The NBA received the first overall "A" among men's sports teams, according to a report issued Thursday by Richard Lapchick, the head of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

The rating was fueled by the NBA having seven black top executives among its 30 teams during the 2007-08 season, which ranked them with the highest percentage of minority presidents and CEOs in men's professional sports history. As reported by The AP:

There were 12 black head coaches in the NBA last season. At 40 percent, it's the highest in all pro sports. A league-record 42 percent of assistant coaches were minorities.

The seven black presidents/CEOs were: Terdema Ussery, Dallas Mavericks; Fred Whitfield, Charlotte Bobcats; Steve Mills, New York Knicks; Billy King, Philadelphia 76ers; Larry Miller, Portland Trail Blazers; Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons; and Isiah Thomas, New York Knicks.

King was fired in December, Thomas in April. The Washington Wizards' Susan O'Malley, the first and only female president of an NBA franchise, stepped down last summer.

Charlotte’s Robert Johnson is the lone majority owner of a men’s pro sport franchise who is African American.

Other findings:

• Three of the 12 coaches -- Charlotte's Sam Vincent, Dallas' Avery Johnson and Thomas -- were fired by the end of the season.
• There have been 54 black head coaches in NBA history, more than twice as many as any other sport. MLB is second with 26 minority managers.
• The NBA had 15 percent of its team vice presidents positions occupied by minorities.
• Women comprised 41 percent of professional employees in the league office, higher than any other sport and an increase of 2 percentage points after three years of decline, the study said.
• At the end of the season, 58 percent of the NBA referees were white, 37 percent black and 5 percent Latino. Violet Palmer is the lone female ref.

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