was clearly said that he did it of his own desire to avoid potential conflicts of interest without any advice from the NBA.

Several used the ambiguous language of "it was asked" that Ishbia discontinue the Michigan St. NIL partnership, quoting the language of some letter that Ishbia sent to Michigan St. So who did the asking to ask Ishbia to stop? The articles weren't clear about that. Was it the NBA? Was it Ishbia's accountant? Was it Ishbia's cousin who is a fan of Michigan Wolverines? Was it Ishbia's wife who wanted to use the money for something else?

It does look like he ended the relationship around the time when he became the owner. Maybe the vagueness was due to him looking for an excuse to get out of the NIL commitment?

NBA allows Ryan Smith to own a hockey team and be part owner of an MLS team.

NBA constitution says the owners shouldn't be owners of other pro basketball teams. Maybe with NIL, the state of high NCAA basketball teams is akin to pro teams that would fall under the meaning as used in the NBA constitution.

That would lead to Ryan Smith being free to donate to other sports but not to funds specific to basketball.