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GOP Congressman asks NBA to review Joe Tsai position as Nets owner
Will league respond? Don’t bet on it
byNet Income
Jul 17, 2026, 11:59 PM UTC
Congressman John Moolenaar, a Republican who heads an advisory committee on “strategic competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, called on the NBA to review the role of Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai in light of a recent Pentagon decision to declare Alibaba, the giant e-commerce, AI, and Cloud company he heads, a “Chinese military company.” The designation means no DoD contracts can be awarded Alibaba. The company has gone to federal court to overturn the decision
The comments were reported by ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada who also wrote about Tsai, Chinese security apparatus and the NBA four years ago. He wrote Thursday that Moolenaar’s comment came in an interview. There’s no reference in the ESPN report nor on the congressman’s website as to whether he has sent a formal request to the league or, if so, its wording. So it is uncertain whether the league would even feel the need to respond. It is highly unlikely the league would explore any such review. The league itself has multiple business ties with Alibaba, which with it is quite comfortable, and Tsai is seen as key to its massive expansion in China.
Earlier in the week, the same congressman asked Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Mystics and the NHL’s Capitals, to end its business dealings with Alibaba. Leonis’ parent, Monumental Sports & Entertainment responded by saying it will continue its relationship with Alibaba, a decision the congressman told ESPN “very disappointing.”
NetsDaily asked Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment for a comment Thursday, but has yet to receive a response. ESPN said BSE directed them to a statement from Alibaba in which the company denied that it works with the Chinese military cited its legal action against the Defense Department. NetsDaily reported last November on the White House memo that led to the Pentagon decision
“Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy,” the Alibaba statement read. “We have filed a lawsuit against the Department of War challenging the designation and will take all necessary steps against attempts to misrepresent our company.”
In its lawsuit, ESPN reported, Alibaba states that it’s governed by an independent board unaffiliated with the military and that its products and services are not made for weapons, defense or intelligence. Earlier this month, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered the Department not to enforce the prohibition against Alibaba while the court considered the firm’s constitutional challenge to the statute
Although there is no direct corporate connection between Alibaba and BSE, other than that the Tsais’ holdings. The couple own their Brooklyn sports holdings through their family office, Blue Pool Capital, not Alibaba. The two companies increasingly do business with each other as NetsDaily has reported. As noted, Alibaba also has significant contracts with the NBA, a number of which were signed at the NBA China Games hosted by Alibaba last fall, including one that makes Tsai’s company the official provider of AI and Cloud technology to NBA China. (Alibaba has been the exclusive supplied AI and Cloud technology to the International Olympic Committee for the last four Olympiads and will do the same in Los Angeles.)
In talking with ESPN, Moolenaar criticized Tsai, who also has significant investments beyond the NBA and WNBA, including pieces of the Miami Dolphins and its associated sports entities as well as other big sports names like Fanatics and both U.S. lacrosse leagues. NetsDaily catalogued Tsai’s holdings in the U.S. and worldwide last year. Indeed, ND noted that the value of Tsai’s sports holdings are near equal to that of his Alibaba stock holdings
Moolenaar told ESPN that Tsai, a native of Taiwan, a Canadian citizen with residences in New York, Hong Kong and LaJolla, California, has “to my knowledge zero allegiance to America beyond his financial agreements here.” Moolenaar, whose committee while bipartisan is only advisory, added, “This is really a moment for the NBA and its owners to decide if they want an owner in their ranks who’s actively working against American interests and helping the Chinese military.”
Beyond their personal investments, Tsai and his American-born wife, Clara Wu Tsai, have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to a variety of American-based charities, whether through their alma maters at Yale, Harvard and Stanford; their hometown University of California, San Diego; or the Human Performance Imitative through the Joe and Clara Wu Tsai Foundation. The foundation also supports the $50 million Brooklyn Social Justice Fund. Clara Tsai is also a founding partner of the REFORM Alliance which seeks to change America’s parole and probation laws while Joe Tsai has played a similar role in the founding of The Asian-American Foundation, a civil rights and cultural group.
One big concern of the War Department appears to be Alibaba’s leading role in the development of AI in China through its proprietary GWEN 3.5 model. Tsai has been one of the leading advocates of AI in the People’s Republic and China is seen as a if not the main challenger to America’s AI in the global AI race. Earlier Friday, the South China Morning Post prepared an extensive report on the two countries’ visions. The SCMP is owned by Alibaba and is headed by Joe Tsai
Beyond that, of course, concerns have been expressed by human rights advocates about the combination of the technology and China’s extensive surveillance state. ND wrote about the role Alibaba plays in that state four years ago, relying on reporting by ESPN and two Wall Street Journal reporters, including the investments made in two companies sanction by the U.S. for human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xingjiang, China’s restive Muslim state
The Tsais first bought into the Nets in 2017 as 49% minority owners, then took full control in October 2019, adding Barclays Center and the New York Liberty that same year. Two years ago, they sold 15% of their parent group, BSE, to members of the Koch family. The Kochs do not have a path to ownership but reportedly have the right of first refusal if the Tsais decide to sell. The combined value of the Tsais’ Brooklyn assets is estimated at more than $6 billion
- Congressman calls on NBA to review Joe Tsai’s position in league – Mark Fainaru-Wada – ESPN
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