President of Portland Trailblazers resigns

I just read a rumor yesterday that Danny was in line to possibly get this job.  I wish for his sake it is not true

I've been reading those rumors too.

Danny's from Eugene. He's a living sports legend in Oregon. I wish him well, and that includes his health. Think big picture, Danny, think big picture.


Bob


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Blazers President Chris McGowan steps down after 9 years

https://sports.yahoo.com/blazers-president-chris-mcgowan-steps-194724292.html

Sat, November 13, 2021, 10:15 AM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Trail Blazers President and Chief Executive Officer Chris McGowan has decided to step down after nine years in the position.

Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President Dewayne Hankins will take over as the team's new president of business operations.

McGowan's resignation is effective on Nov. 26. He released a statement thanking the Blazers organization and its fans.

''It has been a pleasure serving our passionate fans and team partners, and I wish nothing but continued success to everyone in Rip City,'' he said.

McGowan also serves as chief executive officer of Vulcan Sports & Entertainment. Seattle-based Vulcan Inc. is the privately held company founded by the late Paul Allen.

McGowan's resignation comes amid an outside investigation into workplace concerns surrounding the organization.

Both The Athletic and Yahoo Sports have reported the probe stemmed from allegations of workplace misconduct involving Neil Olshey, the team's president of basketball operations and general manager for the organization.

The Blazers confirmed the investigation in a statement Saturday. It did not name Olshey.

''The Portland Trail Blazers organization was recently notified of concerns around workplace environment by non-player personnel at the practice facility. In response, we immediately engaged O'Melveny & Myers, an outside firm with significant expertise in this area, to conduct a full, fair and independent review into these concerns and will take appropriate action based on its outcome,'' the statement said.

Olshey has been general manager of the Blazers since 2012.

Former Trail Blazers employees say Neil Olshey berated, intimidated staffers: ‘You tried not to be around him’

https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2021/11/former-trail-blazers-employees-say-neil-olshey-berated-intimidated-staffers-you-tried-not-to-be-around-him.html

Updated: Nov. 13, 2021, 4:00 a.m. | Published: Nov. 13, 2021, 4:00 a.m.

By Aaron Fentress | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Several former Portland Trail Blazers employees have either experienced or witnessed Neil Olshey berate, belittle and intimidate staffers to the point of creating anxiety in some about going to work, they told The Oregonian/OregonLive this week.

Some employees, according to one source, actively tried to avoid Olshey while at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin.

“You tried to not be around him,” the source said.

Olshey, the Blazers’ president of basketball operations, is being investigated for allegedly creating a toxic and hostile work environment at the team’s practice facility. The Blazers hired Olshey, 56, to be the team’s general manager in 2012 and in 2015 he was elevated to his current role. His contract runs through the 2023-24 season.

Front office jobs in the NBA come with immense pressure to build winners that generate multimillion-dollar profits. Big personalities and strong egos are common traits for many in Olshey’s position. But The Oregonian/OregonLive spoke with six people who said Olshey’s conduct routinely went beyond drive and passion and veered into verbal abuse and bullying.

A source who requested anonymity because the person still works within the sports industry said that Olshey primarily targeted lower-level staffers he knew couldn’t retaliate.

“Neil was the man, he was the man in power,” the source said. “That’s how the power structure worked.”

Another former Blazers employee who didn’t want to go into too much detail out of fear of being identified said they saw Olshey take things too far with employees on numerous occasions.

“Neil didn’t discriminate, I’ll say that,” the source said. “He didn’t discriminate who he berated or belittled. Anybody and everybody.”

The source has worked for several sports organizations and said that Olshey’s conduct was not the norm based on their experiences.

“I hadn’t seen that from any other executive and I’ve been around a few GMs,” the source said.

Multiple messages left for Olshey by The Oregonian/OregonLive seeking comment have not been returned. The franchise has declined comment beyond a statement last weekend acknowledging an investigation into workplace concerns. According to a source familiar with the Trail Blazers investigation, Olshey is prohibited from commenting on the matter.

Several former employees, who declined to offer specific details out of fear of being identifiable, said they were not surprised by the nature of the investigation. However, one former employee said that when Olshey became angry with an employee, he often used extreme profanity, at times called people “stupid” and on occasion let them know that he could replace them with anyone and they were lucky to have a job.

