Heartbreaking. The current owner of the Phoenix Mercury, Josh Bartelsstein, has officially announced his decision to leave the team.
Josh Bartelstein, a Pistons executive, is being appointed as the new CEO of the Phoenix Suns, according to a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
ESPN sources: Josh Bartelstein, an executive with the Detroit Pistons, will be joining the Phoenix Suns as CEO. Targeted by owner Mat Ishbia was Bartelstein, an assistant general manager now working under Vice Chairman Arn Tellem and rising through the ranks to become EVP of Business and Basketball Operations over a number of years.
— Wojnarowski Adrian (@wojespn) 4 March 2023
Bartelstein will take Jason Rowley’s place as the new Suns CEO, succeeding Mat Ishbia. Since he formally assumed office in early February, this is the first significant personnel change.
As Ishbia has stated publicly that he wants to completely rebuild the Suns’ culture, this may be the first of many adjustments he makes in the upcoming months after examining the current setup and methods of operation.
Woj mentions that James Jones, general manager and president of basketball operations, would continue to oversee basketball operations and answer directly to Ishbia.
Even though Bartelstein is only 33 years old, his brief professional NBA career has produced quite the résumé, as seen in the examples below.
In just seven years, Bartelstein, 33, has risen to the position of executive vice chairman of basketball operations and business under Palace Sports and Entertainment vice chairman Arn Tellem. Bartelstein was involved with several significant projects, one of which was the franchise’s move to a new arena in the downtown area. In 2022, he switched to working with General Manager Troy Weaver on basketball operations as an assistant general manager. Bartelstein’s resume was bolstered by that change, enabling him to advance into a CEO position.
Josh is the son of Priority Sports and Entertainment CEO Mark Bartelstein. That is undoubtedly something to watch going forward.
