Silver Compliments Mavericks On Handling Of Front Office Scandal

Commissioner Adam Silver said the Mavericks have made significant progress in reforming their front office since an embarrassing workplace misconduct scandal was made public last year, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.

Silver traveled to Dallas on February 6 to assess the current state of the organization. He spoke with almost every team employee in an effort to see whether the reforms that were installed have made a difference.

“At least what was reported directly to me and through the organization is that it was a complete sea change in culture on the business side with the Mavericks, that Cynthia Marshall was getting the highest possible grades, along with the new senior management team that she brought in,” Silver said. “I think many employees, longtime employees there, felt somewhat liberated, while some felt still, honestly, a bit scarred. That they thought systems, most importantly, had been put in place … to ensure that they don’t end up happening ever again in a situation like that.”

Marshall was hired as CEO to clean up the organization after the scandal broke last February. Silver said NBA president of social responsibility Kathy Behrens has been working with her and team owner Mark Cuban to make sure that promises are being kept, including Cuban’s vow to donate $10MM to women’s organizations that stand up against domestic violence.

“I got a report directly from Cynthia and from Kathy,” Silver said. “Mark is absolutely meeting his commitment and has told me he’s doing far more than that. That is his personal decision and not something he’s seeking publicity around, so I won’t talk more about that.”

In addition to changes in Dallas, Silver said the incident inspired the other NBA teams to assess their management practices to make sure the league never has to deal with another scandal of this type.

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