Grizzlies’ Vice President Dana Davis Found Dead at Age 56

Dana Davis, the Memphis Grizzlies’ vice president of basketball operations and team programs, was found dead in his apartment yesterday, the club said. He was 56.

Davis was set to begin his 13th season with the National Basketball Association team, where he oversaw player development through educational programs and one-on-one player mentoring, the Grizzlies said in a statement on their website.

The team said details surrounding Davis’s death weren’t available.

The Commercial-Appeal, a Memphis newspaper, reported that Davis was found after team officials, suspicious when he didn’t show up for work yesterday, asked local police to search his apartment. Foul play isn’t suspected, according to the newspaper.

“Double-D was the most charitable and generous individual I have ever met,” Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley said in a statement. “What Dana couldn’t give in monetary donations, he more than made up for with the amount of time he gave to causes close to his and the Grizzlies’ hearts.”

One of the original members of the Grizzlies’ management team when the franchise moved to Memphis from Vancouver in 2001, Davis was also responsible for the team’s travel schedule, accommodations and security while on the road.

The Grizzlies went 41-25, and finished second to the San Antonio Spurs in the Southwest Division last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

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Grizzlies’ Vice President Dana Davis Found Dead at Age 56

Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

Dana Davis, vice president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies, was found dead in his apartment yesterday. He was 56.

Dana Davis, vice president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies, was found dead in his apartment yesterday. He was 56. Photographer: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images