NBA’s pick of Dick Parsons as new Clippers leader wins praise

The selection of former Time Warner executive Dick Parsons to run the Clippers has been met with praise.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the appointment of Parsons, former chairman of Time Warner and Citigroup, would bring “extraordinary leadership” to the Clippers organization as it faces the defection of advertisers and the threatened flight of fans, players and coaches.

“Seems like a great pick,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “I want the players and Coach [Doc] Rivers to get the support they deserve and need.”

Parsons, 66, is a native New Yorker and former college basketball player who has a reputation as a diplomatic negotiator and effective crisis manager, with deep political and corporate ties.

One of the most powerful black executives in corporate America, he helped guide Citigroup as the banking giant clawed its way out of the Great Recession and into recovery. He once was considered a possible Republican candidate for mayor of New York.

Parsons takes the place of Andy Roeser, the team president who defended Sterling immediately after the website TMZ broadcast a recording of the owner saying he did not want to see a companion bringing black people to Clipper games. In addition to the ban, Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million and said he would urge owners to force a sale of the franchise.

Roeser, put on indefinite leave this week by the NBA, has worked for Sterling for 30 years.

Parsons said Friday in an interview with The Times that he sees his new job as serving as a “conservator” of the team and its assets while the NBA pushes for a new owner.