It's not often that a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters prepares one to lead a G League team, but that is the path that was taken by Eubanks.
It is not all that often that a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters prepares one to lead a G League team, but that is exactly the path that was taken by current Maine Red Claws President of Basketball Operations Dajuan Eubanks took to the job he holds today. It was an atypical route to the gig for Eubanks, but then there is not really any well-worn path to such a post, save experience with the sport of basketball and sports more generally.
And the Maine Celtics president has picked up his fair share of both making his way from the Globetrotters as a player to Portland as a G League exec, with time learning the trade of live event publicity for GMR Marketing that would eventually lead him to the team then known as the Maine Red Claws, today's Maine Celtics. Speaking to Sports Business Journal reporter David Broughton, Eubanks opened up about his journey to Maine and beyond in a wide-ranging interview, and credited his time with the Globetrotters for getting him on the path to where he is today.
"We were engaging with fans in public during the day and in the arenas every night, so it was about relationship building and responding to crowds in the moment," he recalled. "So that, combined with my business degree, really put me on the trajectory that I’m still on today."
Despite Cooper Flagg's recent hype, Maine is not exactly a hotbed of high-level basketball, so it might surprise to see how Eubanks has taken to Portland and the Maine Celtics. But the team exec has been thriving there since visiting with his then-wife in the late aughts. "It’s been great for me to be able to develop myself personally here and step into my voice and showcase my skill set professionally, particularly as a minority individual in Maine," said Eubanks.
"It’s just been a great place for me to really come into my own and build a great community that is supportive of me and my family. Family doesn’t always have to be blood, you know, and I have a whole lot of friends and family here."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Dajuan Eubanks on how Globetrotters led him to Maine Celtics presidency
Category: Basketball
