Rick Welts

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Former Warriors President & COO and Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Welts' medallion was unveiled on the Warriors Walk of Fame at Thrive City, joining Al Attles, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, Tom Meschery, Chris Mullin and Nate Thurmond. The Warriors Walk of Fame commemorates individuals who have contributed to the franchise’s success both on and off the court.

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Rick Welts Medallion Ceremony on the Warriors Walk of Fame

Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts will virtually represent the Warriors at the 37th NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday.

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Rick Welts to Represent Warriors in 2021 NBA Draft Lottery

Andy Fahey

After guiding the franchise to one of the most successful decades in NBA history from a business operations perspective, Golden State Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts will step away from his role with the organization at the end of the 2020-21 season, Welts and the team announced today. Welts has been a member of the NBA for nearly five decades, including this most recent stint with the Warriors, which began in 2011.

Currently in his 10th season with Golden State, Welts has spent 46 seasons overall in the NBA, including roles with three teams—the Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns and the Warriors—and the NBA league office. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, the crowning achievement in a career filled with numerous accolades. In 2011, Welts became the highest ranking executive in men’s professional team sports to publicly acknowledge he was gay.

Welts will remain associated with the organization as an Advisor. The Warriors are expected to name a new President within the next week.

“This has been the ride of a lifetime,” said Welts. “To have had a front row seat to the growth of the NBA from where it was in the late 1960s to its place today as one of the most respected and successful leagues in sports on a global stage has been an incredible privilege. The first day I met Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, I wanted to be a part of building what I knew could be a special organization. We have the most talented staff in the industry, and we are poised for even greater success in the future. Personally, I am excited for my own next chapter.

“When Joe, Peter and I agreed on the timing of this announcement two years ago, we didn’t have a pandemic on our radar screen. As it turns out, now that we can look forward to welcoming fans back safely to Chase Center, and we have a realistic hope for a return to ‘business as usual’ for next season, this timing feels perfect.”

“I’ll never forget the day we introduced Rick to the media as our President in 2011,” said Joe Lacob, Warriors Co-Executive Chairman and CEO. “On that day, he noted the Warriors franchise was always viewed as a sleeping giant that could be very successful if it ever got into the right hands. Well, there were no better hands than those of Rick Welts, and his intuition proved to be spot-on as his leadership, vision, creativity and relationship-building enabled us to reach heights never seen before in the NBA on the business side. We thank him for his incredible contributions to our franchise and, more importantly, the class and character with which he represented our organization each day.”

“Much like a movie needs a well-placed and perfectly-aligned star to make it successful, you need to find the right person to lead an organization to prominence,” said Peter Guber, Warriors Co-Executive Chairman. “Fortunately, we found that 10 years ago in Rick Welts. His hiring was one of the most important decisions Joe and I have made since purchasing the Warriors. The ability he demonstrated to navigate any situation with precision and grace—from building a new arena to dealing with a pandemic—is unparalleled. He wrote an incredible script and played the role to perfection. We will be indebted to him forever.”

“Simply put, Rick Welts played a transformational role in creating the modern NBA during his more than 40 years as a pioneering league and team executive,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “His extraordinary vision, leadership and humanity have defined his Hall of Fame career, which has set the standard of excellence in the sports industry. I had the tremendous good fortune to learn about the business of the NBA and its teams directly from Rick in my early years at the league office and have always appreciated his friendship and generosity. As he transitions into his next endeavor, I have no doubt that Rick will continue to leave his mark on the game and the greater sports business.”

Under Welts’ direction, the Warriors established several franchise benchmarks from a business standpoint, as the team’s brand grew in stature following five consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals and three NBA championships (2015, 2017, 2018). The organization earned numerous accolades across all facets of the business, including being named “Franchise of the Decade” among all professional sports teams by Sports Business Journal in 2019. Additionally, the Warriors became the first professional team to win Sports Business Journal’s “Sports Team of the Year” award on multiple occasions under Welts (2014 and 2016).

During this time, Welts oversaw the completion of the Warriors’ state-of-the-art new arena, Chase Center, in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, which opened its doors in September 2019. A year after its opening, Chase Center was named Sports Facility of the Year by Sports Business Journal and has received numerous distinctions and industry awards.

Welts began his NBA career as a ballboy with the SuperSonics in 1969 at the age of 16 and, a decade later, was a part of the franchise’s lone NBA championship in 1979 as its public relations director. During his 17 years with the NBA league office in New York (1982-99), he filled many vital roles and eventually rose to Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and President of NBA Properties. Welts’ notable accomplishments with the league included the creation of NBA All-Star Weekend in 1984 and the marketing program for USA Basketball’s Olympic “Dream Team” in 1992. Along with Val Ackerman, he was named “Marketer of the Year” by Brandweek in 1998 for his role in launching the WNBA.

A native of Seattle, Washington, Welts was selected to deliver the commencement address to his alma mater, the University of Washington, in 2019. He owns the rare distinction of being part of championship teams in the NBA (4), WNBA (2) and the NBA G League (1). Additionally, his teams made a total of seven NBA Finals appearances.

