One of the most prominent off-court storylines surrounding the Minnesota Timberwolves for the last several years has been the ownership situation. As many are aware by now, long time majority owner Glen Taylor agreed way back in April 2021 to sell the team to a new ownership group led by former MLB star Alex Rodriguez and his business partner Marc Lore.
The deal was done in such a way where the ownership was being progressively transferred to Rodriguez and Lore. In the meantime, the two business moguls had been carefully taking their time to get used to the organization, meet people, and build and grow relationships.
But then came March 2024, when Taylor suddenly announced that the Timberwolves were no longer for sale, and that he would retain ownership. Rodriguez and Lore obviously pushed back, as this infringed on their previous agreement.
Many are of the opinion that Taylor got a case of seller's remorse, as the Timberwolves franchise grew in value a tremendous amount from the time he agreed to make the sale until the time where he revoked his end of the agreement. As for Taylor's side of the story, he alleges that Lore and Rodriguez failed to make the proper payments that would have led to them becoming majority owners of the team.
"Within a month we should know who's gonna be the owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 22, 2024
I'm hearing that Alex Rodriguez & Marc Lore have $940M sitting in a JP Morgan account to be wired to Glen Taylor to finish this purchase of the team..
They're trying to buy this team… pic.twitter.com/J1lGCObPoS
Wolves fans will know who owns the team within a month
To resolve the dispute, the two sides have engaged in mediation sessions, which have led to no official resolution. Now, both parties will take place in a binding arbitration in November. Shams Charania recently appeared on the Pat McAfee show on ESPN to provide some context surrounding this situation, and gave Wolves fans an idea of what to expect.
"Glen Taylor's argument was that the chunks of payment were not done on time, the paperwork wasn't done, the wire wasn't in in time. Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore's position was that the paperwork needed to be on time, not the actual wire itself ... This is where it stands right now: November 4 is when arbitration starts. Glen Taylor against Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. And I believe from what I hear, within a month we should know who's going to be the owner of this team."
Shams also goes on to say that he has heard Rodriguez and Lore currently have $940 million sitting in a JPMorgan account, waiting to be sent to Glen Taylor to complete payment for the team. It is clear that the two business partners still one hundred percent plan to own the team when all is said and done.
This has been an interesting story to follow for many, but for others it may seem distracting while the franchise is trying to build a championship-level team. No matter your view of the situation, it seems Timberwolves fans will finally know who the owner of their team will be in short order.