NBA stars toe awkward line in response to Kylian Mbappe's offer
Would NBA stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Draymond Green and LeBron James ever really play in Saudi Arabia? A once preposterous question has a lot more validity to it after news of soccer star Kylian Mbappe's record-setting offer to play for Al Hilal became public.
In fact, Antetkounmpo, Green and James joked about happily accepting a hypothetical offer if one ever presented itself.
No, we shouldn't really worry about them tearing up their NBA contracts and agreeing to play in a Saudi-funded league. But the casual jokes about embracing Saudi money with open arms rubbed some the wrong way.
The NBA isn't a monolith. Antetokounmpo, Green and James don't represent everyone when they casually joke about taking money from Saudi Arabia. But as three of the most high-profile players in the league, it's a sign of how successful the Public Investment Fund's been at sportswashing Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses.
LIV Golf was the tip of the iceberg in getting Saudi Arabia a seat at the table of a professional sports league. The PIF has an incredible $650B in assets. To put that in perspective, the NFL and NBA have a combined revenue of roughly $29B.
What's preventing Saudi Arabia from doing what it did in golf with the NBA? In the NFL, could a floundering developmental league such as the USFL or XFL receive an olive branch from the PIF, attracting high-profile NFL players?
Years ago, those questions would get someone laughed out of a room, just like the idea of NBA players joking about accepting Saudi money for social media likes. The world of sports is changing. Anything is on the table.
More must-reads: