The American Basketball Association (ABA) today announced that it has added the Silicon Valley Panthers to its growing list of expansion teams for the upcoming season.  “This is a wonderful group of people who will be operating this team,” stated ABA CEO Joe Newman.  “Tremendous experience on and off the court and they should be a terrific addition to our largest region, the Far West Region.”

Leilani Llantero will be the CEO.  A graduate of San Jose State University with a Masters in Kinesiology and a BS in Business Management, she was formerly Events and Facilities Coordinator for SJSU Athletics and is currently in her 8th season at the Golden States Warriors specializing in Game Operations. She has also coached at the high school and college levels.

Aaron Buckner will serve as COO.  A graduate of De Anza College where he was the All-Time leading scorer and steals leader and two-time All-Conference, he is currently the girl’s varsity coach and led them to a league championship in 2018-2019 at Piedmont Hills.

Shahbaz Mahmood will serve as President. A native of Pakistan, he received his degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology and has been doing business networking startup for the last 20 years. “Leilani, Aaron and I are very excited about being a part of the ABA,” added Mahmood.  “We all want to give back to our community and strive to help others improve on every aspect of basketball with the intent of learning life lessons throughout the process.”

more information, email [email protected] or visit www.abaliveaction.com.

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Thanks.

Joe Newman

ABA CEO