Medina: Chris Paul Calls on NBA to Improve Diversity in the Front Office
Chris Paul and Adam Silver want the NBA to be more diverse in its hiring practices, especially when it comes to people on the sidelines and in the front office. While the NBPA and the league were discussing how to get the season restarted, they also talked about how to address racial injustice.
According to Mark Medina of USA Today, the issue of how the league was going about hiring people for key positions was a topic of conversation. Those discussions were extended to the most recent board of governors meeting.
Paul, who is the President of the NBAPA, says, “It’s something we’d both like for Adam, and the league will continue to have discussions about that.”.... “The league is predominantly African American players.”
“So you’d like to see more people higher in executive positions.”... “The league has told us, and it’s up to us and the players and union to hold them to that to make sure more people of color and women continue to keep being in these executive roles all throughout the league.”
There are only 11 women who are assistant coaches in the NBA and zero that are head coaches. San Antonio’s Becky Hammon has been brought up as a candidate; she even lead the Spurs Summer League team to a championship, but still hasn’t gotten the call-up.
While four Black Men were hired as General Managers during the NBA’s shutdown, there are still only nine Black GM’s for the league’s 30 teams. There is one Latino General Manager and one African-American owner.
Commissioner Adam Silver says the league can do better. “There is no doubt there is more we can do internally, the league and our teams, and in terms of our hiring practices.”
“The league needs to do a good job, in particular, when it comes to hiring African Americans at every level in the league. It’s something we have been focused on with our teams.”
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