Tonight the Washington Wizards did a good thing. Maybe for the second time inside of a week.
Tonight the Wizards hosted a panel discussion for season ticket holders to break down their new basketball operations hierarchy. It was the first time in a long time the franchise has shown any sort of transparency about anything for season ticket holders. And I think that's a positive thing. No, it doesn't get us more wins or a division championship or an NBA title. It actually doesn't really get us anything. Except some communication. But that can be powerful.
So briefly...Tommy Sheppard's the guy basketball-wise for the Wizards, Mystics and Go-Go and even the NBA 2K Esports franchise (I mean...really? I'm trying to maintain an open mind here). Assisting him is Shashi Brown who's running the operational side of the things and who formerly got the Cleveland Browns all the hope that they have entering the 2019 NFL season (there's more to it than that but I'm trying to be succinct). Player development? John Thompson III (or JT3 if you prefer) formerly head coach at Princeton and Georgetown. Let's be real here: sometimes these young men entering the league acquiring vast wealth need some development physically but also straight up some advice. Finally, Dr. Daniel Medina is in charge of wellness, for lack of a better term. The difference between a talented basketball player and a dominant basketball player is sometimes health and conditioning. This is important stuff.
The panel discussion tonight was quick and mostly offered sound bites that could be taken cynically to mean absolutely nothing. Like I said earlier in this post, the Wizards didn't do anything tonight. They didn't sign any marquee free agents (or any free agents at all actually) or fire the head coach or do anything basketball-wise.
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Free beer! Are there any two words in the English language more powerful?
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But it is something different.
It is different than no communication really for the past I don't know seven or eight years. When Ted Leonsis first got involved with the team there was a palpable sense of hope and connection. There was a dedicated email address where you could send your comments or questions and the owner of the team would actually respond personally. How cool was that? Ted also showed up for season ticket holder chalk talks and engaged in dialog with fans in a real meaningful way. Like one on one.
The last five or six years? All that's gone. Not much really. Silence about strategy except maybe some hopeful words before things failed and then cover ups around the resultant reaction (I see you summer of 2016 and also Otto Porter). I can't tell you how many season ticket holders I've talked to that have been blocked on Twitter by our team's owner (yes, that's you Ted) for posting a benign comment about firing Ernie Grunfeld (#FireErnie) before he actually did just that. Is this the way you want to conduct fan relations? I can't imagine.
Tommy Sheppard and tonight's event were a breath of fresh air. Tommy is not Ernie Grunfeld. I can't tell you the last time I was at an event (or even for that matter bumping into him in an airport which I have done) where what I got out of Ernie felt genuine or heartfelt. Tommy's not like that. He's in front of us talking into a microphone about hope or change or what needs to be done to succeed. Is he right? I have no idea. Will it work? Also no idea. But it's different. And that's worth something.
The rest of the organization is also different. It's pulling guys from the NFL and European football and college basketball and introducing a whole new setup. Will it work? Again...I have no idea. I often coach the people who work for me that if something's not working change it. Not in a random way but in a way that corrects the deficiencies that exist in their work process. The Wizards are at least intentionally changing things up. Too slow? For sure. Too late? It's probably never too late.
I have to tell you that the Wizards have almost lost me. Or more accurately cast me aside in favor of people who will pay more for VIP experiences or one game party experiences who will leave when the going gets bad. Or gambling prospects. Or just ditching any hope of success to get under the salary cap. Or whatever. The vision coming out of this franchise has varied between confused to inconsistent to just plain puzzling.
Tonight's event was hopeful. I'm willing to give it a try. Easy for me to say when I already bought in I guess. I expect that this season will be a disaster. But I'm willing to accept that in the context that it's no longer business as usual. It better not be.
I've attended a lot of Wizards season ticket holder events in the last 19 years. I attended this one because it represented something different to me and I wanted to see if it was true. Turned out it was. The tone was different. I'll also say that the free beer and wine was different and welcome. Maybe it makes me seem like a lush but honestly the amount of season ticket holder events I've attended in Capital One Arena recently where I've had to pay for draft beer have been ridiculous. I mean, it's draft beer right? How expensive is that? You don't need to charge me for that.
I'm encouraged. I don't think this team is going to be successful next year and I don't expect that I will renew for the 2020-2021 season. But tonight was the start of a conversation. I appreciate it.
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Trevor Ariza artwork? Really? Probably need to take this down.
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