Orlando Magic $50K donation to DeSantis ‘Incredibly Disappointing’

ORLANDO, Fla. — The owners of Central Florida’s men’s pro basketball team are on defense following revelations that they donated $50,000 to the super PAC raising money for the Gov. Ron DeSantis presidential campaign.

“It’s incredibly disappointing that the Orlando Magic has chosen to publicly align themselves with his brand of right-wing extremism,” said Brandon Wolf, press secretary for the LGBTQ civil rights group Equality Florida, and a survivor of the 2016 Pulse massacre. “This is really a moment for those businesses who declare their values of inclusion so loudly to make those values actually mean something.”

On Thursday, the players’ union issued a statement on its website calling the NBA team’s donation to the DeSantis White House campaign “alarming.”

“A political contribution from the Orlando Magic is alarming given recent comments and policies of its beneficiary,” the group said, meaning Florida’s governor.

“NBA governors, players and personnel have the right to express their personal political views, including through donations and statements. 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.

“The Magic’s donation does not represent player support for the recipient,” said the National Basketball Players Association.

Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) called her hometown team’s move baffling, CNN reported.

“Gov. DeSantis has based his entire political career on targeting, demonizing and taking away health care from LGBTQ+ people, including youth,” she said. “It’s incredibly disheartening that a team that markets itself as being welcoming to all people, behind the scenes, gives $50,000 to a DeSantis PAC.”

As The New York Times reported, the donation highlights repeated efforts by the billionaires who own NBA teams to undermine the league’s public stance in support of progressive causes, such as reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights and criminal justice reform.

The vast majority of NBA players are Black, as NBC News reported. NBA Commissoner Adam Silver told The Undefeated in 2016 that he felt a “particular obligation to focus on the African-American community in that we have a league that is roughly 75 percent African-American. And I feel part of the obligation comes from the history of this league that I’ve inherited.”

History, particularly the teaching of history of slavery, has become a flashpoint in Florida in recent weeks, with DeSantis defending a new curriculum that claims Blacks benefited from their enslavement by developing skills like blacksmithing. His administration has also banned advanced placement psychology classes in high schools, criminalized the use of public bathrooms by transgender people and stripped the state of gender-affirming care for children and adults. And of course, there’s also the state’s expanded “Don t Say Gay” law banning any mention of LGBTQ+ life in schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.

In the case of the Magic, the team is owned by Dan DeVos, brother-in-law of the transphobic former Secretary of Education in the Trump administration, Betsy DeVos.

When asked for an explanation, the team itself dribbled, until finally issuing a statement Thursday.

“No member of the DeVos family has endorsed or offered financial support to any 2024 Presidential candidate at this point,” Nick Wasmiller, a DeVos family spokesperson, told CNN in an email. “They are undecided.”

“To clarify, this gift was given before Governor DeSantis entered the presidential race. It was given as a Florida business in support of a Florida governor for the continued prosperity of Central Florida.”

However, according to a report by CBS Sports,records from the Federal Elections Commission show the team’s donation was received on June 26, more than one month after DeSantis announced his run for president, on May 24. The team claims its check was dated May 19, which would be prior to DeSantis’ official announcement, but long after reports about his plans to run for president.

As of press time, the DeSantis campaign and its super PAC, Never Back Down, has not responded to media inquiries.

DAWN ENNIS