Why Orlando attorney Tucker Byrd is taking on the NBA

California businessman Paul Edalat has filed a lawsuit in Orlando against the National Basketball Association (NBA), alleging breach of contract related to a sponsorship deal the professional sports league secured with airline Emirates.

According to the complaint filed March 10 in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court’s Business Court Division, Edalat claims he was instrumental in introducing the NBA to Emirates in 2014. Edalat, a U.S. businessman of Iranian descent with ties in the Middle East, was allegedly enlisted by then-NBA Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Ernest “KiKi” VanDeWeghe to help negotiate a sponsorship deal with the Dubai-based airline.

The lawsuit alleges Edalat, through his contacts, facilitated initial discussions between the NBA and Emirates, including an in-person meeting in Dubai between Edalat and Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications – Marketing & Brand, in May 2014.

The complaint details a simple commission-based compensation agreement allegedly reached between Edalat and the NBA, where Edalat and his company, Liwa North America Inc., would be paid 10% of the value of any sponsorship agreement and future partnership between the NBA and Emirates.

According to the complaint, the value of the sponsorship between the NBA and Emirates, and the ancillary financial arrangements between the two, could reach a substantial amount — easily in the tens of millions, and possibly hundreds of millions of dollars.

While discussions reportedly cooled off and the NBA renewed its sponsorship deal with Delta Airlines in 2015, the lawsuit contends the relationship Edalat initiated laid the groundwork for the multiyear global marketing partnership later announced between the NBA and Emirates on Feb. 8, 2024.

This deal named Emirates the “Official Global Airline Partner of the NBA.”

After learning of the 2024 deal, Edalat allegedly contacted the NBA to confirm his compensation.

Meanwhile, the NBA, through its Assistant General Counsel Dan Spillane, allegedly disavowed any knowledge of an agreement with Edalat. This response prompted Edalat to file suit, seeking confirmation of his commission and damages exceeding $500,000.

Tucker Byrd of Winter Park-based Byrd Campbell P.A. represents Paul Edalat in this complex business litigation. Byrd, known for taking on high-stakes commercial litigation, recently discussed the case and his client’s decision to file suit in Florida.

Orlando Business Journal sat down with Tucker Byrd to ask why he took the case — and why it’s been filed in Orlando, even though the client is based in California, NBA headquarters are in New York and the deal in question involves a company based in Dubai.

Why file this litigation in Orlando?

The NBA is ubiquitous. You could pick anywhere to file a case and the reason why we chose Orlando is that I think it’s a value-based community where people get it. It’s a conservative community. Some people misunderstand conservatism, but conservatism means accountability — it doesn’t mean that you don’t believe in recompense or reckoning in court.

I love Florida juries because I think they believe in accountability and they can hold somebody accountable.

Of course, the NBA has a presence here, and you can easily find Magic gear with the Emirates airline logo all over it. It’s a little bit of home-court advantage.

What was your client’s motivation for pursuing this legal action against an entity as formidable as the NBA?

KiKi VanDeWeghe contacted Paul to tell him the deal had finally happened, and he said, “You need to look into this.”

We tried to get the NBA to engage. In fact, the first letter that I sent to them was a congratulatory email. It wasn’t like, “Where’s my money?”

When the response was, “Who are you? We have no idea who you are. Don’t bug us,” it’s like, wait a minute. Please don’t tell me you’re going to act like we don’t exist.

We went back multiple times with the letter from Kiki VanDeWeghe, the emails, the declaration, the proof. To dismiss us as if we had just made this up, that was unacceptable. And we made multiple overtures to try to get them to talk to us. You don’t just cavalierly file a lawsuit against anybody, particularly the NBA. When they just wouldn’t even stop talking to us as if maybe they’ll just go away. It’s like, no, we don’t just go away. We just want what’s agreed upon. It’s like it’s simple.

The events at the heart of this lawsuit date back about a decade. How do you address the potential argument that the connection between your client’s initial involvement and the eventual deal might have weakened over time?

The causal link, what we call the procuring cause, did not somehow dissipate over time. It was the same people doing the same deal.

Do you think this case will settle or go to trial?

I hope it goes to trial.

In Brief
Paul Edalat vs. National Basketball Association

Case no.: 2025-CA-002038-O
Court: In the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, In and For Orange County, Florida, Business Court Division
Judge: Chad Alvaro
Plaintiff’s attorney: Tucker Byrd and Jeffrey Donner of Byrd Campbell P.A.
Defendant’s attorney: Ginnette Childs and Kevin McGavock of Akerman LLP

Original article: Orlando Business Journal