76ers drawing scrutiny over ties to former owner Michael Rubin

At the 2024 Sloan Conference, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin bragged that he was "violating every rule the NBA had" as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers ownership group. Now he's letting new Sixer LeBron James use his corporate helicopter, and at least one prominent journalist is investigating.

Pablo Torre, whose investigation of Kawhi Leonard eventually led to severe penalties for the Los Angeles Clippers, announced this week he's planning to look into Rubin's helicopter lending. It could open up questions about how Rubin is assisting his old team.

Michael Rubin could be violating NBA rules

James has been using the Fanatics-branded helicopter to commute from Sixers practices to his home in New York City. He receives the rides as part of an endorsement deal he negotiated with Rubin and Fanatics in Jan. 2024, a full two-and-a-half years before he signed a two-year minimum contract with the 76ers.

Rubin sold his reported 10 percent interest in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the holding company that owns the 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils, in 2022. He had faced a conflict of interest because Fanatics had started working in sports gambling, not to mention lining up NBA players as Fanatics endorsers.

James didn't sign on with Fanatics until a year after the Fanatics owner sold his stake, but Rubin has acknowledged his tenure as 76ers owner ran into conflicts when Fanatics was lining up deals with players like James Harden, Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant.

After Rubin sold his stake in the team in 2022, Rubin told Fox Sports he planned to remain close to his former 76ers colleagues.

"When there's something going down that's massive, I'll stop what I'm doing to help. That's who I am. That's what I like doing," Rubin said, adding that he considered 76ers owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer to be "family."

Philadelphia 76ers have run afoul of the NBA before

The Sixers have been a regular recipient of fines from the NBA office in the last few years. They racked up $275K in penalties from three separate incidents due to deceptive public statements about Embiid's health. In 2022, they had to forfeit two second-round picks for tampering.

Now they're facing something even scarier than an NBA investigation: The investigation team behind "Pablo Finds Out." Torre's podcast has exposed Leonard's questionable endorsement deals that led to the Clippers forfeiting five future first-round picks. Leonard himself got a lighter punishment, mainly due to impermissible travel benefits.

The helicopter rides may be completely legal. But when anyone, especially Torre, starts looking into NBA impropriety, there's no telling what they might find. Especially since Rubin himself has said his time with the 76ers was pushing the limits of NBA rules.

It probably depends on how much Rubin truly is stepping in to help the Sixers. If he's still involved, then James' free helicopter rides could be quite costly for his new team.