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Warriors President & COO Rick Welts to Step Away at the Conclusion of the 2020-21 Season

Warriors President and COO Rick Welts and President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Myers answer questions about how concerns over the spread of COVID-19 is impacting the team, including the decision to play the March 12 game at Chase Center without fans in attendance.

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Rick Welts and Bob Myers Press Conference - 3/11/20

LGBTQ Night Postgame Panel, Presented by Accenture

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Golden State Warriors

Rick Welts, president and chief operating officer of the back-to-back NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018, and a University of Washington alumnus, will be the featured speaker at the UW’s Commencement exercises Saturday, June 15.

One of the most respected business executives in the NBA, Welts, 66, has over 40 years of experience in the league and owns the rare distinction of being a part of championship teams in the NBA (4), WNBA (2) and NBA G League (1). In his role, Welts oversees all business-related operations for the Warriors, including guiding the development of Chase Center, a $1 billion-plus privately financed sports and entertainment center in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood set to open this September.

“Rick Welts’ courageous leadership in the NBA and his advocacy for inclusion and equity on and off the court are an inspiring example for our students,” said UW President Ana Mari Cauce. “We’re proud to call him a Husky and look forward to welcoming him as our featured commencement speaker this year.”

A leader in the LGBTQIA+ community, in a front-page  New York Times story in May of 2011 Welts became the highest ranking executive in men’s professional team sports to publicly acknowledge he is gay.

“There was nobody out there in my position, in my industry, who had taken that step. And therefore nobody I could look to, to maybe have confidence in where that journey might turn out,” Welts said. “I could be that person that I had never had in my industry that people might look to and, say, ‘That could work OK.’ My experience certainly would affirm that it can work out more than OK.”

Welts was presented with a United States Tennis Association 2011 ICON Award at the US Open in New York City, an award that recognizes and celebrates those who have had a positive impact on diversity and inclusion in the sports industry and society. Also in 2011, he was honored with GLSEN’s (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) Respect Award, which honors those who have made a difference in the areas of diversity and inclusion. In September 2014, he was honored by GLAAD, the nation’s LGBT media advocacy organization, with the Davidson/Valentini Award, which is presented to an LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality for the LGBT community. He also served as the celebrity Grand Marshall of San Francisco’s Pride Parade in 2015. In 2016 he was honored by the Anti-Defamation League with its “Torch of Liberty Award.” A member of Delta Chi fraternity while attending the University of Washington, in 2015 he was named “Delta Chi of the Year” by the national organization.

A native of Seattle, Washington, Welts began his NBA career in 1969, at the age of 16, as a ball boy with the Seattle SuperSonics. He spent 10 years with his hometown team serving a number of roles, including as the team’s director of public relations during back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals (1978 and 1979) and the SuperSonics’ lone NBA Championship in 1979. Since then he’s worked in nearly every level of basketball operations, including a successful 17-year (1982-1999) stint at the NBA league office in New York, where he ascended through the ranks to eventually become the league’s third-in-command as the executive vice president, chief marketing officer and president of NBA Properties. Prior to the Warriors and following his league office tenure, he spent nine seasons as president of the Phoenix Suns. With the Warriors again atop the NBA’s Western Conference standings, he may be on the verge of leading his team to a historic fifth consecutive NBA Finals appearance.

“In my business, you try to win championships, but occasionally there’s a huge surprise you never could have anticipated. For me that was being inducted into the Hall of Fame last year,” he said. “To have that be followed up by being asked to be commencement speaker at the UW — I can’t call it a dream come true, because I never would have dreamt it.”

Welts currently serves as a board member of the Bay Area Council and the Warriors Community Foundation. He is a member the NBA’s Team Advisory Committee and Global Inclusion Council.

As he prepares for this return to his hometown, Welts can’t help noticing the absence of the SuperSonics, who left in 2008.

“It’s the biggest void in our league right now. We have a 30-team league that doesn’t have Seattle in it, and that’s a shame,” he said. “There’s nobody associated with the NBA who doesn’t think Seattle wouldn’t be a great basketball city — again.”

The University of Washington’s 144th Commencement ceremonies will take place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. President Cauce will officiate. An audience of about 40,000 family members and friends is expected, and more than 5,500 of the UW’s 2018-19 academic year graduates in Seattle are projected to attend.

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Warriors President and COO Rick Welts to Deliver UW’s 2019 Commencement Address

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The back-to-back NBA Champion Golden State Warriors won a league-high five awards at the 2019 NBA Sales and Marketing meetings this week, it was announced today. The Warriors received the most awards at the annual NBA league meetings, held in Miami, Florida January 7-8, where all 30 teams were recognized for their sales and marketing efforts for the 2018-19 season. This is the fourth time in the past five years (2015, 2017, 2018 &amp; 2019) that the Warriors have received the most awards at the annual NBA league meetings.

The Warriors league-high five awards include the following:

Warriors President and COO Rick Welts expresses his thoughts on the team’s success. Hear more in the video below.