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“I still feel like if there’s a résumé from Bill and a résumé from Betty, it’s easier to take Bill. So I work for opportunities for young women who want to do this. You can’t be it if you can’t see it. So, here I am — see. That’s my little mission, and they tolerate me with it up on the seventh floor.” —Susan O'Malley
“Whether it was David Stern or Michael Jordan or Abe Pollin or Ted Leonsis, you name it, she could stand her ground with anyone. She respected them all, but she also felt like she belonged. The get-after-it like a dog on a bone wasn’t because she was trying to prove anything. It’s just the way she was built. Her dad was the exact same way. And she just pushed until she got the answer she wanted — or at least got an understanding of the position of the other individual.” —Rick Moreland, former senior vice president of sales, Washington Sports & Entertainment
“The challenge that she had, I think people today would underestimate what that really was at that time. Not to be cliché, but she really was a young woman in a world dominated by men. She had to work so hard just to make sure that people took her seriously. She always used to say, ‘I just don’t want to screw it up for the next one.’ And she meant that. She had this internal pressure on herself to be the role model that she became.” —Matt Williams, former executive vice president and chief of staff, Washington Sports & Entertainment
“It was a big deal that an owner had put a woman in charge of the entire business side of the team. That was a first. David [Stern] and I felt it was a very positive step. And there was no ambivalence about what her role was. She was in charge.” —Russ Granik, former NBA deputy commissioner
“We always believe in blending theory and practice. If we’re going to bring in someone to talk about the practice, we try to bring in people at the highest level. Having a pioneer glass ceiling shatterer just down the road, we had to reach out to see if she was interested in coming.” —Matt Brown, University of South Carolina sport and entertainment management department chair
