"Suns President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Welts is resigning after running the franchise's business side for nine years.

Less than four months after jolting the sports world by becoming the first pro sports team senior executive to be openly gay, Welts jolted his own organization Friday by sharing plans to leave what he has called the best jobs in sports on his own accord.

Welts told The Arizona Republic Friday morning that he is not leaving for another job but to be in another city. In the past year, Welts started a new relationship and his partner is in Sacramento. He plans to do speaking engagements and perhaps take an offer to write a book.

"The most important thing for me is to get my personal and professional lives better aligned," Welts said. "They've probably never been aligned. I'm 58 years old and it's time to do that.

"This isn't one of those departures to see greener pastures. It really is completely a personal situation. These guys have been tremendously accommodating and any other inference than that is absolutely crazy.""