Marshall Glickman lived a content life. He ran his own sports business consulting company, where he worked with franchises across the US and Europe. He lived in Portland, where he was once the president of the Trail Blazers, and was now his own boss.
Then he got a call earlier this year from EuroLeague Basketball, where he had been a consultant. After spending time as a voice from the outside, he suddenly had a chance to help run the operation from the inside.
“This was not what I was looking for or planning on doing,” he said in a call with The Athletic. “But it was just too damn tempting to say no.”
Last month, Glickman was named the acting CEO of EuroLeague Basketball, the top basketball competition in Europe, which brings together the best teams across the continent. It is the latest stop in a career now in its fifth decade.
His resume already includes stops at the NBA league office and the Blazers, where he helped run the club in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Now, Glickman takes over at the EuroLeague at a critical time. Jordi Bertomeu, who was the EuroLeague’s first and only CEO for the last 22 years, left office this year, reportedly pushed out after a rift with some of the clubs. Glickman took over in his position, while Dejan Bodiroga, a Serbian star who won three EuroLeague titles, is the new president.
The EuroLeague is comprised of 18 clubs spread out across Europe. Thirteen teams are shareholders and long-term competitors, while the others can rotate in and out.
Glickman is not unfamiliar in his new role.
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