Timberwolves ownership drama takes new turn
Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, partial owners of the Timberwolves, watch Game 3 of the NBA basketball second-round playoff series at Target Center on May 10.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Minority owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Alex Rodrigeuz and Marc Lore, have reportedly teamed up with billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to take control of the Wolves. And they also want to build a new arena for the team.
In other news, the Lynx extinguished the L.A. Sparks on Wednesday. They’ll play in Phoenix on Friday night. The Twins lost to the Yankees on Wednesday, continuing a 0-5 loss streak. They’ll play again Thursday in New York.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: And we got a birthday shout out here at Minnesota Now, wishing a happy belated birthday to Twins player Royce Lewis, who turned 25 yesterday-- and a great birthday gift, got a home run at Yankee Stadium. Lewis just returned after being out for months due to an injury, and the Twins lost yesterday's game, but they play the Yankees again tonight in New York. Joining me now for more on what's happening in Minnesota sports are contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Hi, guys.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Hey, Nina.
ERIC NELSON: Good afternoon.
NINA MOINI: Good afternoon. So let's start with the Wolves. We know the Timberwolves' season is over, sadly, but the team's owners are still in the news, right, Wally?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy. Yeah. And I'm not sure it's going to end anytime soon. Of course, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore had a purchase agreement with Glen Taylor that, according to Glen Taylor, expired without them having the correct funding in place. That was about a month and a half ago or so.
And so basically, Glen said he pulled it off the table. Now, they went through mediation. That didn't work. So now they go back to the courts. And basically, what will happen is the courts will decide if that contract that A-Rod and Marc Lore say is valid, we'll see if it continues to be valid or if Glen Taylor will continue to own this team.
Now, to say that this is over with as far as, you know, them purchasing the team even if Glen Taylor does win the court case, I don't know. It's business. Anything could happen. But there's all kinds of other rumblings as well.
A-Rod and Marc Lore, they want a new arena if and when they get this team. And there's talk about them putting it somewhere around the Minneapolis Farmers Market. I heard that they are looking at property out near the Mall of America, which kind of makes sense, if you think about it-- how ironic would that be, where the old Met Center used to be?
So Target Center, according to Glen Taylor, is just fine. And Eric and I would probably, I know we would, agree with that. And we think that Target Center is fine as it is. I don't see that is a huge problem.
But it is one of the oldest arenas in the NBA-- 29th, as a matter of fact. So we'll see how this thing shakes out. The news, another tidbit of news today-- my friend Jon Krawczynski from The Athletic posted today on Twitter, which, of course, is now known as X, that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who, of course, is one of the richest people on the planet, has agreed to join A-Rod and Lore to buy the Timberwolves and Lynx.
Now, again, this is assuming that Glen's going to sell if he doesn't win the court case. So we'll see how this all shakes out. But yeah, it's a constantly moving basketball, if you will.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, a lot of drama behind the scenes there, it sounds like. Eric, we mentioned the Twins are in New York.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Nina, that's the bad news, because they got mugged again in New York City on Wednesday night. Yankees win 9 to 5. Aaron Judge, their superstar, had 5 RBI, including a 3-run triple. And new York's now won seven straight.
And the Twins losing to the Yankees, it's about as surprising as gridlock in Manhattan. It just always happens. The Yankees are the Twins kryptonite. Some people think Joe Pohlad owns the Minnesota Twins. No, that's inaccurate. The New York Yankees do.
NINA MOINI: Ooh.
ERIC NELSON: Listen to these ugly numbers if you're a Twins fan. The Evil Empire, as the Yankees are known in baseball, they've won six straight against the Twins going back to last season. Their record since 2002 is 106 wins for New York, 42 for Minnesota.
The Yankees are 5 and 0 against the Twins this season. They've already outscored them 28 to 7. Now, you did bring up the one bright spot for the Twins-- Royce Lewis, on his birthday, hit another home run.
And he's now the first player in Twins history to hit a tater in his first three games of the season. And of course, he had a big gap of not playing because after game one in Kansas City, he went on the injured list. But he's back, and he looks to be as good as ever.
He brings a lot of energy to the team. But the problem is Royce Lewis cannot beat the New York Yankees by himself. The teams will play again tonight at Yankee Stadium. Pablo Lopez throws for Minnesota, Marcus Stroman on the mound for the New York Yankees. And after this, the Twins will not play the Yankees again unless they meet in the playoffs.
NINA MOINI: OK, well, let's talk about the Lynx, which always seem to be our sort of Minnesota bright spot, right, Wally?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: No doubt. And the basketball season does continue in Minnesota. The Lynx have gotten off to a great start. They are now 7 and 2 after a late night win last night in Los Angeles. They beat the sparks 86-62.
Napheesa Collier, 25 points, 9 rebounds to lead the way. That 7 and 2 mark-- so right now, they have the best record in the West-- it is also the best start for the Lynx through nine games since they went 9 and 0 back in 2017.
So they are off to a terrific start. They got off to, speaking of fast starts. they got off to an 11-0 lead last night against Los Angeles. And, oh, by the way, Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve, she won her 307th regular season game, and she moves past Bill Laimbeer for second place in the WNBA's career wins list.
So good things happening, and they will be Friday-- they play in Phoenix. So the Lynx will continue their schedule. And let's hope that they can keep it rolling.
NINA MOINI: Sure. How about Minnesota United? They have a match this weekend, Eric?
