Detroit professional sports leaders speak on importance of diversity in management roles

DETROIT – More than 70% of NFL players are people of color. In the NBA, that number is even higher.

However, those in top roles often times do not look like the players they lead. In Detroit, both the Lions and Pistons have Black men in prominent, leadership roles.

“I hope that I can be that same symbolism of hope for younger black and brown kids that can look up to people like myself,” said Lions General Manager Brad Holmes, who was recently hired in January.

There were seven open general manager positions in the NFL this year. Only two of them went to Black me, which doubled the number of minority general managers in the league.

“We have to put more effort to improve the diversity under the GM level,” Holmes said. “Less than 10% are at director of college scouting... less than 10% in the assistant GM role. To add more diversity to those levels to make the pipeline even stronger would be a step forward.”

Watch the full report above to learn more.

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