Franchise players: NBA execs Steve Mills and Terdema Ussery score as two of the industry's hottest front-office players. Will one gain the ultimate prize of NBA commissioner? - B.E. Corporate Executives Of The Year - Biography

Black Enterprise, Sept, 2003 by Alan Hughes

HDNet was launched in 2001 with a $100 million investment from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in conjunction with satellite television provider DirecTV and Fox Cable Networks Services. Currently, the network is subscription based, but Ussery is exploring an advertising-based model. High-definition television is an emerging market with vast growth potential. Roughly 6-7 million households currently have a high-definition television, a number that's expected to grow to about 42 million, or 38%, of households by 2007.

But as with any new entertainment format, there's going to be a lot of competition. "The biggest challenge is not to get swallowed up by bigger and better financed networks that are now coming out with all HDTV channels, [like] Discovery Channel, [and] ESPN," says Phillip Swann, author of TV dot Com: The Future of Interactive Television (TV Books Inc.; $14). "Mark [Cuban] has a lot of money, but he doesn't have Disney money ... or NBC, or perhaps even Discovery money."

In addition to his plethora of responsibilities, Ussery, who reports directly to Cuban in both positions, serves as mediator between the oft-fined team owner and the league, which once levied a hefty $500,000 penalty for criticizing officiating at a Mavericks game. "Cuban is a fascinating owner, but because Mark is so mercurial and energetic, [when he first arrived], the relationship between the team and the league couldn't have been any worse," says former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, a 20-year Mavericks season ticket holder. "But Terdema was the glue or vehicle that kept that relationship from totally dissolving, which wouldn't have been good for the Mavericks. He also provided a degree of reality and professionalism, in terms of the relationships with the owners and the league, that Cuban didn't particularly care to vest in."

Ussery, who's in his seventh year as Mavericks CEO, has come a long way since growing up near the border of Compton and Watts in South Central Los Angeles. A 1981 graduate of Princeton University, he received his master's from Harvard and a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He practiced entertainment law in Los Angeles before joining the Continental Basketball Association, a minor league; as its deputy commissioner and general counsel in 1990. In April 1991, Ussery was named CBA Commissioner where he would spearhead the league's anti-drug and player education programs. "We had no resources--seven staff members," recalls Ussery. "We were just a bunch of young guys and girls and we were having fun."

In his time with the CBA, Ussery would help the league turn profitable and identify good team ownership candidates. He also developed relationships at Nike, which would be the next step in his career path. In 1993, he joined the Nike Sports Management team where he served as president. His responsibilities there included overseeing the advertising, marketing and promotion of Nike's most important athletes, such as Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Picabo Street, Alonzo Mourning, and Ken Griffey Jr. The sports apparel giant ended up folding the Nike Sports Management Team after the NCAA ruled that the division functioned much the same as sports agents.