President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey (center) and Vice Chair Bert Kolde (left) as the Portland Trail Blazers open training camp for the 2019-20 season at the team's practice facility in Tualatin on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. Sean Meagher/Staff

“He just doesn’t care about your feelings,” the source said.

Multiple current employees reached by The Oregonian/OregonLive declined to comment on the investigation.

The team’s investigation into Olshey is being conducted by the Los Angeles-based law firm O’Melveny & Myers and reportedly began with interviews last week. Yahoo Sports reported Sunday that the investigation had been expanded to include current Blazers employees who do not work at the practice facility as well as former employees of the NBA team.

One longtime, high-level ex-Blazers employee who also requested anonymity because the person still works in the industry, said they never saw Olshey treat people poorly and that Olshey treated them wonderfully. This person said that when they left the organization, Olshey reached out and offered to help in any way possible.

This person acknowledged that their experience doesn’t mean that Olshey didn’t berate lower-level staff, but they said the allegations don’t represent the person they have known.

Antonio Harvey played eight years in the NBA and two with Portland (1999-2001) and later worked as a radio analyst for the Blazers from 2005-16. Harvey, now the CEO of Legends Brands & Products, a cannabis lifestyle brand, said that while he was with the Blazers he heard Olshey talk badly about people inside and outside the organization. Harvey also heard numerous complaints about Olshey from Blazers employees who worked at the practice facility.

“I know it happened because I heard people talking about it,” Harvey said. “But I never saw it happen. I can’t say I saw him do this to this person. What I can tell you is, I heard a lot of rumblings about how he wanted to control and manipulate. If you didn’t do what he said, he would just completely fly off the handle. He hated to be questioned. He hated to be second-guessed. These are all the things that I consistently heard coming from people who dealt with him on a day-to-day basis.”

Former Blazers player Dan Dickau, who released a podcast Monday detailing his interactions with Olshey while working as an assistant coach, told The Oregonian/OregonLive’s John Canzano this week that Olshey went on a profanity-laced tirade after finding out that Dickau had explored a different job in another part of the organization.

“When I see the news out of Portland and a lot of people are talking about different things that are happening or how people have been treated, I just kind of look at it and think to myself, ‘I’m not surprised,’ because he treated me that way right after he got the job,” Dickau said on his “Iso With Dan Dickau” podcast.

Dickau said his first interactions with Olshey came as a player with the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2006-07 season when Olshey was an assistant coach. Dickau described nothing negative about those interactions.

Dickau also played for the Blazers during the 2003-04 and 2006-07 seasons, and after his playing career was hired as a player development coach under interim general manager Chad Buchanan and coach Nate McMillan during the 2011-12 season.

According to Dickau, Olshey wasn’t up front with him about his employment status as an assistant coach during summer 2012, after the Blazers had hired Olshey and also were transitioning to a new coaching staff. So the former Gonzaga star reached out to Sarah Mensah, then the Blazers’ former executive vice president and chief operating officer, to inquire about a job on the business side of the franchise.

Two days later, Dickau said, Olshey called and lit into him.

“In an aggressive tone, he calls me and he starts cursing me out telling me, ‘Why would you (expletive) go behind my back,’” Dickau recalled on his podcast. “‘You went behind my back and tried to play politics with the email that you sent. You former players don’t get it. You don’t work. You’re lazy. You’re going to have a hard time finding a job in the league ever again if this is the way you act because you’re a former player, and you’re very lazy.’”

Dickau said he was taken aback by the call but defended himself. He went on to detail interviewing for a G-League head coaching job with Olshey but didn’t get it. With no position in place, Dickau left the organization.

Dickau, who played high school basketball at Prairie in Brush Prairie, Washington, said he grew up as a Blazers fan but hasn’t been much of one since he left the team.

“Portland deserves better for their fans,” Dickau said on his podcast. “They deserve better for their city. I would love to be a Portland Trail Blazers fan again. As I’m sure a lot of other people would in that city.”

A toxic situation that , if Ainge is smart, will stay far far away from. I know the opportunity to be involved with a team with players like Lillard and McCollum is intriguing but my gut tells. Me he is walking into a firestorm with players eventually demanding to be traded