Rick Welts, president and COO of the Golden State Warriors is enjoying a double celebration today. Last night his team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win the 2015 title. It is the team’s first championship since the team won the title 40 years ago in 1975.
The day before San Francisco Pride honored the openly gay sports executive by naming him as their 2015 Celebrity Grand Marshal.
One of the most respected business executives in the NBA, with over 39 years of experience in the league, Welts is currently in his fourth season as president and COO of the Golden State Warriors. In this role, he oversees all business-related operations for the Warriors, including the team’s proposed development of a privately financed sports and entertainment center in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, reporting to the organization’s co-managing partners, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber.
Welts came out to the public in 2011 in a front page New York Times article. “This is one of the last industries where the subject is off limits,” he said at the time, during which he was president of the Phoenix Suns.
In a statement, the grand marshal-elect said that the parade provides him an opportunity “to shine light on the contributions the LGBT community makes to sports, every day, all over the world.”
Congratulations to Rick Welts!
