Flashback to 2020: was Nets CEO Levy's abrupt departure related to his implicit criticism of Tsai's China apologia? Sure looks like a factor, despite denials.

I drafted a version of this article five years ago, but never published it. My recent coverage of BSE Global CEO Sam Zussman (link) reminded me that I should, if only for my own archival purposes, revise and publish it.

Remember the abrupt departure--surely a firing--of Brooklyn Nets/arena company CEO David Levy in 2019, after only two months? Probably not.

Well, I didn't pay quite enough attention to Levy's statement, in an interview, "don't jeopardize your values for what may be a profit." That might have been seen as an implicit criticism of Nets owner Joe Tsai's defense of the Chinese regime. 

That was reported only by the New York Post, which also reported--in contrast with some other coverage--that a "Nets source said Levy’s departure was not based solely on his comments from that event." 

That implies it was, in fact, part of the reason.

Initial vagueness

As I wrote in November 2019, quoting a New York Times article, Levy's exit wasn't quite explained. From the Times:

In a brief phone interview, Levy agreed the parting was mutual. “It wasn’t one thing,” he said. “It just wasn’t the job I signed up for. I wish I could say it was this or that, but it wasn’t what I signed up for.”

He declined to go into specifics about how the job was different than he expected, but said it had nothing to do with the Nets’ and N.B.A.’s recent travails in China.

Two months later, Tsai told Bloomberg that he wanted more attention to detail, while Levy preferred to work on the big picture:

Reached by phone this week, Levy said: “It wasn’t the job I signed up for and we agreed to part ways.” Both Tsai and Levy say they remain friends.

Later, in May 2020, the Daily News reported that Levy had contractual guarantees to "have influence over basketball operations," in the newspaper's summary, which antagonized Nets staffers.

The China issue

Perhaps one reason was buried in that issue, not unpacked, in the Times summary. 

Why exactly would he have to deny that his departure was related to China, where the NBA faced a boycott after Houston General Manager Daryl Morey's "Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong" re-tweet, which prompted Tsai to pen a notorious open letter parroting the Chinese line?

As the New York Post's Brian Lewis wrote 11/12/19, the implication that Levy and the Nets weren't on the same page was "odd," given his role as a venture partner in Tsai's Blue Pool Capital and Tsai's enthusiasm for him.

Lewis noted that "Levy had made some telling comments" about China, implying Tsai and the team should've stood up for American values:

A Nets source said Levy’s departure was not based solely on his comments from that event, but on a number of factors.

(Emphases added)

That implies that Levy's departure was based at least in part on those comments.

By contrast, NetsDaily reported, citing a presumably different anonymous source, "that China was not an issue." 

The interview

The Levy interview cited by the Post was by Bloomberg’s Ed Hammond at Sooner Than You Think in Brooklyn, a tech conference held at the event space Weylin in Williamsburg.

"You've been in the seat for what--just about a month?" asked Hammond, leading off.

"Four weeks," responded Levy, dryly. "I know everything." 

"That's good," his interviewer responded. "This is a perfect moment to be doing something like this."

"What I didn't know in this whole situation when I got--when I took this job," Levy said, "I didn't know that my job description was going to have to worry about U.S.-China relations." 

"You could become an expert very quickly," his interviewer said archly.

"No, that's all I want to say about that," Levy responded, and the interview shifted to the Nets, with Levy saying "It's going great," given the team's "built-in culture." Of course that culture would be strained by the new superstars and the notion of player empowerment.

 

At about 16:19, Hammond circled back to the contretemps.

"Look, we started with international and probably end there as well," he said, noting that international growth for the NBA and the Nets was "hugely important... What's gone on in China I think we can say has thrown the whole issue around it into somewhat stark relief. Is it a reasonable expectation that teams and players and indeed the organization the NBA, should be seen as--they should be proxies for American values or should they be free from them?"

"Wow, it's a loaded question," responded Levy. "Listen, whatever corporation you're in or country you live in, you should always remain loyal to the values that you have. Period. And so, if your values are for that company and that corporation, you need to basically live by those values because every employee expects you to do that, right? So I'm gonna--I'll leave it at that, that I think, whatever your values are, don't jeopardize your values for what may be a profit or maybe something--stick with your values and you'll be successful."

Was that too much for Tsai, whose defense of China was based very much on Chinese values? 

(For Tsai, values--of whatever sort--may not be consistent. Remember, Tsai, reversing his decision to ban vaccine-refuser Kyrie Irving from away Brooklyn Nets games, in December 2021 said, "My only religion is to win games and win the championship.")

Levy then segued to the potential, from a global perspective, for the Nets and the NBA to be a global brand with a great potential for growth, along with soccer, e-sports, and combat sports.

"And that's why I'm a part of this," he continued, "because I do believe that we will be--the Brooklyn Nets will be a bigger global brand, and as we expand and what Joe and his vision and my vision is to take this to be a much more global brand than it is today."

That may well happen. But Levy didn't get to do that.