Leslie Claybrook Makes Move From G-League Ref To Squadron GM
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Leslie Claybrook has risen from G-League referee locker rooms to the general manager seat in the Birmingham Squadron boardroom. Though Claybrook has been working in the position for weeks, the organization has finally gone public with the promotion.
Claybrook accepted the position in June before heading to Las Vegas to watch NBA Summer League action and represent G-League interest in meetings with the New Orleans Pelicans front office. She takes over a team that occupies one of the best G-League arenas (Legacy Arena) and can boast about last year’s top five attendance despite COVID restrictions.
The new general manager in charge explained, "I think the biggest thing that they’ll see is we’re going to start the season on schedule with a home schedule in November versus last year in December when the facility was still being renovated. And so we’re going to hit the ground running, I believe, Veterans Day weekend. We’ll be our opening weekend all the way through March with a 25-game home slate against all the top teams in the G League."
Claybrook starred at the University of Alabama before moving to a coaching career at Mercer University and then Troy University. That experience led to Associate Athletic Director roles at Birmingham Southern, Samford, and Rice. Claybrook became a Southeastern Conference Assistant Commissioner in 2011.
Claybrook said of the move to men's professional basketball, “The NBA’s been at the forefront of providing those opportunities and giving women with experience a chance to be general managers and to run the show and to show that they’re, they’ve got the basketball skills and knowledge and the management tools to be successful in these areas and I’m honored and humbled to be one of three (women) in the G-League to run the Birmingham squadron and to be the general manager for this organization.”
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