A diversity report found that the NBA posted an almost across-the-board gain in hiring minorities and women after a one-year drop in their overall grades.
Wednesday’s report card of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) The University of Central Florida gave the NBA an overall A grade, with an A-plus for racial recruiting and a B-plus for gender recruiting. The report annually examines recruitment for positions in franchise and league leadership, using data from the 2021–22 season in this study.
A year earlier, the league saw its overall grade at B-plus. Despite his position as the leader in the men’s professional league rated by TIDES. This was the first time the NBA had failed to register at least an A-minus since 2006, although the Institute’s director and lead report writer Richard Lapchik noted that the reduction was largely due to the inclusion of team ownership. This was due to a change in methodology.
“I think it’s important that they get back to that kind of[level],” Lapchik said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They were still leading, but it’s a display of remarkable improvement over the past 12 months. I clearly think this is really good news for the NBA.”
The league’s scores in each major category increased by several percentage points, reaching 91.8 overall (up 3.5 from 2021), 97.0 (2.2) in racial recruiting and 86.5 in gender recruiting (4.6).
In particular, there is significant representation of the league by people of color in leadership positions. According to the study, this included 15 head-coaching jobs, 12 general manager and 50% assistant coaching positions among the 30 teams in the league.
“They are the public face of the franchise for the most part,” Lapchik said of the coaches and GMs. “It’s what most people think of when they think of their team other than the players.
“And they’re the ones making the important decisions. They’re the ones who’re going to call drafts, make trades. Obviously the coaches will decide who’s playing and the rotation. So it’s so important to be represented like this by people of color. Is.”
The list of prominent names in those roles includes Boston head coach Ime Udoka—who led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in their first season. – teamed up with coach Monty Williams and general manager James Jones in Phoenix, which ended with a league-best 64 regular-season victories.
The number of head coaches of the color will increase to 16 next season, breaking the record since 2011–12. Los Angeles Lakers Hire Darwin Hamo And the Sacramento Kings hired Mike BrownWhile the Charlotte Hornets fired James Borrego – Transactions that were not included in the figures for 2021-22 but highlighted a net-positive trend.
In gender hiring, the study reported that women accounted for 43.4% of professional-staff roles for A grades in the NBA league office, the highest percentage since the 2009–10 season study. Women also benefited in team-level areas such as vice president (30%, C-plus), senior-management roles (39%, B-plus) and professional workforce (34.2%).
The league also earned an A-plus grade for its wide variety initiatives.
“We remain encouraged by the progress on diversity in the League Office and our teams, which is a reflection of our commitment to being inclusive across all of our business processes and practices,” said NBA Chief People and Inclusion Officer Orris Stuart. Statement to Associated Press. “Diversity, equality and inclusion are core principles of the NBA and integral to our work. Those principles will guide our ongoing efforts and, we believe, lead to continuous improvement.”
This is the second TIDES study for the 2021-22 or 2022 season, after Major League Baseball in May, Reports for the WNBA, Major League Soccer, NFL and college sports will follow.
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