Miami Heat owner Micky Arison was elected chairman of the NBA's Board of Governors on Wednesday, replacing Phoenix Suns CEO Jerry Colangelo.

"I'm looking forward to an interesting period," Arison said. "We have a lot of opportunities obviously for the league and a lot of challenges, and I look forward to working with the league office to help in any way I can."

Colangelo, who served two two-year terms as chairman, will continue to serve as the Suns' representative on the board and as a member of committees for finance, long-range planning, collective bargaining and player relations. He voluntarily stepped down as chairman to give someone else a chance at the job.

Arison is the chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation, the cruise ship company. He took control of the Heat in 1995 and has overseen moves such as the hiring of Pat Riley and the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal, helping Miami grow into a team considered one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference this season.

"It's great when you have somebody like Micky as a sounding board for the decisions, the directions and the processes," commissioner David Stern said. "There's television negotiations that will be coming up, there's global expansion, there are technology decisions that need to be addressed.

"These ultimately will be decisions for the most part for the whole board, but as you get them ready it's great to have a chairman who both is available as a sounding board and brings the business acumen that Micky brings."