As the baton quite literally got passed from Cynt Marshall to new CEO Rick Welts, the Mavericks may not have been quite certain what they were getting with their new business operations leader.
Rest assured, there are few people more qualified or respected for the job.
Welts, 71, is a 47-year veteran of NBA work, having started as a ballboy for the Seattle SuperSonics when he was 16 years old.
He’s got a wide profile of accomplishments, not the least of which was helping the Golden State Warriors make the move from Oakland into the Chase Center in San Francisco, a challenge he may once again spearhead if the Mavericks angle for a new arena in Dallas. Oh, and being part of three championship teams with the Warriors is kind of important, too.
The common denominator for Welts at his many NBA stops has been that he is one of the most revered executives in league history, which is why he was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
“Rick was one of our very first hires with the Warriors after we assumed control of the team,” said Joe Lacob, Golden State’s Co-Executive Chairman and CEO. “And one of our very best hires during our now 14-year tenure. Rick is a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word.
“Hall of Fame person, Hall of Fame executive. He left an indelible mark on our franchise during his decade with the team and was a key figure in the building of the Chase Center. His vision and leadership from prior to ground-breaking to grand opening helped make our dreams become a reality.”
Welts has worked at every level in the business. He served on commissioner David Stern’s staff at the NBA office for 17 years, where he helped hatch the idea of All-Star Weekend and was a major force in the globalization of basketball, particularly with his involvement in the Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics. He was on the Sonics’ staff for more than a decade, including their lone championship in 1977.
He most recently worked as the head of the Phoenix Suns business office, then started in 2011 as the President and COO of the Warriors, a position he held for 10 years.
“When you think about executives in the NBA, it’s a dream to have someone like Rick Welts join your organization,” said Mavericks’ governor Patrick Dumont. “The level of accomplishment, the level of experience, the great things Rick has done is really remarkable. He’s a hall of famer and now he’s the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks.”
Welts said he will try to build on the solid foundation that was poured by Marshall in her seven years with the organization.
On Wednesday, he was introduced to the Mavericks’ business staff at a team meeting and then had an introductory news conference.
“I feel like I know this organization incredibly well,” Welts said. “Talking to the staff earlier, I remember coming here in 1980 when the Dallas Mavericks were a brand-new expansion team. Everything they did was new and raised the bar.
“I’ve seen this organization grow and succeed. I look to the next 20 years of the NBA as the most unbelievable growth opportunity that any sport has ever had. There’s no reason why this team shouldn’t stand toe to toe with any franchise in sports. We have everything here. The community where we live, it’s such an attractive place for players to come. If you look out over the next 20 years, I think you place big bets on soccer and basketball. And I think the NBA and Mavericks are a global opportunity that just doesn’t exist in other sports today.”
The hiring of Welts sparked waves of congratulatory notes from NBA executives both past and present.
“Phenomenal move by the Mavericks,” said Brian McIntyre, who led the NBA’s communications department for 34 years and worked extensively with Welts. “There’s nobody with more integrity than Rick. He gets it.
“If I was starting an NBA front office, Rick would be the No. 1 guy I’d hire to run it and there’s no second place. I just don’t know anybody who has more credibility.”
Welts was a visionary when it came to his time with the NBA. One of his first jobs was to find a way to market a new initiative in the early ‘80s.
It was called All-Star Weekend.
With the All-Star Game in Denver in 1984, Welts and the Nuggets orchestrated a Saturday schedule of events to augment the Sunday showcase of the All-Star Game.
He invented the slam-dunk contest in honor of the Nuggets’ ABA roots, and the old-timers’ game.
The dunk contest grew to have a life of its own. The old-timers’ game was, as Welts said, “not a great idea.”
Still, that first All-Star Weekend was the genesis of what now is nearly a weeklong schedule of events each year.
Similarly, Welts was instrumental in the NBA’s deep dive into international basketball. He worked closely with Stern and, as chief marketing officer and president of NBA Properties, he took the lead in getting the league involved in preseason games played in foreign countries.
And that’s important because of the Mavericks’ business model that now is stressing international growth both over social-media and traditional means.
“I was a part of the initial push internationally with David Stern,” Welts said. “The vision of what basketball can be, it’s the only sport other than soccer that’s played in every country in the world.
“In soccer, if you grow up in Paris, you dream about playing for your club team in Paris and then some day play for France in the World Cup. If you’re a kid growing up in Brazil bouncing a basketball, you’re only dream is to play in the NBA. There’s no other structure like that in sports and every great player wants to play in the NBA. That makes our product incredibly global and incredibly exportable in a way that’s just different than soccer, especially as a business. That’s a formula for success going forward as a global brand.”
It doesn’t hurt that the Mavericks have long been at the forefront on the international front with players like Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Dončić.
“Winning seems to follow Rick Welts around,” said Terry Lyons, a longtime NBA and sports executive who was heavily involved in the international explosion of the league. “Everything he touches, everywhere he goes, just put up a W. This is so well-deserved.”
That Welts has won championships with the Warriors (three times), the Sonics and the WNBA Phoenix Mercury would seem to reinforce that flair for success on the court.
So what formula will he bring to the Mavericks?
“It’s about always telling the truth, it’s about being a good community partner, it’s about doing what you say you’re going to do and treating people the right way,” Welts said. “And if you do that, you’re going to have a likelihood of success.
“Part of it is structure. I can announce we’re going to run the triangle. You have to have active, engaged ownership. I often get asked about what makes a team successful and I always say there are three factors you have to have for sustained success and they are ownership, ownership and ownership.
“I defy you to find a franchise in sports that’s enjoying sustained success without great, engaged ownership. That’s his job. He promises that’s the way he’s going to operate and the relationship Nico (Harrison) and I will have, hopefully that spreads throughout the organization to see how we work together and that’s how I expect our staff to work. There’s no magic to it. It’s a lot of hard work.”
The arrival of Welts spurred excitement within the organization, but knowing that Marshall, who was responsible for cleaning up a controversy-ridden front office before her arrival, is departing on Dec. 31 made for a mix of emotions.
Marshall in August had introduced this season’s business plan with the theme: “Many runners, one team: Ready, Set, Go.”
With that in mind, she literally handed a baton used in track and field to Welts at the all-staff meeting.
“I’m delighted to pass the baton to my friend and to arguably the best who has ever done the job of leading business operations of an NBA team,” Marshall said. “He won’t say that. But I know that. I’ve learned a lot over the last seven years and I’m very thankful to everyone who taught me the business of basketball.
“We have a vision that the Dallas Mavericks will one day be the No. 1 brand in sports and entertainment. I have no doubt that with our incredible fan base, our committed ownership and with Rick and the team we have in place both on and off the court, we will achieve our vision.”
X: @ESefko
Share and comment