Cynt Marshall, the Dallas Mavericks CEO, will retire at the end of this year and transition into a consultant role until December 2025. She was the first black female CEO of an NBA team. Mark Cuban praised her as one of the smartest decisions he’s made. NBC 5’s Candace Sweat has more.
Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall announced she will retire as Chief Executive Officer on Dec. 31, 2024, and will move into a consultant role through December 2025.
"Bringing Cynt to the Mavericks six years ago was one of the smartest decisions I've ever made," said Mark Cuban, minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, in a news release. "She has led this organization to new heights with grace and integrity, and her light will continue to shine bright throughout the community. Thank you, Cynt."
The news release announcing her decision makes no mention of why Marshall decided to leave the job after almost seven years.
The change comes one year after Cuban sold the team to the families of Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation
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“Cynt Marshall is a force of nature," Dumont said in the news release. "I like to say her superpower is bringing people together, but the truth is she has many superpowers. Cynt has always gone above and beyond in everything she has done, and her leadership of the Dallas Mavericks is no exception. She is an indelible fixture in the history of this franchise, and we are eternally grateful. The positive impact she has had here will be felt for a very long time."
Cuban's decision to hire Marshall in March 2018 made her the first Black woman to ever head up an NBA team.
“In my wildest dreams – and I have had some pretty big dreams and some wild dreams in my life — I never saw this coming,” Marshall said at the news conference to announce her hiring. “While I grew up playing sports supporting my three children in their sports endeavors and can often be down cheering for my favorite sports teams, all of that is very different from receiving a call from the proprietor of an NBA team with a passionate – and I can’t express that enough – with a passionate and heartfelt invitation to contribute to sports and the community in a very unique way.”
Marshall tells the story that she did not know who Cuban was when he called and left a message. Her husband and kids knew and urged her to return it.
Marshall retired from a 36-year career at AT&T in May 2017 and opened a consulting firm specializing in leadership, diversity and inclusion, and culture transformation. She wasn't looking to step into the bright spotlight of professional sports, but Cuban needed her and her reputation and success as a champion for inclusion and diversity.
“The person who sat in front of me and who called me was very genuine, very upset, very embarrassed about this kind of culture going on and he didn’t know about it," she told NBC5 in 2018. "This person was genuinely upset and wanted help."
The Mavericks were in crisis mode after an investigation revealed 20 years of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct issues within the Mavericks organization. More than a dozen current and ex-employees had described to Sports Illustrated a "hostile work environment—ranging from sexual harassment to domestic violence—as an 'open secret'."
“I’m not going to pretend like we haven’t had headlines and some stuff has been going on. And, what I want to do is press reset,” she told the front office staff in April 2018 when she allowed NBC5 exclusive access to mandatory "Respect in the Workplace" training for all employees from the front office to the basketball court.
Her 100-day plan to reset the organization included zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior, a playbook to include more women in leadership roles, operational effectiveness that focused on gender pay equity, workforce demographics, and talent management, and a culture transformation to perfect CRAFTS, a set of values that include Character, Respect, Authenticity, Fairness, Teamwork, and Safety.
“Our vision, and we have one, is that by 2019, the Dallas Mavericks organization, that’s all of us, is setting the NBA standard for inclusion and diversity,” she said at the time.
In August 2018, Marshall again provided an exclusive update to NBC5 when she and her staff celebrated the completion of her 100-day plan.
“I see something very different now when I walk in than when I walked into that office in late February. So, I’m just really fired up about that,” Marshall told NBC5. “I believe we have truly established a work environment where people know what's acceptable, what's not, and where inappropriate behavior, retaliation, any kind of misconduct won't be tolerated."
Marshall's success made her one of the country’s most influential business leaders as well as a highly sought-after speaker, and it earned her and the team honors and awards including twice being named in Adweek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports for her influence in the sports industry and spearheading cultural transformation within the Dallas Mavericks.
In 2020 and 2022 came the recognition Marshall had set as her goal: the NBA Inclusion Leadership Award recognizes the team that has demonstrated excellence in creating and executing outstanding programming and that promotes inclusion and inclusive practices.
“Our workplace promise is that every voice matters and everybody belongs,” Marshall said at the time. “We dreamed of creating an environment that set the global standard for fan experiences, emotional connections, and workplace culture. Our employees believed in our vision to create a cultural transformation that excited, inspired, and united everyone. It’s truly an honor to receive the 2022 NBA Inclusion Leadership Award.”
Marshall's influence stretched throughout North Texas as she strengthened the team’s ties to the community through a range of philanthropic initiatives. Under her leadership, the Mavericks expanded community outreach programs, focusing on education, health, economic empowerment, entrepreneurship, vote initiatives, and stability for youth.
Marshall spearheaded efforts to support under-championed communities through partnerships with local schools and organizations. Programs like "Mavs Take ACTION!," launched in 2020, positioned the Mavericks as a leading advocate for social justice while promoting education, mentorship, and employment opportunities for underserved populations in Dallas.
In addition, the Mavs Foundation, increased contributions to local nonprofits focused on building a stronger community by empowering youth, women, and families in need.
In 2020, the Mavericks created the Girls Empowered by Mavericks (GEM) program to engage, inspire, and empower young females using physical activity as a backdrop to their development and success. In 2023, the Mavs signed a multi-year agreement to sponsor the Dallas Wings and feature the GEM logo on player jerseys for all home and road games.
Former state representative and fellow businesswoman Helen Giddings is a longtime friend of Marshalls. She told NBC 5 the retirement announcement came as a bit of a surprise, but also admits, so did Marshall’s decision to take on the position back in 2018.
“We were expecting Cynt to be a college president,” Higgins said. “We thought that would be her next move. And then to have her come in at the CEO of the Dallas Mavs was just absolutely wonderful.”
There’s been no mention of why Marshall decided to leave the position.
Giddings says it was never lost on her that Marshall became the first Black woman CEO in NBA history.
“Being a woman and being Black, I mean that intersection makes things quite a bit more challenging. But she has seen fit to work through those challenges and she always sees that silver lining,” she said.
Of all the accomplishments, perhaps she’s most proud of this…
“The fact that you’re sitting here with the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks is not even a part of that conversation. You feel it, but there is that strong sisterhood. She believes very much in the empowerment of women,” Higgins said. “I always knew that if I needed Cynt she’d be there.”
Throughout her time at the Mavericks organization, in her work at AT&T, in her memoir 'You've Been Chosen' describing her battle with cancer, and in her numerous speeches and interviews, Marshall has shared her story of coming from an abusive homelife, the mother who put a Bible in her hand, the history she made at UC Berkeley as the university's first black cheerleader, the miscarriages that led her and husband to adoption, the on-the-job racism, the grit and optimism that come from relying on God and the four words that propel her: Dream, Focus, Pray, and Act.
In a social media post from July 6, Marshall may have hinted at what was to come.
