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Swin Cash Departing From Pelicans Front Office Role Amid Team Restructuring

New Orleans Pelicans senior vice president of basketball operations Swin Cash will be parting ways with the team, she confirmed on social media Thursday.

"Thank You for it ALL! 6 years of memories, growth, highs & low, the birth of our son and all while remaining unapologetically me," Cash wrote on Instagram.

Cash's departure is one more piece in the Pelicans' effort to restructure the team's front office after hiring Joe Dumars to be the executive vice president of basketball operations following the firing of former Pelicans lead executive David Griffin earlier this month.

Dumars' efforts to build up his front office also included the recent hiring of former Detroit Pistons general manager Troy Weaver to take over the role previously held by Cash, according to a team source.

Cash had been with the Pelicans since 2019 and played a pivotal role as a mentor for Pelicans players and a driving force for some of the growth the organization has experienced on and off the court.

Cash is known by many for her Hall of Fame career as a WNBA player from 2002 to 2016 before she moved on to work in the front office for the New York Liberty in 2017.

Cash quickly rose up the ranks and became one of Griffin's first hires after he took the job as executive vice president of basketball operations in New Orleans in 2019. Cash was one of the highest-ranking women in any front office around the NBA before her departure.

Pelicans players, including Zion Williamson, often lauded her for the impact she had on them as an influential voice behind the scenes.

(Photo: Layne Murdoch Jr. / NBAE via Getty Images)

Members Of The NBA & WNBA Reveal What Makes Pelicans' Swin Cash Special

On June 19, 2019, the New Orlean Pelicans announced that they hired former three-time WNBA Champion Swin Cash as their Vice President of Basketball Operations/Team Development.

Pelicans' President of Basketball Operation, David Griffin, recently shared with me that he hired Cash because of her basketball acumen, the human she is and the things she cares about.

"So, Swin and I worked together at NBA TV with Turner [Sports] and spent a lot of time breaking down the game and analyzing a lot of the players, and I loved her basketball acumen," Griffin told me. "But the human that she is the things that she cared about, her appreciation for family, her appreciation for the players, and for what it takes to build a family organization from a cultural standpoint that is she spoke to us."

Before the Pelicans took on the Dallas Mavericks on March 4, 2020, I spoke with Cash to get her response to Griffin, hiring her for basketball acumen.

"I think it is great to have allies in this space that understand your background and what you bring to the table. David Griffin has been such a great supporter, and he is one of the main reasons why I took this position," said Cash. "I was on a path, and I was on the media side, and I was working with the NBA as well as an associate and some other things. So, to make this shift in my career, you have to know you are going to be working with great people, and I have been afforded that opportunity to work with some really great people."

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"I coached Swin [Cash], and I know what kind of competitor she is. She is a winner, and she's a prideful person, so she's going to take a lot of pride in her job. So, she's going to work that she can and do the best to be the best at her position," said Agler. "There won't be anyone better than Swin, and that is the person she is. She's going to do the same thing in the office as she did on the basketball court. I'm happy for her, I'm proud of her, she's a winner, and that was a tremendous hire for the Pelicans."

I recently spoke with Cash to get her response to her former coach, Brian Agler's comments.

"Brian has always said that, and when we connected in Seattle, he always told me that was my strongest suit. That I was an ultra-competitor, and I got after it, and it is a high compliment coming from a championship coach like him," Cash told me.

Another former coach of Swin Cash in Seattle was Jenny Boucek, now an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks. Recently shared with me what made Cash an exceptional talent.

"I always used to joke, but it wasn't a joke that the word win was in her first name because that is just what she does. She wasn't necessarily the best player, but she got things done and found a way. That is what championship team and championship players do. They don't make excuses, and they find a way to get things done," said Boucek. "I can think of play after play, and big plays at that we either take a bad shot or it not a great play to get to the basket and Swin makes a play. She makes a cut, offensive rebound, a deflection on defense. She had a knack for that and was extremely competitive in every second of every day. It was a joy to work with her as a coach because of her fire."

Did Boucek see Cash eventually being in a front office position during her playing days?

"Not necessarily specifically, I think Swin because of some of her personality traits and attributes. And some of the things that are we did off the court because we worked on and partnered as teammates off the court to encourage players. She was very proactive, her initiatives, her abilities, her passion for people, and her energy," said Boucek.

"Off the court to do good in the world and for her to do her part was as evident as her competitive spirit on the floor. So, it is no surprise at all that is doing anything because she is so bright and is a servant at heart she could be a world-class doctor, lawyer, or she could be a CEO of a company. She could do anything she put her mind to."

