Malcolm Turner
Malcolm Turner, a proven and highly accomplished sports business executive with a passion for the transformative power of education, began his tenure as the university’s vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletics director on Feb. 1, 2019.
Turner, a former member of the NBA’s senior leadership team and president of the NBA G League, graduated from North Carolina and went on to earn joint J.D./.M.B.A. degrees from Harvard.
Turner is also an accomplished community leader, having served on the advisory boards for Teach for America, the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, the UNC Board of Visitors and the board of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship Fund.
As a student at North Carolina, Turner was a Rhodes Scholar finalist, Morehead-Cain Scholar and recipient of the Ernest L. Mackie Chancellor’s Award for character, scholarship and leadership.
Turner’s tenure as president of the NBA G League was hallmarked by growth, expansion and transformation.
Under Turner’s leadership, the NBA G League enjoyed unprecedented growth across all areas of its business and basketball operations — from record numbers of NBA G League alumni in the NBA, to a first-of-its-kind expanded entitlement partnership with Gatorade, to innovative new player contract types. A champion for NBA Two-Way Contracts (newly incorporated in the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement) and NBA G League Select Contracts (newly announced as part of the G League’s recently launched professional path), Turner’s vision deepened the league’s commitment to player development.
Turner’s commitment to development also extended to coaches, with more than 50 coaches ascending from the NBA G League to NBA team benches during his tenure.
Through strategic partnerships with NBA teams, 10 new clubs joined the league, all of the NBA G League’s record 27 teams enjoyed single-affiliation with NBA parent clubs, and roughly one-third of the league’s teams played in, or constructed, new facilities. By any measure, the NBA G League underwent an expansive transformation and stood as a thriving and integral strategic asset that created tangible value throughout the NBA system. The NBA G League prepared players, coaches, referees, trainers and front office staff for the NBA while also serving as the league’s research and development laboratory to test experimental playing rules, new technologies and emerging partner initiatives for potential application by the NBA.
Prior to joining the NBA, Turner worked at Wasserman Media Group, where he helped build the firm’s preeminent consulting division as its managing director, creating and managing sports, entertainment, venue and new product launch strategies for leading corporate brands and properties. He went on to help build a multinational footprint for this practice before launching Wasserman’s Golf Division as one of the leading golf management teams representing some of the game’s top personalities and brands.
Prior to Wasserman, he served as senior vice president and a member of the leadership team of OnSport, a North Carolina-based sports and entertainment consulting firm (later acquired by Wasserman) that managed strategic initiatives for Fortune 100 brands across the NBA, NFL, MLB, NASCAR, Madison Square Garden, STAPLES Center and other marquee properties. The firm also represented the media rights for prominent rightsholders in the professional and college sports landscape.
