On Thursday morning, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor announced that he will retain his majority stake in the franchise after the final purchase option held by minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez expired on Wednesday.
That would leave Taylor with about a 60% stake in the Wolves and WNBA’s Lynx, with Lore and Rodriguez controlling approximately 40%. The final option would have seen Lore and Rodriguez become the majority owners with an 80% stake, while Taylor would have retained 20%.
Since 2021, Lore and Rodriguez have been involved in the purchase of the Wolves for $1.5 billion on a multi-phase payment plan. They were reportedly instrumental in recruiting president of basketball operations Tim Connelly away from the Nuggets in 2022.
In Taylor’s press release, he said the Wolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.
However, in their own statement, Lore and Rodriguez disputed Taylor’s claim to ownership, and they believe they should — and will — become majority owners, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“We are disappointed with Glen Taylor’s public statement today. We have fulfilled our obligations, have all necessary funding and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process.
“Glen Taylor’s statement is an unfortunate case of seller’s remorse that is short sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season.”
Sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the relationship between Taylor and Lore and Rodriguez has “disintegrated over the past two-plus years.”
As Krawczynski writes in a full story for The Athletic, the next steps aren’t immediately clear. A week ago, Lore and Rodriguez submitted the financial documentation they believed was necessary to complete the purchase. But Taylor says the duo failed to reach several key benchmarks in the purchase agreement.
According to Krawcyznski, the purchase agreement calls for third-party mediation and arbitration to resolve disputes like the one currently unfolding. Whatever happens, it doesn’t seem like the situation will be resolved anytime soon.
There’s no indication the dispute has disrupted Minnesota’s play on the court — the Wolves are in the midst of their first 50-win season in two decades. The timing is certainly unfortunate though, with only 10 regular season games remaining before the playoffs get underway.
More must-reads: