Breaking down the 10 richest NBA owners

Often found sitting courtside at the Staples Center for home games, Ballmer is a hands-on owner — or at the very least, a supreme super fan. The former Microsoft CEO was the company’s 30th employee, per Forbes.

Ballmer bought the Clippers for $2 billion in 2014, much to the delight of fans in Los Angeles and all over. That meant the ouster of disgraced owner Donald Sterling, whose racist remarks resulted in a lifetime NBA ban.

The Clippers should be in the running to sign Kawhi Leonard next summer. For now, they have a strong defensive backcourt in Patrick Beverley and Avery Bradley, along with a few other nice pieces and solid coach in Doc Rivers. It’s possible Ballmer may have to pay a luxury tax, though, to spark the Clippers, as they’ll struggle to create buzz with LeBron James joining with the Lakers.

2. Paul Allen, Portland Trail Blazers / Net worth: $21.7 billion

Another Microsoft giant, Allen co-founded the company with Bill Gates, so it’s no surprise to see his name way up high on the richest NBA owners list.

Allen is also the owner of the Seattle Seahawks, so he’s a busy man in the sports world. However, he’s helped foster a winning culture in Portland, as the Trail Blazers have made the playoffs in each of the past five seasons in the loaded Western Conference.

Between guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, the Blazers have among the best backcourts in the league. But Allen may have to overpay for some superior help around them if they’re meant to make a serious championship run anytime soon.

3. Micky Arison, Miami Heat / Net worth: $9.7 billion

Carnival Corp. is the largest cruise ship operator, per Forbes, and Arison is the chairman of the company after serving as CEO for 34 years.

As he did with the company his father started, Arison succeeded him as overseer of the Heat in 1995 — and ran with the opportunity. Not only did Arison create an environment that helped Miami land coaching legend Pat Riley that year, but the Heat have also won three championships in that span.

Riley was instrumental in recruiting LeBron James in the summer of 2010 and continues a strong tenure as president. With James out of the East, Miami has a lot of versatile players and a proven coach in Erik Spoelstra who can lift the team to the conference’s upper echelon.

4. Mikhail Prokhorov, Brooklyn Nets / Net worth: $9.6 billion

The self-made Russian billionaire has always had an air of mystery about him, which made him an intriguing choice to take over the Nets franchise in 2010. He made a lot of his money through a 2008 sale of his stake in Norilsk Nickel.

Brooklyn hasn’t experienced much success since its owner brought basketball to the city from New Jersey, and Prokhorov sold a 49 percent stake of the team in April to Joseph Tsai, whose current net worth, according to Forbes, is $10.2 billion.

Prokhorov has stayed rather quiet and out of the public eye compared to the beginning of his tenure. The Nets had a disastrous trade with the Boston Celtics that robbed them of numerous high draft picks in recent years, so they must nail their personnel moves in the next couple of years to even contend for a playoff spot.

5. Ann Walton Kroenke, Denver Nuggets / Net worth: $6.6 billion

The wife of Stan Kroenke, who owns the Los Angeles Rams among other sports teams, Ann Walton Kroenke is the heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune, per Forbes. And she probably feels as though she hit the jackpot with the hiring of one of the Nuggets’ top executives.

Tim Connolly serves as Denver’s president of basketball operations and has done a heck of a job since joining the front office in 2013. The Nuggets haven’t been able to attract top-tier free agents, but they’ve drafted and traded so well that it hasn’t mattered.

With a young core led by a triple-double threat at center in Nikola Jokic, along with guards Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, Kroenke has a team that will soon be a tremendous force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.

6. Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers / Net worth: $6.3 billion

For whatever clash of egos led to Gilbert having a perpetual falling-out with LeBron James, no one can argue that he cares about seeing the Cavs do well. James and Gilbert made their partnership work in The King’s return to Cleveland to the tune of four NBA Finals appearances in as many years and one championship.

Gilbert is one reason James is gone, but the owner spared no expense. Forbes even reported Gilbert’s Cavs lost money when they won the championship in 2016 because Cleveland’s roster was so far over the cap and expensive.

If that’s any indication of the Quicken Loans co-founder’s commitment, perhaps Cavs fans should hold out some hope despite James’ departure. They drafted a fiery point guard in Collin Sexton and still have lots of veterans with postseason experience.

7. Richard DeVos, Orlando Magic / Net worth: $5.4 billion

The co-founder of multi-level marketing company Amway, DeVos retired in 1993, per Forbes. At 92 years old, the man is still in charge of the franchise he purchased in 1991, despite being in the hospital in recent months for a variety of ailments.

DeVos has been there since Orlando’s electric run to the 1995 NBA Finals that included defeating the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. They returned to the Finals 14 years later but lost to the Lakers.

The Magic have dissipated and not qualified for the playoffs since 2012. Orlando likely needs another season of losing to net a high lottery draft pick to reverse its fortunes, but the city has been fortunate to have DeVos at the helm for so long. The DeVos family, per MLive.com, was ranked among Forbes‘ biggest donators in the world several years ago.

8. Tilman Fertitta, Houston Rockets / Net worth: $4.3 billion

Since Fertitta bought the Rockets in October 2017, they’ve been on their best run in years. Houston topped Golden State as the No. 1 seed in the West this past season but fell to the Warriors one win shy of the NBA Finals.

Fertitta is a restaurateur who owns Landry’s, which is based in Texas and features under its control Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. among other restaurants, per Forbes.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had as much to do with the team’s continued recent rise as anyone in the franchise’s leadership. The best thing Fertitta can do as owner is maintain a strong bond with the reigning NBA Executive of the Year to ensure Houston stays on its current course in 2018-19 and beyond.

9. Tom Gores, Detroit Pistons / Net worth: $3.9 billion

The owner of a private equity firm, Platinum Equity, Gores supervises over 25 Los Angeles-area businesses, according to Forbes. To have all that on his plate and oversee an NBA team is quite the undertaking.

But Gores has apparently been able to juggle all his commitments in exceptional fashion before, and the hope is Detroit is no exception, albeit a far different business altogether. Gores and Platinum took hold of the Pistons in 2011 and Gores himself purchased the company’s whole stake in 2015, per Forbes.

For Detroit to field a winning team, Gores and the front office have their work cut out. The Pistons’ best players are Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin, both of whom are better fits in frontcourts from 15 years ago rather than the modern, perimeter-oriented NBA era.

10. Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks / Net worth: $3.7 billion

Any casual NBA fan probably knows who Cuban is. He’s often in attendance at Mavs games and is as outspoken and publicly visible as any owner in all of sports. Cuban embraces the target it creates on him and brings more relevance to the franchise too.

Cuban helped start Broadcast.com, a video portal, and in 1995 and sold it to Yahoo! four years later for a whopping $5.7 billion, per Forbes. Since then he’s moved on to own stakes in Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theaters among other business ventures.

Dallas had one of the NBA’s most intriguing offseasons, acquiring Luka Doncic in the draft and signing center DeAndre Jordan. That bodes well for the future as longtime franchise cornerstone Dirk Nowitzki, the 2011 Finals MVP, approaches the end of his career.