The owner of the Memphis Grizzlies is allegedly supplying Russia with the vast majority of its battlefield Wi-Fi and communications equipment. He is reportedly the fifth-richest owner in professional sports, and his companies are believed to account for roughly 80% of Russia’s combat connectivity infrastructure.
This isn’t new behavior. He was previously lightly sanctioned for providing communications equipment to Iran. Yet the consequences have been minimal — especially when compared to the NBA’s priorities. Ja Morant was fined more for briefly flashing a gun than this owner has faced for materially enabling a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Russian drones are significantly more lethal today in part because they are networked — smarter, more coordinated, and more resilient due to battlefield Wi-Fi. That capability doesn’t appear out of thin air.
Expect Adam Silver to look the other way, as he has before.
He looked the other way during:
Referee betting scandals (Scott Foster still officiating Chris Paul games),
Player gambling scandals,
Owners openly circumventing the salary cap,
And countless “integrity of the game” issues that only seem to matter when they’re convenient.
This is how leagues rot — not from one scandal, but from selective enforcement.
And then there’s the Lakers problem.
Every time a team makes a blatantly one-sided trade that benefits the Lakers — trades no other GM is even offered — that team somehow lands a top-two pick shortly afterward.
Examples:
Grizzlies trade Marc Gasol → 2nd pick (7.5%)
Pelicans trade Anthony Davis → 1st pick (6%)
Mavericks trade Luka → 1st pick (1.8%)
The combined probability of those outcomes occurring independently is 0.00756%.
I used to love watching the Lakers. But watching the referees tilt games against Sacramento and Portland was already hard to ignore. Now it is pure billionaire grift.
Adam Silver isn’t just failing to protect the integrity of the NBA — he’s actively eroding it. Not to mention, it's impossible to even watch a season. It costs $1,000+ to watch a season with your team's games given that all of it is split among different streamers and your home team games are blacked out.
Hard to cheer for owners that are as evil as the NBA has.
I've linked the Pablo Torre interview of the investigative team whose media company survives by openly investing in what they have discovered.