The NBA is facing a lawsuit that claims the league cut out a longtime associate from a lucrative sponsorship deal with Emirates airline—a case that pulls back the curtain on how the world's most powerful basketball league pursues global business partnerships.
At the center of the dispute is Paul Edalat, an Iranian-American healthcare and pharmaceutical executive, who says the NBA owes him a hefty commission for helping broker a deal that took more than a decade to materialize.
The story begins in March 2014, when Kiki VanDeWeghe—a former NBA player and at the time the league's senior vice president of basketball operations—reached out to Edalat, a longtime friend. According to court documents, VanDeWeghe wrote in an email: "The timing could not be better. We would like you to relay our interest to Timothy Clark, President of Emirates."
The NBA's partnership with Delta Air Lines was about to expire, and the league saw Emirates—the Dubai-based airline owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates—as the perfect replacement. Edalat, with his connections in the region, seemed like the ideal middleman.
Edalat claims the NBA formally engaged him to help secure the sponsorship, agreeing to a "simple commission-based compensation" that would pay him and his company 10% of the deal "and any future partnership" between the NBA and Emirates.
But the talks hit a snag. In 2015, the NBA opted to renew its existing partnership with Delta, putting the Emirates discussions on ice.
Fast forward to February 2024, when the NBA announced a multiyear global marketing partnership with Emirates, naming the airline its "Official Global Airline Partner" and the title sponsor of the NBA Cup. It was a major win for the league, but Edalat says he was left out in the cold.
According to the lawsuit, VanDeWeghe—who stepped down from his executive vice president role in 2021 to become a special advisor—reached out to Edalat after the announcement. "You need to look into this," VanDeWeghe allegedly told him.
Edalat's attorney contacted the NBA in April 2024 seeking confirmation of the compensation agreement. The league's response? A lawyer said the NBA had "no record" of any such deal.
The NBA has denied any agreement with Edalat, but the lawsuit offers a rare glimpse into how the league navigates high-stakes global partnerships—and what happens when those relationships go sour.