Texas-Israel connection ‘runs deeper than basketball,' Adelson says in Austin

The possible new owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Miriam Adelson, spoke in Austin Thursday more than a week after we learned her family's company agreed to buy the team from Mark Cuban.

Her Las Vegas Sands Company agreed to buy the majority stake in the Mavericks for $3.5 billion according to Cuban, who will still operate the team.

Adelson gave the keynote address at the annual conference of one of the most powerful organizations in the state, the Texas Association of Business.

“I’m not going to say anything about the basketball team in Dallas just yet," the group's Chairman Massey Villarreal joked introducing Adelson.

Adelson's late husband, Sheldon Adelson, was a well-known Vegas casino mogul and major donor to Republican political candidates. The Adelson's have backed Texas candidates in the past and stacked up on lobbyists' last legislative session to advocate for expanding state gambling laws.

In her speech Thursday, Adelson didn't focus on her gambling efforts or the new deal for the Mavericks. Instead, she heaped praise on Texans who support Israel as her home country fights a war with the terrorist group Hamas.

Hints of the deal crept in, however.

“The commercial ties between Texas and Israel are truly booming and it even runs deeper than Basketball. Though my family are huge fans of the Dallas Mavericks," said Adelson.

The Texas Association of Business created a first-of-its-kind award for Adelson and presented it to her Thursday. The Lone Star Award is a nod to the Lone Star of Texas and the Star of David of Israel.

“It is I who feels blessed. This daughter of Israel, this proud U.S. dual citizen, feels privileged to be brought into the great state of Texas," said Adelson.

In an earlier statement, the Adelson and Dumont families wrote they are hoping for a deal closing by the end of the year after the go-ahead from the NBA Board of Governors.

"The Adelson and Dumont families are honored to have the opportunity to be stewards of this great franchise. Through our commitment and additional investment in the team, we look forward to partnering with Mark Cuban to build on the team's success and legacy in Dallas and beyond," the families wrote.

If the deal is approved by the NBA's Board of Governors, the Sands will have a prominent product and location to launch a resort and casino if the state legislature ever gives the green light to casinos. The Sands and Cuban share that long-term vision for downtown Dallas.

Getting it past the conservative state legislature is another story. Earlier this year, the Texas House had a rare public vote on the measure but it fell short of the 100 of 150 House members it needs to change the constitution with voter approval. The idea has a tougher road in the Senate where the presiding officer, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, has said it needs to get the large majority of the 19 Republican Senators in order for him to bring it to the floor for a vote.

The longtime lobbyist for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Rob Kohler, argues against the gambling effort by Sands. Despite the influx of money and jobs a new resort and casino would bring to North Texas, Kohler said it will entice poor Texans to give up their hard-earned money at table games.

“Now they got a place at the table and if it ever does expand they’ll be running around figuring out whether they’re going to do something," said Kohler.

Because of the ultra-complicated gaming laws in the United States, if the Sands gets a casino in North Texas, Native American tribes will almost automatically be in play for casino expansion, according to Kohler. He worries once that change happens, some parts of the state will look like Oklahoma.

“We’ve been lucky in this state. You can drive across the state and there’s not a little casino sitting at every corner," said Kohler.

One thing is for certain, Adelson purchasing an iconic Texas basketball team will get attention and cause a showdown over gambling laws in the state in the years ahead.