Laurel Richie leaves her position as WNBA President

by Shorty
Nov 7, 2015
2 min read

After five years of being in charge as the WNBA's league president, Laurel J. Richie has decided to step down to pursue other interest. The NBA's deputy commissioner Mark Tatum has been appointed to interim president while the NBA go on a full search to find Richie's replacement. Laurel will remain a board member of several profit and non-profit organizations. After the news was announced, there has been mixed reaction about her resignation. What is Shorty's take on Laurel Richie's departure?

Personally I wasn't expecting it to happen. It came out of nowhere and when I read about it, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. From reading the response on Twitter, some have brought up Adam Silver's comments back in September as the writing on the wall for Richie's exit. During an event held by the Sports Business Journal, Silver was quoted saying about the WNBA "We thought it would have broken through by now". However, in a phone interview with espnW Silver stated that his previous comments had nothing to do with Richie's decision to step down.

Other's have pointed out that her absence during the recent press conference for the Dallas Wings was the final sign of her leaving. Ultimately that was revealed to be true as Mark Tatum was present in place of Richie during the press conference. In my opinion Laurel may not have had the basketball background as the former league president's had, but she did a good job with what she was given. Her marketing skills provided multiple sponsorships with Boost mobile, Samsung, and multiple jersey sponsors for individual franchises. Last, but certainly not least she helped broker a deal with Guggenheim Partners and Magic Johnson to keep the Sparks in the Loa Angeles arena.

Because of that, she will always have my respect. So I would like to thank Laurel Richie and wish her luck on all of her future endeavors. #SavedOurSparks