what went on in that organization, as uncomfortable as those discussions will be for a lot of people, it wouldn't have happened without this level of cooperation provided by Mark Cuban and the Mavericks. And then beyond even the transparency and the remorse and the acceptance of responsibility, the speed in which changes were made" (John Lombardo, Staff Writer).

NIGHT & DAY: Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said that he has been "'amazed' by the transformation on the business side of the organization" since the February hiring of CEO Cynthia Marshall. Carlisle: "It's just a completely different vibe over there. Things have changed so much -- the mood, the atmosphere, the environment, the optics and the people. It's been a great thing to see." Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki: "You try to see that something good came out of all of this. ... We've changed the culture already in the front office with Cynt. She's going to be great for us for a long, long time" (ESPN.com, 9/21).

BAD OPTICS: In Dallas, Matt Mosley wrote Silver through his punishment is "trying to say that Cuban needs to be present for the cleanup process," although Marshall has been "doing pretty well on that front." Silver "went soft on Cuban, plain and simple." Mosley: "The NBA office hates that description, but IMO that's what took place." Mosley also noted it was a "miscalculation" by Cuban not being in Dallas for the release of the league's investigation. Cuban perhaps "thought taping an appearance on ESPN would give him a bigger platform." That is "probably true, but leaving Cynt Marshall and the lead investigator Anne Milgram to face the media seemed a bit of a cop out on his part" (DALLASNEWS.com, 9/22). The Athletic's David Aldridge said the NBA "had to send a stronger message" to both the Mavs and the league, but the $10M is still "significant." Aldridge also said even though Cuban "may not have known exactly what was going on, it’s his team." Aldridge: "This is not one person doing one bad thing to one employee one time. This is a pattern of years of abuse of women” (“NBA GameTime,” NBA TV, 9/22).

WORKING ON A CULTURE OF INCLUSION: In Dallas, Alexa Philippou noted Jenny Boucek "made history this summer when she was hired" by the Mavericks, becoming the "first female to join the team's coaching staff in franchise history." Boucek said, "The NBA is really blazing the trail of getting women opportunities to (be) in the conversation. We don't want women anywhere who don't deserve it and haven't earned it, but we want to have the opportunity to see if we can be a good fit somewhere" (DALLASNEWS.com, 9/21).

TOO SOFT: In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote while Rachel Nichols did a "fine interview with an abnormally reticent Cuban, the ESPN venue came off too cozy." Even when an ESPN personality -- like Stephen A. Smith -- "took issue with the sleaze inside the organization Cuban runs, they prefaced it by saying what a good guy/owner Cuban is." Raissman: "That's called vomit material" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/23).

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