The NBPA Calls the Orlando Magic’s $50K Donation to Super PAC Backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ‘Alarming’

The National Basketball Players Association said in a statement on Thursday that the Orlando Magic’s $50,000 donation to Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’s 2024 presidential campaign, is “alarming given recent comments and policies of its beneficiary.”

According to Federal Election Commission records, the super PAC received the Magic’s donation on June 26, less than a month after DeSantis announced his bid for the White House.

The DeVos family, a fixture in the Republican Party, has owned the Magic since 1991. Betsy DeVos served as the U.S. Secretary of Education under then-President Donald Trump from 2017–21.

The NBA players association noted that the team’s donation doesn’t equate to player support for DeSantis’s campaign.

“NBA governors, players and personnel have the right to express their personal political views, including through donations and statements,” the NBPA said in a statement. “However, if contributions are made on behalf of an entire team, using money earned through the labor of its employees, it is incumbent upon the team governors to consider the diverse values and perspectives of staff and players.”

New Orleans Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. took to Twitter Thursday to voice his displeasure.

Nance is not alone among NBA players in his distaste for the Florida governor, who has been criticized for his position on social issues, including the 2022 so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law that restricts classroom discussions about sexuality and gender.

Former Miami Heat stalwarts Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem criticized DeSantis’s policies earlier this year.

Wade, whose daughter, Zaya, is transgender, told Showtime in April that he moved his family to California in 2021 because they thought they “would not be accepted” in Florida.

Haslem, who retired after the Heat lost in the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets, told The Boston Globe before Game 2 of that series, “Everybody ain’t down with what’s going on in Florida. People think that because you live in Florida, like you just down with the [expletive]. We’re not. I’m not down with it. I’m not happy about it.”