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Catching Up With Terdema Ussery

Born and raised in Watts, Calif., Terdema Ussery II could have taken a far different path, but he rose above his surroundings to earn degrees from Princeton (1981), Harvard (1984), and a law degree from California-Berkeley (1987). He was the commissioner of one of the most storied basketball leagues, the CBA from 1991-1993, bringing the organization from the depths of bankruptcy in only two and a half years. He moved on to become president of Nike Sports Management, marketing Nike's pro athletes and negotiating contracts. Twice while at Nike, Ussery was included on The Sporting News' annual list of the 100 most powerful people in sports and for the last seven years, has served as president and CEO of the Dallas Mavericks. He has helped turn the Mavs into a contender in a short period of time by leading a charge which resulted in funding for American Airlines Center. Ussery’s impact has been evident in the growth of both the Mavericks business operation and community participation. Under his direction, the club has experienced increased corporate sponsorship, ticket sales and television revenues. Ussery was recently named Black Enterprise’s Co-Executive of the Year, alongside Princeton classmate Steve Mills and one of Sports Illustrated’s 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports. Ussery sat down with IvyLeagueSports.com while visiting his alma mater. Here’s what he had to say about life in Watts, at Princeton and beyond, and Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban…

Q: What was your upbringing like?

A: I grew up in Watts, on the border between Watts and Compton in South Central Los Angeles, in a good family. Both my mother and father were there, but it was an interesting time in the neighborhood. I was a young fellow, but I saw the riots and was there at a time when the gangs that are still prominent there today were around. I also grew up in an environment with great athletes. My way was academics. I always seemed to be able to distinguish myself in that area.

I played sports, but Darrin Nelson [Minnesota Vikings] was a neighbor of mine, and he ended up being the seventh pick in the 1982 NFL draft and was PAC-10 Player of the Year at Stanford and also Roy Hamilton [Detroit Pistons], who was an All-American at UCLA. So I played sports, but I also grew up next to some guys who were phenomenal athletes. I played football, basketball and ran track, but not at the level that it would take to make money doing it.

Q: It has been written that you possess the skills and savvy to become the next commissioner in the NBA. What are your thoughts on that and is that something you aspire to achieve?

A: Honestly, I never think about what’s next for me - ever. I view every opportunity as a blessing from God and I don’t know what He has in store for me. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about getting from point A to point B, but what I usually do is try to focus on doing the best I can once an opportunity has presented itself.

I’ve been a commissioner once before in the minor leagues, I don’t think about being commissioner of the NBA. If something like that came about, would it be of interest? It depends on where I was in my life at that time. Am I qualified to do it? Yes, I’m qualified, and I think Steve Mills [fellow Princetonian] is qualified as well. I think the most interesting thing about it is that we’ve gotten ourselves in the position to be legitimate candidates for that.

Q: Did you feel a certain amount of pressure being the first African-American commissioner of a professional sports league and at such an early age?

A: No. Pressure was being a freshman at Princeton, never having seen the campus before and wondering what the competition was going to be like. Being in the Woodrow Wilson school was a lot of pressure, studying with graduate students, and later, taking the bar exam was a lot of pressure. In terms of the job itself, I don’t think about doing anything but great work. That has nothing to do with the color of my skin or anything else, but how I’m constituted as a human being.

Q: Talk about your days at Princeton…

A: It was a lot like it is today. Upon seeing it the first time, it was everything that I thought a college or university should look like. It was everything F. Scott Fitzgerald said it was, so it was kind of pleasant. Then it was just doing what everybody did - finding a girlfriend, hanging out, trying to get good grades and enjoying life. I met some great people there, and we’re still friends to this day. I played a lot of music. I was a drummer, so I’m sure I upset quite a few people because I had my drums set up in my dorm room. I had a good time, but it was intense, especially junior and senior years because of the Woodrow Wilson School. That was a different kind of intensity that got me focused quickly.

