THURSDAY, 11:49am: The NBA’s Board of Governors has unanimously approved Tatum for the deputy commissioner post, the league announced via press release. He will take over the job Saturday, when Silver replaces David Stern as commissioner.
TUESDAY, 9:26am: The league has chosen Tatum as its next deputy commissioner and will make an official announcement soon, Wojnarowski tweets.
8:51am: The NBA’s vice president of global marketing partnerships has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed Adam Silver as the league’s deputy commissioner, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Mark Tatum, a favorite of Silver’s, would serve as Silver’s assistant after he takes over for commissioner David Stern beginning Saturday.
Tatum joined the NBA in 1999 after working for Major League Baseball. He’s worked to create revenue for the NBA, overseeing the league’s marketing partnerships with major corporate sponsors. He’s also handled sales relationships with the league’s television and media partners.
An executive who spoke to Wojnarowski said Tatum is unfamiliar to most team front office people around the league, and that he’d need to grow into his position. Still, there’s been little chatter about other candidates, and Wojnarowski indicates that Tatum is a strong favorite to assume the position. Tatum, an African-American, would become one of the highest ranking minority executives in major North American professional sports.