Roughly an hour and a half before the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 10, news broke that arbitrators ruled in favor of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in their arbitration over Glen Taylor. The ruling allowed Lore and Rodriguez to continue their process of purchasing the Wolves and Lynx.
In March 2024, Taylor announced that the teams were no longer for sale because Lore and Rodriguez missed the 90-day window they had to make a $600 million payment that would have made them controlling owners. In doing so, he created confusion and anger for a fanbase anticipating an overdue ownership change for nearly a year.
Gates opened at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse shortly after Shams reported the arbitrators’ 2-1 ruling. Had the announcement come while the Wolves were at Target Center, fans would have likely unleashed a collective exhale. The NBA’s Board of Governors had to approve Lore and Rodriguez to become owners. Still, the long and tumultuous situation hanging over the heads of everyone within the organization – and fans – appeared to be over.
However, nearly two months later, the situation is still ongoing, with the playoffs less than a month away. Instead of focusing on where the Wolves will finish in the standings, fans are also concerned about the team’s ownership future and frustrated with this seemingly never-ending process.
When Taylor announced that the Wolves were no longer for sale, Chris Finch said it was above his pay grade. He did not imagine that it would affect the team at a troop level. It indeed didn’t, as Minnesota went on to make its run to the Western Conference Finals.
Players are generally well-versed in blocking outside noise. The ownership situation has not impacted the team’s playbook, on-court chemistry, or day-to-day activities. However, it has been hanging over the higher-ups in the organization, such as the front office, who wondered what direction the team’s future was heading in.
In 2021, Taylor agreed to sell the Timberwolves and Lynx to Lore and Rodriguez for $1.5 billion, which was a bargain even then. Forbes listed the Wolves – who won 23 games the year prior and had only made the playoffs once in the previous 17 seasons – as the 28th most valuable team, slotting their value as $1.55 billion. Taylor purchased the Wolves for $88 million in 1994 to prevent them from moving to New Orleans.
“Marc, if I’m you, the first thing I’m wondering is, ‘How did Glen come up with $1.5 billion,” Taylor told Lore in 2021, per The Athletic. “The honest answer, Marc, is I just want it.”
The initial plan was for Taylor to transfer a 20% stake of the teams to Lore and Rodriguez in 2021 — a stepped transaction, allowing them to learn under Taylor before taking over the reins.
Then, Lore and Rodriguez would have the right to purchase a 20% share in 2022 and an additional 40% share in December 2023, when they would have become controlling 80% owners. They had 90 days to complete the 40% purchase, which Taylor said expired on March 27, 2024, which triggered him to retract the sale.
After an unsuccessful mediation, arbitration hearings between both parties started the first week of November. The ruling did not come until roughly three months later. The arbitrators determined that Taylor had violated the terms of the sales agreement when he announced the team was no longer for sale.
“We’re going to be the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Lore told Sportico in March 2024. “It’s just a matter of time and how much pain Glen wants to put the fans, the players, the town, and community through. It’s his choice. It didn’t have to be this way.”
Lore and Rodrigeuz didn’t become majority owners immediately after the arbitration ruling, which is generally the final step in resolving a dispute. They still needed 23 of 30 votes from the NBA Board of Governors. However, the light at the end of the tunnel was bright on Feb. 10, even though the Cavaliers blew the Wolves out 128-107 a few hours after the ruling became public.
However, nearly two months later, the team’s future is still uncertain. During a Board of Governors press conference on Thursday, Adam Silver said that Taylor could still fight the arbitration ruling.
“Glen Taylor does have the right to appeal, and I know he is considering his various options right now,” said Silver. “I believe he is also talking directly to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. We’re on hold there and waiting for decisions among the parties.”
As is customary with legal situations, details available to the public are unclear. It is hard to know who to believe and what is really going on behind the scenes. Maybe Lore and Rodrigeuz were late with their final payment, but they said from the beginning that they sent it to the league on time. Taylor had hip replacement surgery late last year and returned to a game at Target Center for the first time on Friday. Perhaps he has waited to return to health before deciding what comes next.
In October, Forbes still listed the Wolves as the 28th most valuable NBA franchise. However, Forbes now has a team worth $3.1 billion. In 2023, the Charlotte Hornets – Forbes’ 26th most valuable franchise – was sold for $3 billion. We will never honestly know what ultimately led to Taylor fighting the sale of the Wolves, but it is hard for fans not to assume it is so he can resell the team later for more money.
According to Sports Business Journal, it would be difficult for Taylor to appeal the arbitration ruling because he would have to challenge it in federal court, which only succeeds 5-10% of the time. Lore and Rodriguez will almost surely eventually become majority owners. There is a heavy emphasis on eventually because Taylor’s window to decide if he wants to fight the arbitration ruling could be open until August, which would keep this cloud hanging over fans’ heads for another postseason run.
The Timberwolves have seven regular-season games left, only two of which are at Target Center. They dropped winnable games against the banged-up Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans a few weeks ago. However, they just beat the Phoenix Suns for the eighth-straight time on Friday and came back from down 16 to beat the Detroit Pistons 123-104 in an emotion-filled game.
Entering the season, fans expected the Wolves to be a top-four seed again. They currently sit seventh in the Western Conference with a 43-32 record. It has been a rollercoaster of a season, and fans have been unsure if this team is legit and trustworthy for all 75 games so far.
However, the race for the sixth seed they are in right now with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers has been incredibly entertaining. Each game is practically a must-win for all three teams, and the race could come down to the last game of the season.
That’s all that Wolves fans should be concerned about. They should be picking potential first-round matchups. They should be dreaming about the whiteout playoff atmosphere at Target Center, not thinking about the ownership situation. However, it’s hard for them not to, given how uncertain things have been for the last year.