In March 2014, Kiki VanDeWeghe reached out to a friend of his, an Iranian-American healthcare and pharmaceutical executive named Paul Edalat.
VanDeWeghe, an accomplished NBA player and executive, was the league’s senior vice president of basketball operations at the time.
The reason he reached out, according to Edalat, was simple: The NBA’s partnership with Delta Air Lines was set to expire, and the league thought the Emirates airline—owned by the government of Dubai—would be an ideal replacement. VanDeWeghe, knowing Edalat had connections in the region, hoped he could make some introductions.
“The timing could not be better,” VanDeWeghe wrote Edalat in an email, court documents show. “We would like you to relay our interest to Timothy Clark, President of Emirates.”
According to Edalat, the NBA then formally engaged him to help secure a sponsorship deal. He now claims the sides agreed to a “simple commission-based compensation” that would pay Edalat and his company 10% of the deal “and any future partnership” between the NBA and Emirates.
