{"id":741921,"date":"2022-03-25T17:25:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T21:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=741921"},"modified":"2022-04-04T18:21:58","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T22:21:58","slug":"cynt-marshall-mavericks-women-history-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/the-magazine\/cynt-marshall-mavericks-women-history-month\/","title":{"rendered":"How Cynt Marshall\u2019s Faith and Strength Has Guided Her Career as the First Black Women CEO in the NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This March, SLAM is highlighting different women around the game who are breaking barriers, elevating the game and continuing to empower others.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cynt Marshall is used to making history. She\u2019s done it many, many times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was the first Black female senior class president at her high school back in Richmond, California; one of the first Black cheerleaders at the University of California-Berkeley\u2014where she graduated with degrees in Business Administration and Human Resources Management\u2014and the first African-American chair of the North Carolina State Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsually, when I am the first I don\u2019t know<\/em> I am the first until someone tells me,\u201d Marshall tells SLAM. \u201cI am just doing what I do, or if someone approaches me and it feels like a good fit, we go for it; like the job I am in right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Marshall became the first Black female CEO in NBA history when she joined the Dallas Mavericks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like to say Mark Cuban wasn\u2019t trying <\/em>to make history, he was trying to make a difference. He didn\u2019t think about\u2014I didn\u2019t think about that. And then when I was told that I was the first African-American CEO of an NBA team, I actually didn\u2019t believe it,\u201d says Marshall. \u201cI thought, this is 2018. I can\u2019t be the first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But she was and is. And it\u2019s a position that the 62-year-old has embraced with gusto, pride and enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt just means we are blazing trails and it\u2019s an opportunity for me to do a great job, and that is what I am focused on,\u201d says Marshall, who has led the Dallas Mavericks franchise since March of 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As chief executive officer of the Mavs, Marshall spends her days running the day-to-day operations of the franchise owned by billionaire Mark Cuban since 2000. After strategy sessions, appearances and meetings, she\u2019ll then head over to the team\u2019s home arena, American Airlines Center, and sit in her honorary seat\u2014right behind the team\u2019s bench. Back in February, Marshall was there, dressed in her trademark Mavs blue, waving and greeting everyone, who she mostly knows by name, 45 minutes before tip-off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy energy comes from the Lord. The Lord sustains me. You know the song, \u2018This joy I have, the world didn\u2019t give it to me?\u2019 Well, it\u2019s the same with the strength I have. I get tired like everyone else,\u201d Marshall says. \u201cThe Lord gave it to me. Especially after he blessed me to come through cancer. I am running and I\u2019m not tired yet\u2014we got work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marshall\u2019s success is a testament to her unwavering strength and resiliency\u2014in 2010, she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer, and this summer will mark eleven years since she went through chemotherapy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall had chronicled her battle with cancer in a journal, but at the request of many, decided to write an autobiography, which will be out later this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was on my bucket list; to be an author. My mother\u2019s response when I told her I had cancer was, This is for His Glory. God will use your cancer to tell a great story about Him<\/em>,\u201d Marshall recalls. \u201cWe will see what the world says about it. It is truly to inspire people. So many of us are touched by cancer and I want people to know the good, bad and ugly about that story. I can\u2019t wait for [people] to read it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall arrived at the Mavs after a 36-year career with AT&T, where she led the organization in various roles while improving diversity and work-place culture practices. She brought a vision to Dallas for it to become the NBA standard for inclusion and diversity, guided by a set of specific values: character, respect, authenticity, fairness, teamwork and safety, both physically and emotionally. \u201cEverything we do, everything we respond to, our business plan, everything, it\u2019s all based on these sets of values. I love the people at the Mavs. We are like the best sports organization on the planet and I work with some wonderful people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She leads the Mavs, and her own life, through the lens of her faith and a spirit of servant leadership. \u201cI am called to serve others and I\u2019m inspired to help others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the mother of four adopted children, Marshall also serves as chair of Dallas Casa, a non-profit organization that advocates for abused and neglected children. \u201cI want us to be about saving kids, serving them and placing them in permanent, safe homes with caring adults. We have to save these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She wants the next generation of young girls, and boys, to know that they, too, can accomplish anything they want in life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want them to know they should do anything they want to do and the key is if<\/em> they want to do it,\u201d Marshall says when reflecting on what message she would send to adolescents. “When I was growing up, my mom taught me a poem that says \u201cBe The Best.\u201d The message is [that] no matter what you want to do, whatever your  passions are, where the Lord takes you, just be the best and know that you can do anything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce you decide what that is or land in that spot, then be the best,\u201d Marshall continues. \u201cDon\u2019t put any limits on yourself. No limits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her story has become an inspiration to many, including Poizon Ivy, the Mavs\u2019 In-house entertainment guru. \u201cGrowing up, my dream was to be the first female NBA commissioner, so having Cynt in her role as the first black female CEO continues to affirm that anything and everything is possible,\u201d says Ivy. \u201cShe leads with an incomparable style, infused with swag, humility, confidence, [and] accountability all at an extremely infectious level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is not a time that I am out in the community that I am not complimented on how lucky we are to work under her leadership and guidance. That is the kind of leader I aspire to be and she makes it look so easy and effortless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While she\u2019s the first Black female CEO in the NBA, Marshall strongly believes that there will be many, many more women in top sports management roles. And she\u2019s working hard to ensure that happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, there will be more. We aren\u2019t doing our jobs to the fullest if it\u2019s not. That\u2019s what I love about being in this League, in the NBA. We\u2019re very focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, and very focused on that pipeline and making sure we’re bringing others up and giving them those experiences so they’ll be successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know we are better together when we have a diverse group of people around the table with unique skills.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she thinks about the strength of women in the world today, Marshall envisions a triangle with each side representing a woman\u2019s heart, hands and head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWomen know how to take their heart, hands and head, put it all together and do something great with it. We have passion and compassion; we are smart, resilient, we know how to make a dollar out of 15 cents. We\u2019re very thoughtful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you take our hands, head and heart and we use them to work together, this is what makes you strong,\u201d Marshall says. \u201cWe don’t rely on just one or the other, we know how to make them all work together for good. This is our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Photos courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This March, SLAM is highlighting different women around the game who are breaking barriers, elevating the game and continuing to empower others. Cynt Marshall is used to making history. She\u2019s done it many, many times. She was the first Black female senior class president at her high school back in Richmond, California; one of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":741924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49435],"tags":[64149,106,12990],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-741921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-magazine","tag-cynt-marshall","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-nba"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741921"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":742750,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741921\/revisions\/742750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741921"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=741921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}