Sekou Lewis, WG’25, a former international professional basketball player and the current General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer for the Dallas Mavericks, credits his family and basketball legend Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson for inspiring his decision to pursue an MBA at Wharton.
A pivotal moment in Sekou’s career trajectory occurred during his time in law school in Philadelphia when his sister, Deja Lewis Chamberlain, WG’10, and Arthur Chamberlain, WG’10, invited him to a Wharton Social Impact Club conference featuring K. Bobby Turner, W’84, and Magic Johnson as the guest speakers.
“I remember Magic talking about how many people who looked like him played basketball, but not many had reached the executive and ownership level,” Sekou recalls. “Magic said that he wanted to see that change, and that really stuck with me. It planted the idea to someday get an MBA.”
A Growing Interest in Business
After graduating from law school, Sekou focused on corporate law in private practice where he discovered an interest in business and strategy while working on merger and acquisition deals. Several years later, he landed the job at the Dallas Mavericks and began thinking about pursuing an MBA.
“I realized I could learn about business on the job, but I also could go back to school and learn from top professors and smart students to accelerate that process,” he explains. “I learned about basketball through full immersion in the sport, always seeking to compete against or play with the best, and I wanted to use that same approach to learn about business.”
Sekou also wanted to build a network of classmates who would serve as a sounding board for business issues, similar to the network he built as a young associate in private practice.
“I wanted to put myself in the best position to grow and learn from the best. At the end of the day, I’d be a better lawyer for having a business education. I saw it as a win-win opportunity,” he says.
A Full Circle Moment
When Sekou decided to pursue his MBA, coming to Wharton felt like a “full circle moment,” as the original idea for business school began on the Wharton campus at Johnson’s talk. And the EMBA program was a great fit because he could continue working for the Dallas Mavericks while in school.
Having gone to law school in Philadelphia, he wanted to experience a different part of the country, so he started the EMBA program commuting from Dallas to Wharton’s West Coast campus in San Francisco and later took advantage of the ability to take classes on both campuses by enrolling in electives in Philadelphia and online with the Global cohort in his second year.
As a recent graduate, Sekou reflects on how his Wharton MBA is currently shaping his work as General Counsel for the Mavericks.
His Management Communication course with Seth Barad, for instance, has proven invaluable. “It’s paid for itself many times over,” Sekou says, explaining how the class gave him the tools to navigate challenging media situations with confidence.
He also points to frameworks from Professor Zeke Hernandez’s (Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Associate Professor) Global Strategy class as a key resource when thinking about potential deals in international markets and navigating negotiations where parties may have significant differences in culture, business practices, and underlying beliefs.
Another highlight of the EMBA program has been the community of classmates that Sekou has encountered. From diverse industries to varied backgrounds, his peers have proven to be an invaluable resource.
“They’re brilliant, and I now have a trusted network of friends I can turn to for advice or help with business deals across a range of industries,” Sekou shares. “That’s something you can’t put a price on.”
In addition to meeting fellow professionals from the sports world, such as a Super Bowl MVP from the Seattle Seahawks, former Olympians, and the head of marketing for the Golden State Warriors, Sekou found camaraderie with students who, like him, had children during the program. The shared experiences of balancing family, work, and academics helped foster deep bonds.
“It was fun to swap parenting stories with classmates, offer advice, and build deep friendships over our experiences,” he says.
As Sekou reflects on his journey, he believes the value of his Wharton MBA will continue to grow and evolve along with his career. “The value of my Wharton MBA will continue to show up in ways that I can’t predict, and I know it will pay itself back ten-fold.”
By Meghan Laska
Posted: June 2, 2025
