US senators call on NBA to reevaluate Rwanda partnership

Two US senators have called on the NBA to reevaluate its partnership with Rwanda, warning the league risks becoming complicit in “sportswashing”.

In a letter sent on Friday to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, and Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, wrote that they are “increasingly alarmed by the NBA’s deepening relationship with Rwanda” and said the partnership is “contrary to the spirit of American sports”, ESPN reported.

The senators said US, UK and other European policies towards Rwanda have “shifted markedly”. Their letter cited Rwanda’s role in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the deployment of 18,000 troops and its command of the M23 rebel group, which they wrote has “summarily executed hundreds of civilians, committed mass rape, recruited child soldiers, and tortured civilians”.

The letter ends with a series of questions for the league, the first of which asks: “What is the NBA’s red line for accepting money from foreign governments that commit human rights abuses?”

It is the second time the two senators have written to Silver about Rwanda; they sent a similar letter two years ago, in 2024, after an ESPN investigation into the league’s relationship with Rwandan president Paul Kagame. ESPN reported that Rwanda pays the NBA $6 million to $7 million a year to host some Basketball Africa League championships and display “Team Rwanda” on jerseys.

Sources:

• ESPN: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50288053/us-senators-call-nba-reevaluate-rwanda-partnership
• Hoopshype: https://www.hoopshype.com/story/sports/nba/rumors/2026/10/26/american-senators-again-question-nbas-relationship-with-rwanda/92445264007/
• Hoopshype: https://www.hoopshype.com/story/sports/nba/rumors/2026/10/26/at-the-end-of-their-letter-the-senators-asked-the-nba/92445262007/