The Portland Trail Blazers announced Friday morning the upcoming resignation of one the organization’s top personnel.
Chris McGowan will leave his role as the team’s president and CEO on Nov. 26. In a statement shared on the Trail Blazers’ Twitter account, McGowan said he reached the decision to resign after “careful consideration over the summer.”
Thank you, @ChrisDMcGowan ❤️https://t.co/bc34T3qgH8 pic.twitter.com/7HFW9nwLig
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) November 12, 2021
According to a press release from the team Friday morning, Dewayne Hankins was named McGowan’s successor as the new president of business operations. Hankins previously worked as the chief commercial officer and executive vice president for the franchise.
File photo: Portland Trail Blazers owner Jody Allen, center, watches warmups with general manager Neil Olshey, left, and president Chris McGowan, right, before the team's NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019.
Craig Mitchelldyer / AP
McGowan will depart after nine years as president of the Trail Blazers.
“We are grateful for Chris’s contributions since joining the Trail Blazers nearly a decade ago,” Jody Allen, chair of the Trail Blazers, said in the Friday press release. “I appreciate his dedication to the organization and to our fans, and we wish him well in his next chapter.”
This change-up in Trail Blazers’ leadership comes about a week after the team announced it hired an outside firm to investigate workplace environment concerns. Reportedly, the investigation was launched after allegations of workplace misconduct involving Neil Olshey, the general manager of the organization.