Q: How much fun was it to see the Dallas Mavericks advance to the Western Conference Finals?

A: It’s like you’re living in a fantasy. To go as far as we went, we were two games away from winning the championship, things have to fall into place and things kept falling into place for us. You’re enjoying it - it’s an amazing ride. You walk into the building and it dawns on you that there are only four teams playing, whereas there were 29 teams playing a few weeks ago. The amount of media attention that’s around you and the amount of hype that’s around you, it’s almost like a fantasy - you’re there, but you’re not there.

In my position, being responsible for the whole business, I don’t have the luxury of enjoying it as much I could be if I were watching it as a casual fan. From my perspective, I have to be sure all the systems are in place, and everything is going well. We had the fire alarm go off and the arena was evacuated five minutes before a nationally televised game, and I’m on TNT ten minutes later trying to explain why the game is delayed. I’m worried about the party we’re about to throw, and we just want to make sure people are going to have a great time.

Q: How tough was it for you when the Mavs lost to the Spurs?

A: When we lost, it took me about a week to get over it. It was devastating. It’s so sudden, and it’s over. Nobody wants to talk to you anymore, you’re not in the papers anymore - it’s over. It’s weird.

Q: What is it like working with Mark Cuban on two different business ventures (The Mavs and HDNet)?

A: It’s intense. The television side of it is exploding, and [Cuban] is spending more of his time and energy focusing on HDNet because it will end up being so much larger than what the Mavericks are. We’ve gotten the Mavericks business where we want it in terms of the template, there’s always room for improvement, but the template is in place. On the television side, we’re dealing with a new technology in an emerging market and it’s a mature industry in the sense that broadcast is a mature industry, so we’re dealing with very savvy competitors and it’s just very intense. We’re flying by the seat of our pants everyday. We launched our second channel on July 1, so we have HDNet, and HDNet Movies (24 hour high definition movie channel).

Q: When you see yourself on magazine covers or garner accolades, do you ever reflect on what you’ve accomplished?

A: I think about it from two perspectives. The first is the perspective of my parents. I think regardless of how old you are, as children we always try to please our parents. We want our parents to feel good about us. Part of it is my father and mother always worked extremely hard. My father always worked two jobs. The benefits my parents get to reap are they get to come to ceremonies and they can fly where they want to fly and do what they want to do when they go on vacations and I can pay for it.

The other perspective, which is more humbling, is I think about God and the blessings He has seen fit to bestow on me. That’s really the way I look at it. I’ve had one cousin killed, my father was shot, and another cousin who was beaten and we thought he was dead, but came out of a coma. I grew up in a rough area and I’ve seen enough to know that if it were not for the grace of God that a stray bullet, or the wrong gang fight after school or whatever, I could be on a very different path.

It’s arrogant to me to say that at this stage in my life, “I planned it all, I’m enjoying it all, and I’m taking credit for it all.” That’s just not the case. I don’t read articles that are written about myself for that very reason. I don’t want to read about myself because I don’t want to buy into it.

Q: You also do a lot of community service. What inspires you to do that?

A: A lot of people wait until they’re rich to give back. I don’t know if I have tomorrow. My objective is always to give back as best I can along the way. The most pleasurable thing for me that has resulted from the Black Enterprise article is that I get e-mails from high school sophomores, juniors and seniors all over the country who are saying, “I read about you in Black Enterprise, you are an inspiration, this is what I’m thinking about doing.” The kick for me is not in getting the e-mail, but in responding to the e-mail.

Q: What will it take for the Mavs to win it all?

A: We have to find a big man. Rumor has it that Shaq Daddy’s being cloned somewhere in the world, we’re trying to figure out where that is, and be the first there. But, it is a very competitive business, and you have to play the game. You never know what’s going to happen. We’ll see what happens, we think we have a chance this year.

Thanks for catching up with us Terdema! Please visit the Dallas Mavericks, HDNet, and Black Enterprise websites for more information.

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