[In April 2004] Once again I was asked about my position on NBA players and the Olympics. …
In the sports marketing world, advertisers usually have a set sports marketing budget. Each advertiser gets pitched by all the different sports entities competing for those dollars. Among those competitors are both the Olympics and NBA. One of the beauties of the NBA pitch is that our athletes are so recognizable, personable and respected. … It should be a huge selling point exclusively available to the NBA, but unfortunately that is no longer the case.
When the NBA was broadcast on NBC, it was far less of an issue. … The NBA is now on ESPN/ABC and TNT. They are paying us a lot of money in a deal that has been working well for all involved. What in the world are we doing helping our partners’ competition? Why are we giving our most valuable manpower to a huge business, the Olympics, so they can try to take revenue away from the NBA and our partners? …