Timberwolves owner not selling stake to Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is now not selling his controlling stake within the franchise to minority house owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, he introduced Thursday.

Taylor alleges Lore and Rodriguez failed to meet sure contractual deadlines and obligations of the sale course of, which started in 2021. Sources informed ESPN that the connection between Taylor and his successors — Lore and Rodriguez — disintegrated over the previous two years.

Minnesota (50-22) is having its finest season in years and is only a half-game out of first place within the Western Conference.

In an announcement given to ESPN, Lore and Rodriguez maintained they’ve met their monetary obligations to Taylor, together with a closing cost final week. In 2021, Taylor agreed to promote the Timberwolves and WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx for $1.5 billion, with a construction that known as for a switch of energy over various years as Lore and Rodriguez made a sequence of funds.

“We are disappointed with Glen Taylor’s public statement today,” Lore and Rodriguez mentioned within the assertion. “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 assertion is an unlucky case of vendor’s regret that’s shortsighted and disruptive to the staff and the followers throughout a historic successful season.”

Since the sale course of started in 2021, NBA franchise values have skyrocketed, with the Phoenix Suns selling for $4 billion, the Dallas Mavericks for $3.5 billion and the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion.

In his assertion, Taylor maintained that he was now not selling the franchise however that he “will proceed to work with Marc, Alex and the remainder of the possession group to guarantee our groups have the required sources to compete on the highest ranges on and off the court docket.”