Brian McIntyre may be retired from the NBA, but he keeps close to the sports business thanks in part to his son Brendan, who has followed in his dad’s public relations footsteps as senior director of corporate communications for the USTA.
“It’s cool,” McIntyre said of seeing his son follow him into the business. “He works hard. He’s lucky, and he knows he’s fortunate to be working with [USTA managing director of corporate communications] Chris Widmaier, learning from him as well. I get a lot of reports from people, and it makes me proud.”
McIntyre takes in a Cubs game with son Brendan, who works in PR for the USTA.Courtesy of Brian McIntyre
But don’t think that Brendan McIntyre traded on his father’s name to work in sports.
“The one thing I wanted to do was make it on my own,” Brendan said. “With a last name like McIntyre it was going to be somewhat tough. Maybe my résumé came to the top of the pile, but I purposely did not want to get into a team or league in basketball. I thought they’d look at me and question whether I got in on my own merits.”
But there is no doubt of the influence that Brian had on his son.
“As I grew up and went to Georgetown, in the back of my mind, I knew that it was something I wanted to do,” Brendan said. “It was the way he went about his job. The passion he had for what he did was inspiring.”
Having a father who helped define sports media relations is also a great resource for Brendan.
“We talk business 100%,” Brendan said. “It would be foolish not to. We had the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Open a few years back, and I drilled him for hours on end. I pick his brain on anything and everything. He put his heart and soul into his job, and I try to take that to heart.”
