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After weeks of scrutiny, Tom Dundon is opening up his checkbook. Just not necessarily for the Portland Trail Blazers. On Friday, Pickleball Inc. announced that it has received a $225 million structured investment. Although Apollo Sports Capital led the funding, a source familiar with the matters tells Front Office Sports that Dundon contributed to the $225 million total.
The NBA and EuroLeague ramped up discussions Tuesday about a potential NBA Europe collaboration, with sources saying the NBA reiterated its blueprint of how EuroLeague franchises can join the prospective start-up. During a joint meeting between FIBA, the NBA and EuroLeague in Mies, Switzerland, sources said the NBA -- represented by its manager director of Europe and Middle East George Aivazoglou -- outlined the two ways EuroLeague clubs that haven’t already submitted bids can opt in. First, Aivazoglou told them it is not too late to bid to become a permanent franchise at launch, despite an original March 31 submission deadline. And second, EuroLeague teams can still be part of NBA Europe by qualifying through merit-based competition.
According to sources close to tomorrow’s meeting, however, the NBA will not propose or make an offer to acquire the EuroLeague, either in whole or in part. The NBA and FIBA are expected to reiterate their proposed vision for a new league in Europe, provide an update on the significant interest they’ve received from prospective teams and investors, and outline how current EuroLeague teams that haven’t already submitted bids can participate in this new ecosystem, either by making a bid or by qualifying via a second-tier competition or their domestic league.
Nomadar Corp. announced today the appointment of José Manuel Calderón to its board of directors, effective immediately, according to a press release statement. Calderón played 14 years in the NBA for teams including the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers.
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Splitter, the team’s interim head coach, had just heard an earful from the masseuse, who had nowhere to provide treatment for the players ahead of that night’s game. And she wasn’t the only one complaining. Splitter eventually called a confidant, and vented his frustration. “I told (Splitter) he can’t be focused on this while he is about to coach his most important game,” the person Splitter called told The Athletic. “And he was like, ‘But what if the masseuse decides that she doesn’t want to do a good job because she’s angry and then she doesn’t do a good job on Deni (Avdija)? Then it affects me, too.'”
For Dundon, a billionaire who made his money in the sub-prime auto loan business, this rollout of his business plan is familiar: When he bought the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes in 2017, he made several cost-cutting moves, including firing the team’s broadcasters and skimping on the salaries of coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff. Yet, in the wake of those moves, the Hurricanes have become one of the NHL’s elite teams. Armed with the confidence that his approach works, Dundon sent out an edict to Blazers managers shortly after he and his investment team took over on March 31 after 81 percent of the $4.25 billion sale closed. “The directive was ‘Why are we wasting money? Let’s think about this prudently,'” a team source told The Athletic. “Essentially he was saying, ‘Let’s make things like (the traveling party) be about who needed to be there, not it-would-be-nice-if-they-come.'”
“I ought to tell you, I don’t think he gives a rat’s ass what is said about him,” the league source said. “Most owners care. They insulate themselves because they care very much about their image and profile. He doesn’t give a f—. He doesn’t even flinch with this stuff.” The team source says that indifference is one of Dundon’s “superpowers” — he isn’t easily influenced by the sway of public opinion. “He is unapologetic,” the team source said. “All he cares about is what is good for the team and what makes the team win. Which means he is going to be OK making tough decisions.”
Front Office Sports News: "For us in Europe it looks like science fiction... When we heard those numbers, we were a little bit confused." Nikola Jokic's agent Miško Ražnatovic reacts to NBA Europe's $500M-$1B team price tags considering many of the clubs in Europe are not even worth "six digits."
LeBron James’ longtime business partner has been laying the groundwork to grow the basketball superstar’s business when he steps away from the game. In an appearance at last week’s Semafor World Economy gathering, Maverick Carter said that changes in the tech and media landscape allowed James some flexibility in terms of his next moves once he retires — which could be as soon as later this month, if the Lakers fall to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA playoffs, or after next season.
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Carter told Semafor that 15 or 20 years ago, James’ primary option for remaining in the public eye would’ve been a career in sports broadcasting. But the evolution of digital media has allowed Carter and James to build up their independent entertainment business. “We have a team of people that can produce and create at a high caliber,” Carter said. “So he is actually going to come to us with what his vision is. How does he want to keep creating content and telling stories that connect with his fans? And how do we build a suite of shows around that? And then the beauty of it is, today, distribution is everywhere. So someone like LeBron’s caliber is a big draw. You can get distribution anywhere and really connect with people and build a show, just us, without anybody else.”
Just a few months after the successful title run, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Lauren Holiday together launched the Boston Creator Accelerator, an incubator aimed at supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs in the Greater Boston Area. The Accelerator provided 10 creators with monetary grants totaling $1 million — as well as mentorship, resources, and direct access to Brown and the Holidays.
Brown, who launched Boston XChange last season in hopes of supporting entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities, was thrilled to collaborate with the Holidays. “Sometimes, you’re asking other guys, they’ve been advised not to be involved because of whatever reason, I don’t know,” Brown said last season. “But Jrue and Lauren Holiday are great people. They’ve been doing this everywhere they go.”
Adam Silver: And right now, basketball is the number two sport in Europe, but from a commercial standpoint it generates about 1% of the revenue.” Craig Carton: “Second to soccer, I assume.” Adam Silver: “Second to soccer, yeah. But from a commercial standpoint, it’s minuscule. And so the marketplace sees a big opportunity in basketball. I mean, we’ve already talked about, you know, some—you know, of course, Luka, whether it’s—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian, he’s not European—but the number of international players we have now, you know, Giannis, Wemby, some of our very best players, you know, Jokic—I could keep going on.