In January, we wrote about the pending sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx. A group led by former MLB star Alex Rodriguez and serial entrepreneur Marc Lore had been purchasing small pieces of the Timberwolves and Lynx and had agreed to acquire the majority share of both teams.
Now, it looks like we’re witnessing a classic case of “take backsies.”
Glen Taylor, who’s owned the Timberwolves since 1994 and the Lynx since their inception in 1999, released a statement saying the teams were “no longer for sale.”
Alex Rodriguez (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
The statement added that the purchase option for Lore and Rodriguez had expired. “Under certain circumstances, the buyer could have been entitled to a limited extension. However, those circumstances did not occur,” the statement read.
A-Rod and Lore are calling foul on the decision. They said they’ve done everything they need to do and have all the necessary funding, and Taylor was simply having seller’s remorse as the Timberwolves are in the midst of perhaps their best season ever.
As of this writing, the Timberwolves are 50-22 and half a game out of first place in the Western Conference. It’s the first time since the 2003-04 season that the Timberwolves have reached 50 wins. That team made the only Western Conference Finals appearance in franchise history.
Kevin Garnett led that 2004 squad—count him among the people disappointed by Taylor’s change of heart. Garnett returned to the Timberwolves before he retired and apparently had a handshake deal with Taylor to purchase part of the team alongside his former coach Flip Saunders. When Saunders died in 2015, that deal fell apart.
To build further bad blood, Taylor and the Timberwolves haven’t retired Garnett’s jersey, despite him being the most popular player in team history. Garnett also spent six seasons in Boston, and the Celtics retired his jersey in 2022.
Taylor is likely pulling the deal to try and make more money with a potential sale. The owner, who turns 83 in late April, purchased the Timberwolves for $88 million in 1994; the A-Rod and Lore deal was valued at $1.5 billion when it was first announced in 2021.
With the Timberwolves playing so well and boasting an exciting young core, the franchise will likely continue to rise in value. That success has Taylor seeing dollar signs.
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