🏀 Investigative reporter @PabloTorre says the NBA’s “progressive” brand is colliding with its “capitalist instinct,” as the league and its stars chase money from crypto, gambling, the Emirates, and Israel-linked tech used to “war crime Palestinians,” while betting mainstream sports media won’t press them on it.
He spoke to @CHAPOTRAPHOUSE about NBA star Kevin Durant’s (@KDTrey5) investment in Skydio, which has supplied short-range drones to the Israeli military for use in Gaza. Torre says these deals are likely happening with “extraordinarily little due diligence” as famous names pile into Silicon Valley rounds, then shrug when the politics catch up.
They also cite @TheGrayzoneNews’ reporting tying @StephenCurry30-backed firms to Israeli cyber and cloud security startups founded by veterans of Israel’s Unit 8200, describing it as part of a broader sportswashing ecosystem: “shady” industries and states normalizing themselves by moving through sports, in this case, the NBA.
The NBA’s response has been silence. They are relying on a “compliant media that doesn’t want to touch any of this stuff,” Torre said. “Let’s count on them to not ask about it,” adding that so far it has been an “effective strategy.”
Dallas Mavericks star @KyrieIrving echoed that frustration during All-Star weekend: “No real questions that happen, bro. No real questions… And y’all know the questions I’m talking about.”
Torre argues the NBA has cultivated an “unsustainable reputation,” portraying itself as “the good guys” while it “keeps on getting into business with characters that are very persuasively the bad guys.”
“So far they’re just hoping that no one really asks them about it in public. And so far they’ve gotten away with it.”
He points to the league’s wider money trail: crypto arena naming rights, sports betting and “prediction markets,” Gulf cash, and deals like Experience Abu Dhabi on the Knicks jersey. The UAE has been widely reported as a key backer of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, which the U.S. government has determined committed genocide. The NBA also green-lit Israeli-American ultra-Zionist Miriam Adelson’s family buying the Mavericks, while putting the team under her son-in-law’s name to soften backlash.
The full episode is available at the link in reply.
Let’s be clear: these protections help keep our air breathable, our water drinkable, and our communities healthy. However, Trump decided to prioritize the interests of fossil fuel companies over the health and safety of Americans.
Climate change isn't a scam; he is.
He's describing a 'hot box', a method of toruture used on enslaved Black people during chattle slavery in the Caribbean and America, and ICE is using it on people in gov't sanctioned concentration camps
THIS is what people should be speaking up about, protesting and striking over
Children and women chanting “let us out” at the Dilley Concentration Center that Trump has set up in Texas, as they apparently wear color-coded jackets.
It’s like a scene from “The Handmaid’s Tale” or 1930s Germany.
So basically they are violently "neutering" men by destroying their testicles. Did you know preventing reproduction is one of the key prohibited acts under the genocide convention?
Its so much worse than simply sexual abuse. Its fucking genocidal
An ICE officer pleaded guilty to raping a woman for MONTHS in exchange for allowing her to see her child. He used her daughter as leverage so he could violate her. These are the people the president and his administration are treating like heroes and expecting society to bow down to. These are the kinds of people they’re protecting and calling true patriots.
The only criminals we should be afraid of are the ones in ICE uniforms. Fuck anyone who supports this. I can’t imagine how many other victims there are and what crimes ICE has committed that we’ll never know about. We cannot allow these people to get away with this. Abolish ICE and impeach Trump. This should be on every major news channel and outlet @ABC@CNN@NBCNews@USATODAY@FoxNews@BBC@CBSNews@nytimes@washingtonpost@WSJ@AP
This is absolutely terrifying. This is the chair of the Federal Reserve telling the American people they cannot trust the current administration and that fed rates will essentially just be made up numbers based on NOTHING by the regime.
They’re gonna tank the economy on purpose
Since #AI bros are all showing off things they’ve “made”…
I made this.
Twenty five years ago, I drew this animation by hand, with pencil, on paper, frame by frame on fours (AI “filmmakers” will have to look up what that means) by slugging the timing (again, look it up) below the drawings, at which point it was handed off to human beings who rotoscoped my animatic (keep researching, guys) with both CGI and traditional/digital tools to make it match exactly what I’d drawn.
It took a long time and a lot of work.
But I can say “We made this” and there’s no debate to be had.
See how that works?
#FairlyOddParents
#NoToGenerativeAI
In laymen’s terms: it’s over.
The white folks in Louisiana sued saying b/c most Black & Latino people vote Democrat here, redrawing districts to represent us discriminates against them b/c they vote GOP almost unilaterally.
When they rule, EVERY SOUTHERN STATE can redraw ANY majority minority district to favor Republicans/whites.
With Section 2 of The Voting Rights Act gutted, there will be no voting our country out of this. The Republicans will control the government for at least a generation if not indefinitely.
It’s a complete takeover of the United States of America by a fascist government.