One year into Rick Welts’ tenure as the Golden State Warriors COO, the team announced its intentions to build a waterfront arena on Piers 30-32 in San Francisco.
The perfect weather the Bay Area got that day gave no hints about the choppy waters ahead.
A group called NO WALL — short for “Neighbors Opposed to Warriors Arena Landmark Location” — contributed to the Warriors’ initial arena plans stalling. The team pivoted in 2015, purchasing a tract of land in the Mission Bay from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
In 2019, Chase Center opened its doors. It had a $1.4 billion price tag and was built completely with private funds.
“I think it really accomplished every goal we had for being the foundation of the Warriors franchise for the next 30 years,” Welts said. “That’s why you do this. You do this because now you have the economic foundation to be able to compete for player talent at the highest possible level without potential constraints that a lesser foundation would provide.”
Over the next decade, Welts will try to accomplish something similar in Dallas. On Wednesday, the Mavericks introduced the 71-year-old NBA Hall of Famer as their CEO. Welts will be heavily involved in the Mavericks’ plans to develop a state-of-the-art arena of their own.
The Mavericks’ lease at American Airlines Center doesn’t expire until July 2031. But as Welts pointed out, the Warriors’ arena project was a seven-year process, meaning that the time to start thinking about the Mavericks’ future home is now.
“It’s about being a good community partner,” Welts said. “It’s about doing what you say you’re going to do. And treating people the right way. If you do that anywhere, you are going to have a likelihood of success.”
Welts is taking over as CEO from Cynt Marshall, who was hired in 2018 to reshape a Mavericks organization in need of culture change. The Mavericks were dealing with workplace misconduct and sexual harassment allegations at the time.
“Rick actually sent me an email before I even knew I had a Dallas Mavericks email account to offer his expertise,” Marshall said.
Marshall originally pledged to stay with the Mavericks for three years. When she retires at the end of this month, she will have been with the team for nearly seven years.
“I am delighted to pass the baton to my friend,” said Marshall, who literally passed a metal baton to Welts. “And arguably the best person who has done the job of leading business operations of leading an NBA team.”
Welts began his NBA career as a ballboy with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1969. He became the team’s public relations director, a stepping stone into a 17-year run with the NBA league office. Welts is credited as the brains behind the original All-Star Weekend in 1984, and he helped market the Dream Team in 1992.
Welts went on to work for the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors. During his decade-long tenure in Golden State, the franchise transformed from a perennial lottery team into one that made deep playoff runs every spring.
“There was a culture of losing in the locker room,” Welts said. “There was a culture of losing in the business organization. Couldn’t be more different than what I’m going into now.”
The Mavericks are coming off a run to the NBA Finals in June. With a 17-9 record and top-11 rankings in offense and defense, they look like a team that could win multiple playoff rounds again this spring.
Klay Thompson got to know Welts well when they overlapped in Golden State. The Mavericks shooting guard said he sometimes wagered on Washington State-Washington football games with Welts, who is a Huskies alum.
“It’s an incredible hire for the team and for me,” Thompson said. “I’m personally very excited. I mean, Rick has done so much for basketball. He’s a Hall of Famer. If it wasn’t for him, All-Star Weekend wouldn’t really exist. He’s going to take that same creativity with what we’re doing here.”
Welts’ ties with Thompson and general manager Nico Harrison go back years. His relationship with Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont is a newer one.
In November, Dumont invited Welts to attend Dallas’ home game against the New Orleans Pelicans. They also met in the fall in Las Vegas to discuss Welts coming aboard. Welts was impressed that during the six hours they spent together in Dumont’s office, Dumont didn’t look at his phone once.
“His laser focus on his mission here and what he wanted to accomplish was very compelling,” Welts said. “And clearly in line with how I view teams should be run.”
Dumont said the subject of a new arena came up during their conversations.
“For us, our goal is to build the best facility possible for the Mavericks. To be state-of-the-art. To be world class. Something that really defines what NBA basketball can represent.
“It was a big part of what we talked about. Not only leading the organization but also Rick’s vision for how we could build a new home for the Dallas Mavs.”
Required reading
- A conversation with Rick Welts: Warriors team president details the ‘Chase Center Experience’
- A conversation with Rick Welts, Part 2: Reflecting on his Hall of Fame career and upcoming induction
- Steve Kerr: A letter to my Hall of Fame friend, Rick Welts
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
