A new era in Washington sports has begun. Since the Washington Wizards fired former President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld, Tommy Sheppard has efficiently served as Interim GM. Today, the Wizards introduced several management changes including Sheppard’s transition into the permanent GM role. Chairman and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment Ted Leonsis has formed Monumental Basketball, a new collective that consists of the Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, Capital City Go-Go and Wizards District Gaming.
Tommy Sheppard will serve as general manager of the Wizards, Sashi Brown will serve as chief planning and operations officer for Monumental Basketball and Daniel Medina will serve as chief of athlete care & performance for Monumental Basketball.
“We have formed a new leadership team with a forward-thinking structure to adapt to the ‘new NBA’ that requires every possible strategic advantage to compete and win,” said Leonsis. “We are building a leadership brain trust with deep Wizards/NBA experience and with sports professionals from inside and outside the NBA to challenge our thinking and adapt to an ever-increasing competitive environment.”
Sheppard will lead strategy, analytics, player personnel, scouting and coaching for the Wizards, Go-Go and District Gaming while Brown and Medina will lead teams providing shared services to all Monumental Basketball franchises. Brown will manage efforts relating to technology, finance, communications, security, research and player engagement and Medina will head up medical, training, mental health, strength and conditioning, nutrition and physical therapy/recovery. Mike Thibault will continue to lead all basketball activities for the Mystics as head coach/general manager while Pops Mensah-Bonsu will continue as general manager for the Go-Go, reporting to Sheppard.
As part of the new organizational structure, Leonsis also announced a new athlete development & engagement department which will be led by former Georgetown and Princeton Head Coach John Thompson III. Thompson will use his vast experience to lead a team that will focus on maximizing player potential both on and off the court for all Monumental Basketball athletes. Employing a holistic development approach, the department will focus on financial literacy, post-playing career opportunities and the overall empowerment and development of the athletes.
In addition to Sheppard’s promotion and the addition of Brown, Medina and Thompson, Leonsis also announced two promotions of current staff. Sashia Jones, who previously served as vice president of community relations, was promoted to vice president of player engagement and will work with Thompson to provide services to players for all teams. Brett Greenberg, who previously served as vice president of basketball analytics/salary cap management, was promoted to assistant general manager for strategy and analytics.