The majority of Timberwolves fans were relieved, as well as excited, when the sale of the team was finally finalized. Glen Taylor, who had owned the team since 1994, was handing over the team to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. It wasn’t a smooth process as Taylor refused to hand it over cleanly.
Much of Taylor’s tenure with Minnesota consisted of non-winning teams, and he often blamed others for the team's problems. He also has a long-standing beef with the franchise’s best player of all-time, Kevin Garnett. It got to the point where Garnett even called Taylor "a snake".
In the MLB, the Pohlad family, who are the owners of the Twins, also aren’t beloved figures by the Minnesota sports fanbase. Many couldn’t wait for them to sell the team as anticipated, but now, it isn’t going to happen.
Twins owners change their minds
The MLB trade deadline was on July 31. Once the deadline passed, the Twins traded nearly half of their major league roster. It wasn’t just those that would be free agents in the offseason either, as players with multiple years of team control were also dealt.
The Twins franchise was bought by Carl Pohlad in 1984. While they had early success, winning the World Series in 1987 and 1991, they haven’t neared those heights since. Ownership was passed down to his three sons when Carl passed away in 2009.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Pohlad family would remain principal owners, and would instead have two limited partnership groups buy minority stakes.
Good vibes surrounding Timberwolves new ownership
The Pohlad family, especially of late, has been known for not spending the money necessary to build consistently winning ball clubs. While it’s very early for the Wolves’ new ownership, they clearly are showing that they care.
Rodriguez and Lore put out a fan survey (for both the Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx for whom they are also owners). It’s an excellent first step for the new owners to show that they care about the fans.
With Taylor out, it is also expected that a move that should have occurred years ago will finally happen. That is the jersey retirement of Garnett’s #21.
There’s a renewed hope for Timberwolves fans that the new owners will be well-invested in providing an NBA team that they can be proud of. That hope hasn’t been there for Twins fans for a while.