UPDATE: Ted Leonsis gives a video statement on Monumental Basketball which you can see above.
On Monday, Monumental Sports & Entertainment announced structural changes to their basketball operations which affect the Wizards, Mystics, Go-Go and Wizards District Gaming. The new entity is called Monumental Basketball. Ted Leonsis said it has the “forward-thinking structure to adapt to the ‘new NBA’ that requires every possible strategic advantage to compete and win.”
The announcement comes with Tommy Sheppard’s promotion to being the Wizards General Manager. Note that he was not given the title of “President of Basketball Operations.” That is likely because Sheppard’s promotion was part of something bigger.
Monumental Basketball has executive leadership that will oversee shared services between the basketball and e-sports teams. They hired Sashi Brown, Daniel Medina and John Thompson III to oversee shared resources between the teams.
Brown will be the Chief Planning and Operations Officer for Monumental Basketball. Brown was previously the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Cleveland Browns NFL team from 2016-17 and was once their general counsel.
This is Brown’s first position in basketball so he won’t be telling Sheppard what to do on a day-to-day basis. In a press release, Brown will oversee areas, “relating to technology, finance, communications, security, research and player engagement.”
Medina will be Monumental Basketball’s Chief of Athlete Care & Performance. He was previously with the Philadelphia 76ers in a similar capacity from 2017-19. Before going to the NBA, he was with FC Barcelona for over 10 years where he served as a team physician for the soccer teams and was promoted to Deputy Director of the Sports Science and Medical Department.
Thompson will oversee the athlete development & engagement where he will focus more on players’ lives off the court which include financial management and preparing for post-playing career opportunities.
Before coming to Monumental, Thompson was Georgetown’s men’s basketball head coach from 2004-17 and at his alma mater, Princeton from 2000-04. While at Georgetown, Thompson led the Hoyas to the Final Four in the 2006-07 season.
Though the teams share medical resources and have staff who can work with NBA, WNBA, G-League and NBA 2K league players seamlessly, basketball operations will remain similar to the way they were in the past.
As the Wizards’ General Manager, Sheppard oversees all basketball operations which include everything the NBA team. He will oversee the Capital City Go-Go where Pops Mensah-Bonsu will report to him. And he will oversee Wizards District Gaming.
The Mystics’ basketball operations will remain the way they are. Mike Thibault is still the General Manager and Head Coach as he looks to lead them to the WNBA championship this year.
A press conference will be scheduled at 3 p.m. ET with Ted Leonsis, Sheppard, Brown, Media, Thompson and Thibault.
What do you think about Monumental Basketball’s structure with shared resources with player development and health? Let us know in the comments below.