Earlier this week, the NBA’s Orlando Magic made major headlines. That came from Alex Shultz of SFGATE reporting on a $50,000 donation to Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ super political action committee that was attributed to the team, rather than to owners Dick or Betsy DeVos:
Orlando Magic appear to be the first NBA team… ever? to back a presidential candidate: $50k to Ron DeSantis's Super PAC
I asked spox to clarify if donation should instead be attributed to owner Richard DeVos; response was "we don’t comment publicly on political contributions" pic.twitter.com/9B5yuvIUF3
— Alex Shultz (@AlexShultz) August 1, 2023
That understandably kicked off controversy on a couple of fronts. One was that this was seen by many as the team as an overall entity endorsing DeSantis. Another is that the team then claimed in a statement that “This gift was given before Governor DeSantis entered the presidential race. It was given as a Florida business in support of a Florida governor for the continued prosperity of Central Florida.” Meanwhile, the National Basketball Players Association pushed back:
A statement from the NBPA on the Orlando Magic’s recent political donations.
Official statement: https://t.co/6fmRZCxVzG pic.twitter.com/JQEk0V4Ztl
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) August 3, 2023
DeSantis has made headlines for a lot of things, but one of particular note to the NBA is his recent remarks defending a controversial Florida curriculum claiming that enslaved Black people “developed skills, which in some instances, could be used for tehir benefit.” Former NBA player Larry Nance Jr. specifically took aim at that:
So the @OrlandoMagic who have a majority black roster, a black head coach, and a black GM decided it was a good idea to support a man that claims that slavery had personal benefits for the enslaved? https://t.co/LI3FAXbMxb
— Larry Nance (@Larrydn22) August 2, 2023
That donation has continued to make waves, with DeSantis himself firing back. On Friday, he blasted the NBA on his Twitter account with comments about “protesting our anthem” and “bending the knee to Communist China”:
It appears the NBA took a break from protesting our anthem and bending the knee to Communist China to chirp about my policies. https://t.co/j8uH4AmAx7
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 4, 2023
On Friday, Rachel Nichols went on CNN Tonight with Jim Acosta to discuss this. Nichols, the former ESPN reporter and host now working with Showtime Sports, Monumental Sports Network, and more, had strong comments on why players are upset:
On CNN, discussing the difference between a player or an individual team owner supporting a political candidate vs a donation on behalf of the whole team: "The money the Orlando Magic donated to Ron DeSantis doesn't come from a magic tree elf. It comes from the work of players on… pic.twitter.com/0yMIm2Q4d5
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) August 6, 2023
Here’s the key part of those comments from Nichols: “What upsets these players so much is that this donation was not made on behalf of Betsy DeVos or Dick DeVos, it was made on behalf of the team. And you have players and coaches and executives who have come out publicly with very different opinions than DeSantis’, and now their names are being used in association with this donation.”
“And more importantly, as the Players’ Association statement pointed out, it’s their labor. Money for NBA teams, the Orlando Magic’s money that they donated to Ron DeSantis, doesn’t come from a magic tree elf. It comes from the work of players on the court. And that their work has been turned into a contribution to someone running for president who has come out with statements that they think directly oppose who they are as people, that’s very difficult to stomach.”
Beyond that, Acosta and Nichols discuss the Magic response from chief communications officer Joel Glass of claiming this was for DeSantis as governor rather than presidential candidate, with Nichols saying “Joel Glass is really excellent at his job, but his boss put him in a crappy situation here, and as you say, it doesn’t really hold up, right? Everyone knew, everyone’s mother knew, everyone’s pets knew that Ron DeSantis was about to announce for president.”
Those are notable comments indeed, and they do help illustrate why the players think this deserves more attention than the political contributions we more regularly see from team owners. It’s not currently clear why this donation was made by the Magic franchise rather than their ownership. And it will be interesting to see if other teams make donations to political candidates going forward.
[Rachel Nichols on Twitter]
