News is filtering out today of the Portland Trail Blazers laying off several staff members. Terminations appear to be taking effect immediately. They come on the business side of the organization, not the basketball side.
The most public-facing name reported so far is Digital Reporter Casey Holdahl. He tweets:
I have indeed been let go
after 18+ years with the @trailblazers. My sincerest thanks to all of you who have read/listened/watched/engaged with my work over the years.
The layoffs come in the wake of an ownership transition. In March the Blazers transferred from the estate of late owner Paul Allen, headed by his sister Jody—governors of the franchise since 1988—to an ownership group led by Texas businessman Tom Dundon.
Willamette Week has a quote from President of Business Operations Dewayne Hankins on the layoffs:
Today, as part of our plans to position the organization for the future, we made the difficult decision to restructure several areas of the business,” Hankins wrote. “These changes impacted talented people who have helped shape the Trail Blazers over many years. We are deeply grateful for their contributions, their leadership, and the care they showed every day for our team, our fans, and the Portland community. Our focus now is supporting those affected through the transition and positioning the organization for long-term success.
We’ll have more on this story as it unfolds.
