Ussery '81 is best Mav for the job

To the envy of diehard young basketball fans across the country, Terdema Ussery '81 knows Dirk on a first-name basis — Nowitzki, that is — and regularly watches the seven-foot All-Star forward in action. After all, it's his job.

As president and chief executive officer, Ussery is at the heart of the thriving Dallas Mavericks. The defending Western Conference champions are currently the West's No. 1 seed for the 2007 playoffs.

Yet, for all the fanfare that surrounds a topnotch professional sports organization, Ussery does not allow the success to get to the heads of those around him. He will rely on a focused staff to propel the Mavericks to improve on the success it enjoyed last season.

"We don't have any divas on our team," Ussery said. "We're a very humble team, humble organization."

Ussery, who joined the Mavericks' organization 10 years ago, also currently holds the position of CEO of HDNet. His impressive professional career began after graduating from Princeton as a Wilson School major, earning a master's of public administration from Harvard and a law degree from Berkeley.

After working for the law firm Morrison & Foerster, Ussery worked as general counsel of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) before assuming the role of CBA Commissioner in 1991.

Following a stint as the president of Nike Sports Management, he joined the Mavericks — an organization which keeps him busy and constantly stimulated.

"Our organization is ... basically an organization that is in the business of throwing 44 parties [annually] for 20,000 of our closest friends," Ussery said. "We want them to have a great time."

While Ussery regularly sees some of the biggest names in professional sports and enjoys the electricity of going to games and organizational functions, he keeps grounded by maintaining a purely professional relationship with the players.

"You always want to maintain that mutual respect," Ussery said. "I don't hang out with any of them. I respect them as individuals."

Ussery instead focuses on continually improving his organization through his self-proclaimed role of "air traffic controller." His decade-long hard work is being recognized by fans, who ranked the Dallas Mavericks third in fan satisfaction in ESPN's 2007 SportsNation poll of 122 professional sports organizations.

While the professional sports industry has defined Ussery's career, he did not necessarily envision that trajectory before or during his days at Princeton.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Though Ussery played sports throughout his childhood, they were not a particularly large part of his life.

"[My career path] was really fortuitous," Ussery said. "To me it was the perfect opportunity to combine at least initially ... law with something I am passionate about."

His childhood in Los Angeles' Watts section during a very politically charged time sparked Ussery's interest in public policy and the law. At Princeton, he majored in the Wilson School and wrote his thesis, "Blacks and the Trial by Jury: Is Representativeness on the Venire Enough?" under the direction of Stanley Katz, Wilson school professor, who instilled in Ussery a passion for the law.

Ussery's interest in public service prompted him to pursue his graduate degrees, and while he has primarily worked in the private sector, he actively participates on the boards of many nonprofit organizations. His most exciting opportunity to give back to the community, however, came in his 2004 election to the University's Board of Trustees to serve a four-year term.

"It's a lot of work, a lot of heavy-lifting, but it's everything I thought it would be," Ussery said. "It's the most fulfilling thing that I do outside of my job."

His collegiate experiences at the University taught Ussery the importance of always staying fast to desires and goals — a tidbit of wisdom he would impart to all current Princeton students.

"If you focus on the 'now,' " Ussery said, "things have a way of working out in the long term ... I tried to maximize the opportunity I was given."

Hailing from the public school system in Los Angeles, Ussery has constantly pursued his dreams and has earned a truly remarkable reputation in the professional sports community.

Whether or not the Mavericks win an elusive NBA Championship, Ussery's accomplishments in both the public and private sector stand alone.