Three NBA teams have parted ways with Trump-branded hotels in what league sources told ESPN was an effort to avoid an implied association with the Republican president-elect. The teams' owners all have Democratic connections.
The Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies, and the Dallas Mavericks have decided not to stay at Trump hotels in New York City and Chicago, which are branded with Donald Trump's name through licensing agreements, ESPN said according to its sources.
The Mavericks are owned by Mark Cuban, who had been a vocal supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and a strident critic of Trump, noted Fortune magazine.
Marc Lasry, a co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, was a top fundraiser for both Barack Obama's presidential campaigns and Clinton's campaign this year, according to the Washington Post. Alexander Lasry, Marc Lasry's son, worked in the Obama White House for a time as an assistant to senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
While Grizzlies owner Robert Pera, the NBA's youngest owner at 38, has not revealed a political preference, the Post said one of the team's minority owners is former Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr.
ESPN said another Eastern Conference NBA team plans to end its contract with the Trump SoHo in New York at the end of the season. The broadcaster noted that seven other NBA teams are keeping their commitments at Trump-branded properties this season.
Cuban told The Associated Press, per ESPN, that his team's travel arrangements were made "months ago." Memphis coach David Fizdale said likewise for his team and politics had nothing to do with it where they stayed.
Some NBA coaches have spoken publicly since the presidential election, expressing disappointment about Trump being elected.
"I'm just sick to my stomach," San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich said last week about the election, according to the San Antonio Express-News. "Not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor and tone and all of the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic. I live in that country where half of the people ignored all of that to elect someone."
Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said he feels differently about Trump than he did about President George W. Bush, who he did not vote for but called an "honorable man," said the website Deadspin.
"I don't care what anyone says, I'm sure they have other reasons and maybe good reasons for voting for Donald Trump — but I don't think anybody can deny this guy is openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic and ethnic-centric, and say, 'That's OK with us, we're going to vote for him anyway.'"
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.