On Twitter today, @VC’s Congratulating Themselves asks this question: Can someone explain the OpenAI drama in NBA terms?

Imagine a non-profit, helping spread basketball to inner city LA kids. Jerry Buss is in charge of a for-profit subsidiary of that non-profit that runs a professional club called “The OpenLakers”. The OpenLakers, with the help of a wunderkind, named Magic Altman, discover a radical new way to play the game. 

Imagine a conglomerate, we’ll call them msESPN. They’re intrigued by Magic and this new style of basketball. They invest in The OpenLakers. msESPN wants this new stuff for their customers. Magic starts negotiating directly with msESPN because they have things he wants: publicity, airtime, a wider audience.

The non-profit leadership gets mad and immediately fires Magic. The non-profit wants the organization focused only on helping spread basketball to inner city kids. Jerry Buss goes nuts and tries to negotiate Magic’s return for the for-profit entity.

msESPN is worried about its investment and hires Magic to recreate the Lakers for them. 

Meanwhile the OpenLakers are now a mess, with a silly corporate structure, and now without a superstar leader.