New SI story alleges additional misconduct by a Mavericks employee

According to a new report in Sports Illustrated, an allegation of sexual assault was made against Dallas Mavericks Director of Player Personnel Tony Ronzone. The lengthy investigative piece does not use the real name of the individual who has come forward with the complaint.

Per the story, the assault allegedly took place in a Las Vegas hotel room in July of 2019. The person making the allegation contacted Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in September of 2019. Cuban then passed the complaint to Cynthia Wales, the Mavericks’ chief ethics and compliance officer. The NBA league office was also made aware of the allegations, which was a direct result of the 2018 investigation and fine placed on Dallas owner Mark Cuban.

The Maverick investigation did not result in any action being taken against Ronzone, but the Sports Illustrated investigation raises several questions about the thoroughness of that investigation.

Dallas has not put out a statement yet, but per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News, he’s told “Mavs’ statement will paint a much different picture” than the SI investigation.

UPDATE: The Mavericks have issued a lengthy statement in response, which Marc Stein tweeted here.