NBA Denies Report It Blocked Trump-Supporting Miriam Adelson From Being Primary Mavericks Owner
A report from Pablo Torre suggested that the NBA blocked Miriam Adelson from becoming the primary owner of the Dallas Mavericks after she bought a majority stake in the team from Mark Cuban last year.
OutKick reached out to the league about the report. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement: "The report is categorically false."
Torre's report noted that Adelson and her late husband are massive donors to Donald Trump.
Torre then attributed this as the primary reason that the league did not want Adelson to have full control of the franchise, and instead, appointed her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, as the team's governor and representative to the NBA Board of Governors.
The NBA is denying a Pablo Torre report that the league didn't allow Miriam Adelson, a prominent donor to Donald Trump, to be the primary owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
(Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Her political reputation was apparently so radioactive that the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver would not allow her to be the governor of the team… even though, of course, the league would happily take the money of the fifth-richest woman in America," Torre said.
"Miriam's son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, an executive at her casino company, was appointed governor of the Mavericks instead. And the reason why the ostensibly left-leaning NBA insisted on this is obvious… nobody donated more money to Donald Trump in 2020 than Miriam Adelson," he added.
OutKick reached out to Pablo Torre following the NBA's denial, and he did not return a request for comment. However, Torre did post on X (formerly Twitter) to say that he stands by the reporting.
OutKick also reached out to the Dallas Mavericks for comment on the report, but they did not respond to our request.
The NBA denies the report that they blocked Donald Trump donor Miriam Adelson from being the Dallas Mavericks primary owner because of her political affiliation.
There are several features of this report that are fascinating, but let me quickly address one in the report from Torre itself.
He calls the NBA "ostensibly left-leaning." Here's the definition of the word ostensibly: "apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually."
Is he suggesting that the NBA isn't a left-leaning organization? He might be right about that, but probably not for the reason he added the word "ostensibly."
The NBA really isn't "left-leaning" because the NBA is hardcore left-wing. There's no question about that. No league in American professional sports pushes left-wing talking points more than the NBA. Not just the league, either, but the media that covers it, too.
The NBA is denying a Pablo Torre report that the league and Commissioner Adam Silver didn't allow Miriam Adelson, a prominent donor to Donald Trump, to be the primary owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
(Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
It's odd that Torre would report that an organization blocked a right-wing billionaire from being the primary owner of a team while also suggesting they aren't to the political left.
The other very interesting aspect here is that the league already has an owner who has a "radioactive political reputation." His name is Joseph Tsai and he owns the Brooklyn Nets.
Tsai, of course, has deep connections with the Chinese Communist Party. Many would consider that to be a problem, but apparently not the NBA.
In fact, the NBA loves it. Tsai helps them get money from China, which is why the league condemned executive Daryl Morey for coming out against the CCP back in 2019.
The Nets, led by Tsai, even kept Morey from getting a suite at a Brooklyn home game because of those comments.
Not only does Tsai own the Nets, but he also owns the New York Liberty, a team in the WNBA.
It would be quite hypocritical of the league to block a right-wing owner while allowing a left-wing owner to speak as openly as Tsai does, but the league denies that's the case.