Ted Leonsis acknowledges that he believed the Wizards failed in recent seasons in interview

Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis acknowledged that he would have graded the Washington Wizards’ performance an “F”, in particular after the team only made one playoff appearance in the last five years. He said this on The Woj Pod, which is hosted by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

You can listen to the podcast here, which also includes an interview with Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger.

Here are some other points that Leonsis mentioned that stuck out when I finally listened to it earlier today.

• Leonsis makes a point that he, like any other person in MSE, reports to someone. Leonsis mentioned that he reports to the fans, and acknowledged the disappointment they had.
• Patience is a good thing, which has been demonstrated with the Washington Mystics and Capitals. However, after firing Tommy Sheppard, Leonsis wanted to bring in personnel from outside the Monumental Basketball bubble.
• Building the NBA through the draft, exactly like the NHL, is not going to work. In the NBA, some players may make tens of millions of dollars while others are making the veteran minimum. But it’s not like Bradley Beal, a supermax player is “50 times better” than someone on a two-way contract.

Again, the Winger and Will Dawkins Era of Wizards basketball has just begun. The press conferences and interviews, while great, are just part of that new beginning. Hopefully, we’ll start seeing some longer term success in the seasons ahead.