The announcement...

On the morning of April 18th, only four people knew that I was going to announce the following:

LYONS TO LEAVE NBA AT END OF 2006-07 SEASON

NEW YORK, April 18 -- NBA Vice President, International Communications Terry Lyons has announced that the 2006-07 NBA season will be his last in the league office. After 26 years at the NBA, Lyons plans to relocate with his family to New England. He will continue to assist the NBA as a consultant during the transition.

“Terry Lyons’ enormous contributions to our media relations efforts for almost three decades have been a key driver to our growth, domestically and internationally,” Commissioner David Stern said. “He has grown up with the NBA and the NBA has grown up with him. We will miss him greatly, and wish him continued professional success and much personal happiness.”

Lyons currently oversees all NBA communications, public relations and media activities outside the USA. He supervises and helps train regional communications staff stationed in the NBA’s Asia-Pacific and European offices and is responsible for all international public relations activities generated in the NBA’s headquarters in New York and New Jersey.

Lyons began his career at the NBA as an intern in 1981. He held the post of Director of Media Relations from 1989 to 1993 before being promoted to Vice President and concentrating his efforts on the NBA’s soaring international growth. He has worked in conjunction with USA Basketball on the past four Summer Olympics and World Championships, dating back to the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Since the early 1980’s, Lyons has worked every NBA Finals, All-Star Weekend, NBA Draft and all the international events in between, including the NBA China Games 2004 in Shanghai and Beijing; NBA Opening Games in Tokyo, Japan; the 1987-to-1999 McDonald’s Championships and nearly 100 games in all corners of the world. Since staffing Game 1 of the 1983 NBA Finals in Philadelphia, he has worked 135 consecutive Finals games. In 1986, he created and organized NBA Photos to assist NBA Entertainment in chronicling photographically the league’s growth and history.

“Working with the NBA to grow interest in the sport of basketball worldwide has been a 26-year dream come true,” said Lyons. “I’ve embraced the endless opportunities at the league and have enjoyed every challenge. For that honor and privilege, I would like to thank David Stern and everyone at the NBA and our teams, including our tremendous players, who truly are the world’s greatest athletes.”

Lyons is a graduate of St. John’s University in New York, where he earned his degree in Sports Management. An avid fan of the St. John’s basketball team, he continues to serve the school on its Sports Management Advisory Council for the College of Professional Studies. He helped develop the NBA’s Basketball without Borders program, which has evolved into the league’s premiere basketball and community outreach initiative on four continents.

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