The National Basketball Association (NBA) laid off "dozens of employees" at its league office on Thursday, according to a report by Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal.

The news was confirmed by Mike Bass, the league's chief communications officer, who said an anonymous number of people were informed of the layoffs on Thursday afternoon. Several longtime and short-term employees were among those affected.

"We are reallocating resources to our priority business areas, including digital and international growth, and that has resulted in the elimination of several positions at the league office,'' Bass said.

Sources added that Mike Wade, the Director of Team Business & Partner Communications and has been with the league for 17 years, was among those hit by the cuts.

The layoffs were mostly from "the service parts'' of the organization and not from departments focused on revenue generation. The league is not expected to eliminate any further positions.

Unclear which league offices are affected

It is unclear which NBA office was affected by the layoffs, but the mass firing likely happened in the league's headquarters in New York City and Secaucus, New Jersey.

The league also holds several offices around the world in 14 locations, particularly in Africa (Dakar, Johannesburg, and Lagos), Asia (Hong Kong, Manila, and Singapore), Canada (Toronto), China (Beijing and Shanghai), India (Mumbai), Europe (London and Madrid) and Latin America (Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro).