CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
Shelly Cayette-Weston made history this week when the Cleveland Cavaliers promoted her to executive vice president and chief commercial officer. In her new role, Cayette-Weston becomes the first Black woman to serve as an NBA team's CCO in the league's history.
A native of St. James, Louisiana, who played college basketball at Tulane, Cayette-Weston most recently spent time as the Cavs' senior vice president of global partnerships. She has been a member of the team's organization since 2012 after previously spending time with the New Orleans Hornets. This past November, she was named to the Sports Business Journal's 40 Under 40 class of 2021.
"Look, I've got to tell you — part of me would like to see the day when I'm not making history," Cayette-Weston told Crain's Cleveland Business' Joe Scalzo. "It's nice to know that I'm the first, but hopefully I can open doors so there aren't any more firsts. The goal is to do away with firsts."
This isn't the first time the Cavs have broken gender-related barriers. In 2019, Cleveland hired former Cal-Berkeley women's basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlieb to then-head coach John Beilein's staff, making her the first female to join an NBA coaching staff from the college staff.
Gottlieb remained on the Cavs' staff through the 2020-21 season before accepting a job to become the women's basketball head coach at the University of Southern California.