One NBA team may soon be in the hands of owners who do not subscribe to the progressive political agenda.
The National Basketball Association released a statement on Wednesday confirming that the Board of Governors had approved the sale of business mogul Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks to the families of Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, who run the Las Vegas Sands casino company.
“The NBA Board of Governors has approved the sale of the controlling interest in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban to the families of Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont,” the statement began.
“Mr. Dumont, president and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp., will serve as the Mavericks’ Governor.
“The transaction is expected to close this week,” the statement concluded.
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The NBA Board of Governors approves Dallas Mavericks sale pic.twitter.com/3qimhG00uj
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 27, 2023
The sale is estimated to be between $3.8 billion and $3.9 billion, according to Dallas Morning News.
Will this help change the culture of the NBA?
“It’s a landmark deal because it’s believed to be the largest cash transaction in NBA history, with no debt service,” the outlet reported.
“Miriam Adelson, the 78-year-old widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, funded the purchase by selling $2 billion of Sands Corp. stock and using additional cash at hand.”
The deal will give the families a majority stake while allowing Mark Cuban to retain control of the team’s basketball operations.
Axios Dallas reported that Cuban hopes that the deal will allow for the construction of a new arena and that it would allow the family to lobby for the legalization of gambling in Texas.
Sources: Mark Cuban is selling a majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and casino tycoon Adelson family for valuation in range of $3.5 billion. In one of most unique setups in NBA history, Cuban keeps shares in team and full control of basketball operations. pic.twitter.com/9iTqZvoGX1
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 28, 2023
Despite the family’s major stake in the gambling industry, the Adelson family have a record of donating to Republican and conservative causes, pitting them against the prevailing left-wing consensus among the leadership NBA.
In November, Reuters reported that Miriam Adelson met with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump during a meeting of Jewish Republican donors in Las Vegas.
Miriam and her husband, Sheldon Adelson, who passed away in 2021, were steadfast Trump supporters in the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns and are likely to back him if he becomes the eventual nominee in 2024.
“According to some media reports, Adelson plans to stay neutral in the Republican nominating contest, which kicks off Jan. 15 in the Midwestern state of Iowa, but will likely put money behind the party’s nominee to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden,” Reuters reported in November.
