The President of the United States, Donald Trump, met through a videoconference with several businessmen linked to the restaurant industry, including the owner of the NBA franchise Houston Rockets, and the salient topic of the conversation was the resumption of the basketball league, over the business crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The owner of the Rockets, businessman Tilman Fertitta, president of the Landruy’s Inc. chain, met with Trump and other entrepreneurs linked to the food industry, but the president of the United States focused the conversation on the sporting and sports side. NBA, as detailed by the EFE Agency.
Fertitta was talking about his restaurant chain and Trump interrupted with questions about plans to return to the NBA and about the Rockets, whom he called “a great team” with “two great players” at base Russell Westbrook and shooting guard James Harden.
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“I think the NBA is waiting to see what happens in certain states and if we are going to be able to play,” Fertitta said when Trumo asked if the NBA planned to resume competition after indefinitely suspending the season on March 11.
The businessman, at Trump’s insistence, added: “The NBA wants to make sure the virus continues in the right direction for the next few weeks. If things continue like this, Commissioner Adam Silver, who did an amazing job, and the 30 owners will make the decision to try to compete again. “
Fertitta also expressed to the president that “the players need to compete to get paid” and that the league’s owners “want that revenue” from televised games, even if they happen without viewers.
Under Trump’s questioning, Fertitta reported that Westbrook and Harden have annual salaries approaching $ 40 million and are still paid on time.
Feritta, a 62-year-old businessman, explained that he had to lay off 40,000 employees of his restaurant chain in March and that he had recently requested a loan of $ 300 million at 12 percent interest because he “needed the liquidity” that would allow him keep the company afloat.
The Texan in 2017 bought the Rockets from Leslie Alexander for $ 2.2 billion, but now he faces serious financial problems with his restaurant business.
