6:19pm: Taylor has also issued a statement, expressing “disappointment” in the arbitrators’ decision, Mannix tweets.
“Becky and I were disappointed by this 2-1 decision from the panel. We will review the decision thoroughly prior to making any further comment. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Timberwolves and Lynx players, staff, and loyal fans for their support.”
5:03pm: Arbitrators have ruled in favor of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in their legal dispute with Glen Taylor for majority ownership of the Timberwolves, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
The next step is for the league’s Board of Governors to vote on formal approval of Lore and Rodriguez as the team’s majority owners.
The duo released a statement relayed by Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link) that the arbitrators’ decision “endorsed Lore and Rodriguez’s interpretation of the purchase agreement and confirmed that the contractually agreed timeline for Lore and Rodriguez to obtain NBA approval and complete their acquisitions of the teams (including the WNBA’s Lynx) has not expired.”
The statement added that Lore and Rodriguez are “extremely pleased” with the decision and will work the league to “complete the approval process and close the transaction.”
It’s not a slam dunk that they’ll gain Board of Governors approval. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated notes that they’ll need to collect at least 23 of the 30 votes from the league’s owners and Taylor is a former BOG chairman who has a long history with commissioner Adam Silver (Twitter link).
The arbitration hearing to decide the ownership dispute was held in November. The process advanced to arbitration in July after a one-day mediation in the spring failed to make any progress.
The dispute has been ongoing since the tail end of last season. Taylor nixed the previous tiered payment agreement with Lore and Rodriguez, citing a breach of contract and a failure to meet a payment deadline. Lore and Rodriguez disputed that characterization, stating that they had the funds necessary to become majority owners but were awaiting NBA approval and should have been entitled to an extension.
The third payment in dispute would increase Lore and Rodriguez’ share from 36% to about 80% and the purchase agreement stipulated that they could buy out Taylor’s remaining 20% stake anytime before March 2025.
Taylor is now contractually compelled to sell them the controlling share for the previously agreed upon $1.5 billion valuation. The franchise’s value is substantially higher since that agreement, which was a major factor in Taylor’s decision to try to halt the sale.
Thank goodness
Not surprised. Taylor’s case was extremely shaky at best.
I wonder if the new owners would have approved the Towns trade…..
They wouldn’t, they have money unlike the miserable Taylor dude!
Great day for the T’wolves!
Pretty sure Taylor has way more $$, he just won’t spend it the way Lore/JLo will.
I’m most excited that Connelly is more likely to stay because of this. He was their guy and I don’t think his vision aligns with Papa Glenn.
Good day!
If Taylor was so cheap then how was he paying the tax being a second tax apron team? If he was as cheap as you say he never would have traded for Rudy Gobert and would have traded Kat a year or 2 earlier,
People like talking crap without looking at things first. Just watch the payroll drop off now. Bye Randle, NAZ, and NAW.
That happened after new ownership came on board
why not? it was their hire- Connelly – who made the trade.
not sure what taylor being a former chairman of the board has to do w. them getting approved now. i understand relationships but if the courts ruled in favor of them emotions should be separated
I think Taylor never intended to sell and probably assumed the rules never applied to him. Or something like that
The increased valuation has everything to do with Taylor’s decision. He got greedy cold feet.
Oh that’s right . I forgot about that
Naw he meant to sell and then regretted it when valuations skyrocketed after he did this drawn out sale. On top of that the team actually got good for a hot sec.
Friends in high places and old rich mans club issues could arise…
Cant say I feel bad for Glen Taylor
how much does taylor have to sell the remaining 20 percent for? or can he sell it for whatever price? like “you can have the rest for 5 bil”
The original sale had a stipulation allowing them to buy the remainder from him at the old valuation I believe.
Between a rock and a hard place.
“It’s not a slam dunk that they’ll gain BOG approval.”
I mean, they approved the Adelsons, didn’t they? And they’re about as oily and gross as it gets.
That could be an old boys club deal that has them siding with Glen unfortunately…
Hopefully, this isn’t a lesser of two evils situation. Wolves needed a change at the top for a long time now. I will always appreciate Taylor for stepping up and buying the team to keep them here, but his time was up.
He made so many poor decisions that kept the team mediocre. During the KG era he allowed “ the country club” mentality that kept average coaches and players around simply because they were well liked.
Funny how he agree to sell, Arod/lore were allowed to become decision makers, hire Connelly, wolves have their best year in a long time, teams price evaluation goes up, he backs out of deal…. Thanks for your time, but bye bye Glenn!
He was a terrible owner and a terrible person…
The Wolves may not have a great new owner flush with cash… But they don’t have Glen… It can only be up from here…
Taylor could go to the other owners many probably his friends for years and just tell them to vote again the ownership change
Suck it Glen… Another rich piece of trash owner gone…
Wasn’t much difference between Glen and Sterling…