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ESPN Senior Writer- ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
- Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years
- Author of two books
Glen Taylor has agreed to the Marc Lore-Alex Rodriguez group acquiring 100% ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx at the same $1.5 billion price the sides reached agreement on in 2021, sources told ESPN.
As part of the agreement, Taylor decided not to appeal an arbitrators' ruling from February that ruled in favor Lore-Rodriguez in a dispute over the sale contract.
The NBA has started the transfer process, including ultimately holding a board of governors vote, sources said.
Lore and Rodriguez initially agreed to purchase the team from Taylor in 2021 in a three-part sale. The first two tranches, totaling 36% of the teams, changed hands for about $500 million as planned. But in March 2024, Taylor called off the sale when he believed Lore and Rodriguez breached terms of the sale agreement and missed a deadline to finalize the deal.
There was a disagreement, and the issue eventually went to arbitration, where Lore and Rodriguez prevailed in a split decision among a three-judge panel.
In the meantime, Lore and Rodriguez shored up their group by adding partners, including billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, billionaire former Google executive Eric Schmidt, and Blue Owl Capital, an NBA-approved alternative asset management company. The group raised an additional $950 million and put it in escrow to demonstrate that it was prepared to execute the transaction.
Over the past six weeks, the Lore-Rodriguez group and Taylor held discussions and came to an agreement to finalize the deal.
Taylor, 83, purchased the Wolves in 1994 for $94 million, saving the team from a possible relocation to New Orleans. He had put the team on the market and pulled it off several times over the past two decades.
