ESPN announces that the Suns have hired Morgan Cato as assistant GM and vice president of basketball operations for the club. She will work with GM James Jones, and coach Monty Williams, on various topics.
For the last decade, she worked for the NBA, under Byron Spruell, the league’s president of operations. She has notably worked on the development of refereeing, on the launch of the Basketball Africa League and on the connection between the NBA and young basketball players around the world.
If Kelly Krauskopf had been the first woman to become an assistant GM of an NBA club, with the Pacers in 2018, ESPN specifies that Morgan Cato becomes the first black woman to obtain such a high position in the league.
This is certainly not trivial as the Suns are currently under investigation by the NBA over accusations of racism and sexism against Suns owner Robert Sarver.
And that an employee has just resigned to protest against the atmosphere in the franchise.
