Karnisovas has a proven track record, but some point to the lack of diversity in the candidate poolNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The Bulls last week hired Nuggets GM Arturas Karnisovas as their new Exec VP/Basketball Operations, an "astute choice and one of the league's rising executives," but while Karnisovas has a proven track record, several African-American execs around the league looking for an opportunity "noticed the lack of people of color, or women, in the candidate pool," according to Gary Washburn of the BOSTON GLOBE. There is a "perception that there is a glass ceiling for African-Americans in front office positions, especially since owners generally are seeking executives with analytics backgrounds." African-American execs such as Thunder VP/Basketball Operations Troy Weaver, Knicks Assistant GM Gerald Madkins and Clippers Assistant GM Mark Hughes have "spent years advancing slowly through the ranks, waiting for opportunities to run teams," but "often, they can't even get an interview." Washburn: "Should the NBA institute a rule like the NFL has for such cases, where at least one minority candidate must be interviewed?" What the NBA "lacks is a Fritz Pollard-type of alliance to publicly call out teams on these hiring processes." NBA teams "should hire the best candidates, but to say these best candidates are mostly white or male is inaccurate" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/12).
