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NBA Europe:
“‘I ain’t stepping into that hornet’s nest. I’d rather be the hero that comes in with the team that everyone underestimates, like the Mavs when I bought them, build it up, work my way up, relegate somebody else and be a $1 billion team then. That would be beautiful. But I ain’t giving you $1 billion so people can give you shit the whole time.” Read the story.
Sports betting and prediction markets:
“Sports betting is not the problem. Whether it’s Kalshi or traditional sports betting, it’s the prop bets that are the problem. I don’t think we fully considered all the permutations of betting that would be created and the simplicity of betting online.” Read the story.
Giving the NIL money for Indiana to get Fernando Mendoza:
“[Athletic director Scott Dolson’s] like, ‘We’ve got this quarterback that we really, really like that we think would be great in [coach Curt Cignetti’s] system, we just need a litttttle bit more.’ I’m like, ‘How much is a little bit?’ And so he told me, and I’m like, ‘O.K., you know, we’re on a roll, I’ll put up the money to get this quarterback.’” Read the story.
Private equity in NBA ownership:
“We got to the point where franchises got so expensive, it was almost always, you know, some level of private-equity involvement. And when you’re having to bring in money, you’re obligated to those people. And when you have obligations because you’re raising money, it’s not just about winning, because all those people you brought in, particularly the private-equity guys, they don’t want to write checks for capital calls because you went further into the luxury tax, or you were above the second apron. You know, that’s not why they’re there. They’re not running on the court on a buzzer beater.”
Why the NBA should shorten games:
“I really think if the NBA went from 48 minutes to 40 minutes, it would change it 180 degrees for the better. College basketball, no one says, ‘Oh, damn, these games are only 40 minutes. Boy, that Final Four would have been so much better if this game was 48 minutes.’ Nobody says it about the WNBA. Nobody says it about any league anywhere in the world.”
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