The Mavs Released A Statement On A ‘Sports Illustrated’ Story Regarding Inappropriate Workplace Conduct


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Just two months ago, Sports Illustrated released a story detailing a number of allegations against Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and, shortly thereafter, word broke that the team would be put up for sale.

Now the Dallas Mavericks are seemingly making a move to preempt a piece of investigative journalism in the same general arena, as the team released a statement before the publication what they describe as an “upcoming Sports Illustrated article.”

So far, not much is known about what Sports Illustrated wrote, or are preparing to write, save for what details the Mavericks decided to release in their statement regarding the article. The statement details an allegation against “a former officer of the organization” that includes “various acts of inappropriate conduct toward women over a period of years.” In addition, it indicates that the individual in question is no longer employed by the Mavericks organization and “outside counsel” has been retained to put together an investigation.

Here’s a portion of the statement, which details the allegations that pop up in the story. For the full release, head over to the Mavericks’ website.

The Dallas Mavericks have received information about behavior in our workplace that appears to have violated the organization’s standards of conduct. It has been alleged that a former officer of the organization engaged in various acts of inappropriate conduct toward women over a period of years. This individual left the employment of the Mavericks nearly three years ago and the Mavericks have only learned of the scope of these complaints in the past days.

The Mavericks organization takes these allegations extremely seriously. Yesterday we notified the league office and immediately hired outside counsel to conduct a thorough and independent investigation. The investigation will focus on the specific allegations related to this former employee, and will look more broadly at our company’s workplace practices and policies. In addition, an employee whose job was to receive and investigate such complaints and report them accurately and fully, has been suspended pending the conclusion of our investigation.

Until the Sports Illustrated piece comes to light, further details are cloudy. Still, it is noteworthy that the Mavericks felt it was necessary to get ahead of this particular story.

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