Arn Tellem is Vice Chairman of the Detroit Pistons basketball franchise. Tellem joined the organization in August 2015. Tellem is responsible for league-related initiatives. In 2017 he served as chief negotiator in the bid to bring the franchise back to the city. Two years later, Tellem oversaw the complete move to downtown Detroit.
Tellem has represented more than 500 professional athletes in his career, including numerous former Detroit Pistons. He joined Pistons Sports and Entertainment following nine years at Wasserman Media Group, where he served as vice chairman and oversaw the Team Sports Division. In 1989, he founded Los Angeles-based Tellem & Associates, which was acquired in 1999 by SFX Entertainment, the world’s largest producer and marketer of live entertainment. Tellem served as chief executive officer of SFX Sports until he joined Wasserman.
Tellem was also a partner at the law firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, where he specialized in sports law and commercial litigation. Tellem also served as executive vice president and general counsel for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. In 2013, Forbes ranked him the third most powerful agent in sports; and first in basketball.
Tellem served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California School of Law. He received his bachelor’s degree from Haverford College and his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
Active in the Detroit business and philanthropic community, is serving as chairman of the 2022 Mackinac Policy Conference.