Sunday

Sports Notes, Thoughts, and Observations on Masters Weekend

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – This will be a column of free-flowing thoughts and observations from the past week. In honor of the Masters, I bring you a Sunday Sports Notebook “Unlike Any Other.”

“One Shining Moment” was lauded last week just before the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament came to a wonderful Final Four close with one amazing semi-final game (Gonzaga over UCLA) and an incredible display of overall offensive and defensive talent by the 2021 NCAA Champion Baylor Bears with their title win over the previously undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Little did we know that “One Shining Moment is actually a not-so-distant cousin to the famous Masters mantra “Tradition Unlike Any Other”  – a phrase made famous by CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz. The catch-phrase, can be attributed (once said Nantz) to the same man who was behind “One Shining Moment.” That is Doug Towey, the CBS Sports Creative Director who so sadly passed away in 2009 at the age of 61. … In the sports industry, it’s important to “Make a Mark,“and Towey did that behind the scenes at Blackrock with two iconic spring sports traditions that will – hopefully – last forever.

Speaking of “Making a Mark,” Rick Welts, the President of the Golden State Warriors, this week announced that this season would be his last with the franchise. In full disclosure, I used to report to Welts when he was the head of communications and marketing at the NBA – a bit before his promotion to the President of NBA Properties.

In one of Welts’ senior management presentations at an internal business summit held at the Doral Conference Center in Rye Brook, NY, he noted the most important things to consider if you were to be a success at the NBA. Four of them always resonated with me and rose to the top of Welts’ list:

1. Know the NBA’s History
2. You’re Often Judged by the Way You Contribute to the Goals of Others
3. Conflict is Good; Un-resolved Conflict is Not Good.
4. Make a Mark

That, indeed, is what Welts did and will continue to do so, in some fashion, I am sure.

Winning seems to follow Rick Welts around, as evidenced by a laundry list of amazing career accomplishments. Here are a few off the top of my head:

1. In his first sports job, as a ballboy for the now defunct Seattle SuperSonics, the Sonics won the NBA Championship (1979). More importantly, those years struck the chords for a lifetime friendship between Welts and Bill Russell, the NBA’s “Babe Ruth.”
2. As the head of NBA Properties, the business and marketing arm of the league, Welts spearheaded the launch and marketing of the WNBA, together with USA Basketball and his staff, he planned and executed all media, marketing and PR efforts behind the 1992 USA Basketball Dream Team – from inception to the staging of the Basketball Tournament of the Americas in Portland (the USA had to qualify for Barcelona ‘92) and right up until the USOC took over marketing rights at the ‘92 Summer Games. Welts built NBA Properties and further grew its influence in Consumer Products (think NBA Hoop Cards, E/A Sports video games, apparel, you name it) into a $2 Billion operation that had a mantra of, “we’re not just in the business to sell, but more importantly to renew and improve existing sponsorships, licensees and advertisers.” … Aside from those major marks, Welts was behind the expansion of the NBA All-Star Game into a full NBA All-Star Weekend, complete with All-Star Saturday’s Slam-Dunk and popular Three-Point Shootout. … He played a lead roll in most of the NBA’s International business and marketing efforts, including the establishment of regional offices around the world. … There’s plenty more but column inches, even online, are somewhat limited.
3. After his stint at the NBA league office, Welts took a side-step to work with Chase Carey and FOX Sports’ interests in professional sports, including STAPLES Center, the LA Dodgers and other investments but the lure of the NBA came calling and he joined the Phoenix Suns as President, and later team CEO, running the franchise’s business operations. … In 2002, when Welts joined, the Suns went 36-46 but by 2004-05, they soared to a 62-20 record under Coach Mike D’Antoni. (The Suns fell short in the Western Conference finals.)
4. After his nine-year stint with the Suns, Welts joined the Golden State Warriors as team President in October, 2011. Of course, most credit is due to all-star level talent and strong coaching by Steve Kerr, but welts helped place an organizational foundation under the Warriors that resulted in five appearances in the NBA Finals and three NBA Championships (2015, ‘17 and ‘18).
5. In addition to his successes around the court, Welts also made a huge mark when, in May, 2011, he announced to the sports industry and the world that he was gay, and in doing so, was the first executive in m major sports to take that step so publicly in a front page New York Times story, nonetheless. … Welts noted he received thousands of notes, emails and not one was negative in any manner. … His tireless philanthropic work and true inspiration to all in the SF-Bay area just might outshine those 60+ win seasons and three NBA championship rings.
6. Most recently, Welts next took on one of the most difficult tasks in the sports industry as the Warriors’ lead exec for the club’s move from Oakland to San Francisco and the building of the brand new Chase Center and its surrounding, privately financed “Thrive City” multi-purpose entertainment facilities.

What’s Next or Who’s Got Next? Welts seems to be keeping it close to the vest while looking forward to a near-future, post global pandemic return to some normalcy and maybe travel to some of the spots he didn’t really get to see while on the job, whether they be Paris or Barcelona or other points in the worlds.

His interview with Mark Spears of The Undefeated touched on many of these very topics. Click HERE to read that column.

While Welts takes a well-deserved break from the pressure and running an organization in the middle to third quarter of the COVID-19 pandemic, this columnists wonders aloud what might happen if the Seattle SuperSonics franchise were to be resurrected sometime soon in the Emerald City and an ownership stake and President/CEO position came calling for a man to jump-start the expansion franchise?

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