Judge Presiding Over WBD-NBA Lawsuit Previously Sued NBA
Judge Joel Cohen successfully represented the Silva brothers against the NBA, garnering a $500 million USD settlement.
NBA games will soon be available to stream across Comcast and Disney networks, along with Amazon. The league has inked a new coverage deal with the three companies that will bring in $76 billion USD over the next 11 years.
NBA had rejected an offer from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), a current streaming partner under its TNT banner, in favor of Amazon. WBD sued the NBA on Friday for what it called the “unjustified rejection of [a] matching of a third-party offer” of 1.8 billion USD a year. The NBA is countering with the argument that Amazon has a greater digital reach.
It’s now been revealed that the judge who will preside over WBD’s suit previously worked as a partner on a case against the NBA, according to Front Office Sports. In 2014, Justice Joel M. Cohen represented the Silna brothers, the owners of the ABA’s Spirit of St. Louis basketball team, in their suit against the NBA. After the ABA and NBA merged, the Spirits were left out of the league’s team roster. The brothers agreed to cease operations entirely in exchange for a small percentage of the game broadcast revenue.
Decades later, when the NBA sought to buy the brothers out entirely, Cohen helped the Silnas to walk away with a $500 million USD settlement from the league, per Front Office Sports.
Cohen recently notified both parties in the WBD-NBA suit of his history in a letter. “I do not believe this raises any recusal issues, but wanted to disclose the facts and see if there are any concerns,” he wrote.
For those unfamiliar with the league’s new coverage plan, beginning with the 2025-26 season and lasting until the end of the 2035-36 season, NBA games will be streamed on Amazon, Comcast’s NBC and Peacock and Disney’s ABC and ESPN. Disney will be allocated 80 games, Amazon will have 66 and Comcast’s networks will have up to 100.
After Thursday Night Football wraps, Amazon will air primetime games on Thursday nights and doubleheaders on Friday nights. ESPN will air some doubleheaders on Friday and will continue with its doubleheaders on Wednesdays.
ABC will air Saturday afternoon games and Amazon will air a select few. On Sundays, NBC will show games after Sunday Night Football is over. Peacock will show a Monday doubleheader and on Tuesday, NBC will air two games on its regional networks.