During her playing career, Cash averaged 10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game and was a four-time All-Star.

Swin Cash Enters Hall Of Fame As An On-court Winner Who Is Now Blazing A Path In An NBA Front Office

It was impossible for Swin Cash to evaluate her impact in the basketball world in real time, as she was focused on winning games, championships and swatting unsuspecting layup attempts to the third row.

But every now and again, she'll get a picture she once signed, or a direct message from social media as a reminder how ingratiated she was on the scene.

"It's a picture of me looking young as hell, a shot of someone at a Boys and Girls Club with this kid," Cash told Yahoo Sports. "And now that kid is like a vice president at Microsoft or something and they remember the experience. You never know who you're touching."

Before her eye-rolling reaction at the 2021 NBA draft lottery became an iconic gif, before she took on a groundbreaking role as a VP with the New Orleans Pelicans, Cash's footprints have been at every level of basketball — culminating with her induction at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend.

Multiple times she's won gold medals, WNBA championships and NCAA national championships. Winning has followed her at every stop and at every turn, her effervescent personality was sprinkled into those environments.

At Connecticut, she helped lead the Huskies to a 39-0 record in 2002 before becoming the second pick in the WNBA draft as a member of the Detroit Shock — where she made perhaps her biggest mark.

They went from an 0-13 start in her rookie season to winning the first of two WNBA championships the next season. Nicknamed "The Princess of the Palace" because of her connection to the fans and the Detroit area, she embraced all aspects, known for being as visible as much as her individual excellence.

"People always say [the phrase], it's like a movie. But it really was," Cash said. "The city was on fire. It was that much fun."

Detroit Shock forward Swin Cash during a 2007 WNBA game against the New York Liberty at the Palace of Auburn Hills. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

She was already friends with Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton because of their UConn connection, and soon after arriving, became friends with Chauncey Billups. It wasn't uncommon to see her at Pistons games or Detroit Lions games through the years, or pulling up at the local radio station on a whim.

"I was just a big believer — and taught that you got to buy into your market, like do to people like who's hot, who's connecting, like inviting people to our games," Cash said. "It really just became more this whole family type of thing."

Some of the WNBA's biggest crowds occurred during the 2003 Finals between the Shock and Los Angeles Sparks, including a record 22,076 for the clinching Game 3. In that series, Cash was third in scoring, second in rebounding and led the team in assists.

"We were winning, but we played Detroit style. They could see themselves in us," Cash said. "People will text and say, 'I fell in love with the game because I watched you and Deanna [Nolan], y'all were something special.' It was a cultural thing."

While she had an up-and-down relationship with Shock coach Bill Laimbeer, the former Pistons center-turned coach, it was a fruitful relationship during their time. She was an All-Star twice and All-WNBA two times as well.

"It's kind of like when you get a family and you get people and they get you and you can agree to disagree. And you can make something beautiful," Cash said. "I'll give him credit. At 22 years old, I can come into the gym and he sat me down to say, 'I've been hired to do X, Y and Z, and you're the franchise.' "

Empowering Cash was something she appreciated, and being asked about personnel decisions as a player was something that prepared her for the role she's in now.

"I had no idea what that was planning inside of me. But he did that. So, I just respect him a hell of a lot," Cash said. "And, he said this was kind of the blueprint that he was following. And I said, 'Well, this is what I know about winning.' And that's what we did in Detroit."

Before the Shock were relocated to Tulsa, Cash moved on to Seattle where she won another championship in 2010 and had more All-Star appearances while being named to the WNBA 20th anniversary team — and 25th anniversary team — as her career wound down, ending with the New York Liberty in 2016.

Even with all the accolades and obvious resume, she never thought about the Hall.

"After you play and people start bringing it up to you, 'Oh, you're eligible after this many years,' you begin to wrap your mind around it," Cash said. "While I was playing, it never entered my mind, not even a little bit."

But it is a reality now and as she takes the podium to enter into basketball immortality, she's unique in a way that it doesn't end her basketball journey — it's just another layer as she's a rising star in front offices.

"It's my mom's moment more than anyone else's," Cash said.

Her mother relies on a scooter to get around and is delaying back surgery to watch her daughter get inducted. It was similar to the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece where her mother needed a hip replacement but wanted to support Swin.

"A lot of people could have put that jacket on me. But that's what's going to be going through my mind is that my mom deserves to have that," Cash said. "And then I think when I go give my speech, like I think to whom much is given, much is required."

She's paid back and forward — in cash.

Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 inductee Swin Cash speaks at a news conference ahead of Saturday's induction ceremony. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

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