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Mark Fainaru-Wada, ESPN Staff Writer
Two U.S. senators sent a letter Tuesday to NBA commissioner Adam Silver accusing the league of “putting profit over principle,” in response to an ESPN story that detailed the NBA’s extensive relationship with Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame.
The bipartisan letter, signed by Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), says the NBA “has long positioned itself as a beacon of social justice” but instead has continued “developing relationships with dictators and despots,” such as Kagame.
The senators cited an ESPN article published last month that described how the NBA built a relationship with Kagame that, on the one hand, was central to launching its first league outside of North America, the Basketball Africa League, but, on the other, forced the NBA to look past persistent human rights abuses far worse than those it opposes at home.
In the letter, the senators wrote that, “Anyone who dares to question Kagame’s rule – whether it be opposition candidates or the free press – is jailed, disappeared or brutally murdered.” In addition, the senators questioned the NBA’s business in China, which ESPN previously investigated.
The senators asked Silver to respond within one week to a series of questions. They want Silver to “outline the scope of the NBA’s relationship with the Rwandan government” and to describe the steps the league is taking to improve the lives of Rwandan people, “including those subject to human rights abuses” by Kagame’s regime.
Kagame has been Rwanda’s president since 2000; last month, he was reelected with 99% of the vote.
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum previously told ESPN: “The conversations that we’ve had with Paul Kagame have all been about improving the lives of Rwandan people. How can we create, how can we inspire and connect people through the game of basketball to make Rwandan peoples’ lives better.”
The senators concluded their letter to Silver by saying, “Playing ball with dictators and brutal regimes should not be the NBA’s business model. Instead, the league should use its influence to advocate for governance reforms, including respect for the rule of law.”