The NBA is being investigated by the United States Department of Justice over allegations the league attempted to sabotage Ice Cube’s Big3 league, according to TMZ Sports. The league has denied the allegations.
Ice Cube and Big3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz have met with Department of Justice lawyers regarding concerns the NBA may have engaged in anticompetitive behavior.
The allegations include the NBA interfering with sponsorship deals, discouraging television networks from broadcasting games, and making arbitrary rules to prevent players from joining the league, despite the NBA and Big3 seasons not overlapping.
The report also claims Big3 officials believe they have been “unfairly targeted by the NBA” and sources in the story say NBA owners have been discouraged from investing in Ice Cube’s league.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told TMZ the allegations were “not true”.
“We have been supportive of the Big3 since its inception, but we declined to invest.”
The NBA would face a substantial fine if found guilty.
I love your post as it's a great question. I'll answer with this: When Lebron, KD, and all these other megastars do Pro-Ams and closed doors/limited capacity/camps/etc it's just...for fun. I remember last year hearing about Chet's injury occurring while playing against Lebron and my first thought was "WHERE WAS THIS???" They were just playing...for fun. I don't even think there was more than one clip of his injury shown at the time.
SO, I think of this like I think of my own damn job. If I'm on the clock doing work, it's work. If I'm asked by management to do work off the clock, I'm a bit mad, but I may still do it. I'm not volunteering to do it though - extra funding or "it's the life of a salaried employee".
If a friend though asks me to do my job for them...I'm giving them the advice and help they need. It's "fun" work to me at that point. My job is boring, but if you're wanting to know about it outside of my hours, I'm all for it.
I bet this is why someone like (insert popular NBA player) can't be bothered to do a 3x3 but signs up to represent their country. They can't be bothered to do the dunk contest but in warmup they're doing 360s with ease. Difference between fun and work.
NBA is less about fun or the game, it's more about the business, despite the fact that their business centres around the game itself.