Brett Yormark details relationship with George Kliavkoff after adding Pac-12 teams

The Big 12 and Big Ten have, seemingly, put the final nail in the Pac-12’s coffin through conference realignment. Recently, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah all left for the Big 12. This could potentially make things awkward between commissioners Brett Yormark and George Kliavkoff.

Despite this, Yormark explained to The Marchand and Ourand podcast that it was all business and nothing personal.

“When I first took the job in August of 2022, within the first week or two there was a meeting of the commissioners, you know the A5 commissioners in Chicago,” Brett Yormark said. “And at that point in time, it was on the heels of USC and UCLA going to the Big Ten, and it was kind of a get-together for the commissioners and an opportunity for us all to break bread and discuss what had happened and really where we’re going moving forward.”

For Brett Yormark this easily could have been an intimidating room to sit in, especially since Yormark was a new commissioner at the time. However, he made it clear that this wasn’t the first time in his professional life he found himself in this kind of situation.

“As the rookie in the room, I made it clear that there are going to be moments where we’re going to compete and there’s other moments where we need to come together as a group, and it’s no different than any career move I’ve made. When I was with the NBA, you had your Board of Governors meetings and you’re together and it’s congenial and you’re trying to figure out what’s in the best interest of the NBA and professional basketball, but then when you go back to Brooklyn, in my particular case, you’re competing with the other 29 teams, especially when it comes to free agents, etc,” Yormark said.

“I kind of brought that mindset to the meeting, saying, there are moments when we’re gonna compete. It’s never personal. And then there’s moments we all have to come together and do what’s best for the industry.”

Shortly after the moves in realignment happened, Brett Yormark admitted to calling George Kliavkoff.

“What I have learned here, during expansion, and I still do have a little bit of a knot in my stomach, I never want my gain to be someone else’s loss. That’s a little different here and on the heels of, not Colorado, but of all four corner schools coming, I texted George, reached out to him. Obviously, he was busy. He and I spoke last week, and effectively I said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry it came down to this, and I’m sorry I put you in a tough position, but this was something that we had to do and this was something that the board and our key stakeholders encouraged. And I’m sorry that my gain is your loss,'” Yormark said.

“And we had a very collegial conversation. George was fantastic and I’ll be seeing him in a couple of weeks at some industry meetings.”

Along with that, Brett Yormark also insisted that the Big 12 never hid its intentions. He also argued that the same thing can’t be said for everyone.

“I’m not one to hide and, again, I’m very intentional about expansion, and I did that in an effort to make sure that — expansion didn’t happen in someone’s shadow. It didn’t happen at night, it wasn’t a shock and awe moment. Everyone knew the Big 12 had an appetite to expand. Maybe some people in the industry didn’t like that, that I was so intentional about it, but I’m very transparent. In fact, I telegraphed it,” Yormark said.

“And I just felt that was the right way to do it, versus other things that I’ve witnessed and observed in our industry over time where transparency really wasn’t what happened. I felt I had to do it a little differently and that’s really about my personality and how I do things, generally speaking.