NBA Commissioner David Stern is expected to reshuffle the league’s top management when he names a new deputy commissioner next week in New York during the league’s owners meetings.
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Adam Silver, president of NBA Entertainment,
may be set for a promotion. |
Stern was expected in February to name a successor to NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik, who will retire at the end of the season, but had not completed the restructuring and put off the moves until April. He is now expected to name Granik’s replacement at the meetings, set for April 18 and 19.
Despite the delay, sources close to the situation said that Adam Silver, president of NBA Entertainment and one of Stern’s top lieutenants, remains the leading candidate to take over for Granik, a move that puts into play more executive changes as Stern replaces Silver at NBA Entertainment.
Speculation has been swirling around Jerry Colangelo, the former Phoenix Suns owner and Board of Governors chairman, as a potential replacement for Granik, who will retire at the end of the season. But Colangelo said last week that he will not be part of any reorganization plan.
“There is no validity to the speculation,” Colangelo said. “David has his game plan that involves the restructuring and reassigning of responsibilities. I have an existing agreement with [Suns owner] Robert Sarver to spend another year as chairman and another five years as CEO, and that’s where I’ll be.”
Other top executives who may see their duties change as part of the reorganization are Joel Litvin, executive vice president of legal affairs, and Stu Jackson senior vice president of basketball operations. No matter who Stern taps to replace Granik, there will be immediate pressure to satisfy the league’s owners, who have long trusted Granik during his nearly 30 years with the NBA.
Silver, 43, joined the NBA in 1992 and is responsible for much of the league’s marketing efforts under NBA Entertainment. He has experience in running all facets of the league’s business, but the most important part of the deputy commissioner’s job description is earning the trust of the NBA owners.
Said Sacramento Kings owner Joe Maloof, “We all knew we could work with Russ and he was very service-oriented, so it’s important to find a guy that the owners trust. What’s very important is that the owners trust as much in the deputy commissioner as we trust in David Stern.”
