On Jan. 25, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that Shelly Cayette would be the team’s new executive vice president and chief commercial officer. 

She is the first Black woman to serve in either role for an NBA franchise. Her most recent job with the Cavaliers’ front office prior to her recent promotion was as their senior vice president of global partnerships. 

Nic Barlage, the Cavaliers’ president of business operations and Rock Entertainment Group chief operating officer, said in a statement, “This promotion is a reflection of not only…  qualities and the business success she has generated, but the person she is and how she has impacted so many other members of our organization, our community and our industry.”

As the chief commercial officer, Cayette will be responsible for corporate partnerships, corporate and ticket sales revenue and strategy, youth sports programmes, and membership sales and service. 

Her duties will extend beyond the Cavaliers, as she will also have oversight of the Cavs' NBA G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, and their NBA 2K League franchise, Cavs Legion GC.

In an interview with Shannon Smith of 19 News, the statistics of how many NBA presidents are women was brought up. According to the station, 10.9% of NBA presidents are women as of 2020, and in 2013 that number was 1.8%. 

Cayette responded to this by saying, “And I can name them all.” The Cavaliers are one of the top five NBA franchises for women and women of color. 

"They didn't just give me this role because I am a Black woman. They gave me the role because of the performance. Because as a business, we've led in the NBA in top five of revenue of all teams -- over the past five years consistently," she told 3 WKYC Studios.

Cleveland is a diverse city with 48.7% of the population being African American and 12.7% Hispanic.

“One of the things that's most important for us is to be relevant and trusted in the communities that we serve, and you can't serve the community without knowing the diversity that Cleveland and Northeast Ohio represents,” said Corey James, the director of diversity and inclusion for the Cavaliers.

Cayette didn’t set out to make basketball her career, however. She had played basketball her entire life, including at Tulane University. After college, she was eager to try something unrelated to basketball and became a marketing coordinator in the casino industry. 

Cayette, who is a Louisiana native, then got a job offer with the New Orleans Pelicans, where she worked for five years. She joined the Cavaliers in 2012, initially as vice president of partnership marketing & strategy, and gradually worked her way up.

“Shelly Cayette is both a game-changer and a leader of the highest caliber,” Barlage said.

As a role model to young women, her advice to those who may also enter a male-dominated field is: seek out mentors, remain positive, and communicate clearly. 

“Look, I’ve got to tell you — part of me would like to see the day when I’m not making history. 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,” she told Crain’s Cleveland Business.