The NBA Has an Epstein Problem

TL;DR

Apollo Global Management — the financial backbone of NBA ownership — is deeply tied to Jeffrey Epstein, yet the league has stayed completely silent.

Key Points

• 1.Leon Black, Apollo's founder and CEO, paid Jeffrey Epstein between $158–$170 million over 5 years; a Senate investigation found this money may have financed Epstein's trafficking operations, and a major US bank waited 7 years to report the payments.
• 2.Apollo co-founders own major NBA franchises: Josh Harris owns the 76ers, Tony Ressler owns the Atlanta Hawks, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's college roommate from Duke is Jim Zelter, the current president of Apollo Global.
• 3.Josh Harris appears over 500 times in the Epstein files; emails confirm he attended breakfast at Epstein's Manhattan mansion with Leon Black and Bill Gates after Epstein's 2008 conviction, and personally thanked Epstein for the invitation.
• 4.Todd Boehly, part owner of the LA Lakers, took two business meetings arranged by Epstein in 2011 — three years after Epstein's first prison sentence — and refused to comment when asked if he knew about Epstein's conviction at the time.
• 5.Former NBA player and US Congressman Tom McMillan appears in Epstein's black book with six separate contact methods, was captured on video near Epstein and Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1992, and canceled a scheduled interview with journalist Pablo Torre right as new Epstein files dropped.
• 6.Epstein's team was monitoring the Kristaps Porzingis sexual assault allegations in 2019, emailing associates to find investigators — suggesting Epstein used NBA-connected scandals to build leverage and blackmail opportunities.
• 7.The NBA has issued zero statements, launched zero investigations, and its go-to outside law firm (Paul Weiss) is compromised — its chairman Brad Karp appeared nearly 600 times in the Epstein files and resigned last month.