ERIC NELSON: They do. Yeah, good things happening on the pitch. That'll be Saturday night at Allianz Field. So FC Dallas takes on MinU. And the Loons have 28 points. So that's third place right now in the MLS Western Conference.
And the new head coach, Eric Ramsey, he's made an instant impact. He's very organized. He's got a blueprint, a plan on how to improve this team and get it to, perhaps, championship caliber levels.
He's just 32 years old, youngest coach in Major League Soccer. He came from Manchester United, which is in the English Premier League, and that's one of the most prestigious sports franchises on the globe. And one thing about MinU, they have a potent scoring tandem in Tani Oluwaseyi. He's got 7 goals and 4 assists.
Robin Lode from Finland has 10 assists and 5 goals. The goalkeeper, Dane Saint Clair, has been brilliant as well. He's going to play for Team Canada in the Olympics in Paris.
But the bummer for Saturday is MinU is going to be minus nine players against FC Dallas because of international duty, and that includes Oluwaseyi, Lode, Teemu Pukki, and Saint Clair. So it's not going to be the Minnesota United team you want to see because a lot of guys are going to be serving their country in friendly play, as they say.
NINA MOINI: All right. Well, looking forward to all of that. Thank you both so much.
ERIC NELSON: Thank you.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Nina. Have a great day.
NINA MOINI: You, too. Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports magazine and co-host of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS Eye on Football and SiriusXM.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Hey, Nina.
ERIC NELSON: Good afternoon.
NINA MOINI: Good afternoon. So let's start with the Wolves. We know the Timberwolves' season is over, sadly, but the team's owners are still in the news, right, Wally?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy. Yeah. And I'm not sure it's going to end anytime soon. Of course, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore had a purchase agreement with Glen Taylor that, according to Glen Taylor, expired without them having the correct funding in place. That was about a month and a half ago or so.
And so basically, Glen said he pulled it off the table. Now, they went through mediation. That didn't work. So now they go back to the courts. And basically, what will happen is the courts will decide if that contract that A-Rod and Marc Lore say is valid, we'll see if it continues to be valid or if Glen Taylor will continue to own this team.
Now, to say that this is over with as far as, you know, them purchasing the team even if Glen Taylor does win the court case, I don't know. It's business. Anything could happen. But there's all kinds of other rumblings as well.
A-Rod and Marc Lore, they want a new arena if and when they get this team. And there's talk about them putting it somewhere around the Minneapolis Farmers Market. I heard that they are looking at property out near the Mall of America, which kind of makes sense, if you think about it-- how ironic would that be, where the old Met Center used to be?
So Target Center, according to Glen Taylor, is just fine. And Eric and I would probably, I know we would, agree with that. And we think that Target Center is fine as it is. I don't see that is a huge problem.
But it is one of the oldest arenas in the NBA-- 29th, as a matter of fact. So we'll see how this thing shakes out. The news, another tidbit of news today-- my friend Jon Krawczynski from The Athletic posted today on Twitter, which, of course, is now known as X, that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who, of course, is one of the richest people on the planet, has agreed to join A-Rod and Lore to buy the Timberwolves and Lynx.
Now, again, this is assuming that Glen's going to sell if he doesn't win the court case. So we'll see how this all shakes out. But yeah, it's a constantly moving basketball, if you will.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, a lot of drama behind the scenes there, it sounds like. Eric, we mentioned the Twins are in New York.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Nina, that's the bad news, because they got mugged again in New York City on Wednesday night. Yankees win 9 to 5. Aaron Judge, their superstar, had 5 RBI, including a 3-run triple. And new York's now won seven straight.
And the Twins losing to the Yankees, it's about as surprising as gridlock in Manhattan. It just always happens. The Yankees are the Twins kryptonite. Some people think Joe Pohlad owns the Minnesota Twins. No, that's inaccurate. The New York Yankees do.
NINA MOINI: Ooh.
ERIC NELSON: Listen to these ugly numbers if you're a Twins fan. The Evil Empire, as the Yankees are known in baseball, they've won six straight against the Twins going back to last season. Their record since 2002 is 106 wins for New York, 42 for Minnesota.
The Yankees are 5 and 0 against the Twins this season. They've already outscored them 28 to 7. Now, you did bring up the one bright spot for the Twins-- Royce Lewis, on his birthday, hit another home run.
And he's now the first player in Twins history to hit a tater in his first three games of the season. And of course, he had a big gap of not playing because after game one in Kansas City, he went on the injured list. But he's back, and he looks to be as good as ever.
He brings a lot of energy to the team. But the problem is Royce Lewis cannot beat the New York Yankees by himself. The teams will play again tonight at Yankee Stadium. Pablo Lopez throws for Minnesota, Marcus Stroman on the mound for the New York Yankees. And after this, the Twins will not play the Yankees again unless they meet in the playoffs.
NINA MOINI: OK, well, let's talk about the Lynx, which always seem to be our sort of Minnesota bright spot, right, Wally?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: No doubt. And the basketball season does continue in Minnesota. The Lynx have gotten off to a great start. They are now 7 and 2 after a late night win last night in Los Angeles. They beat the sparks 86-62.
Napheesa Collier, 25 points, 9 rebounds to lead the way. That 7 and 2 mark-- so right now, they have the best record in the West-- it is also the best start for the Lynx through nine games since they went 9 and 0 back in 2017.
So they are off to a terrific start. They got off to, speaking of fast starts. they got off to an 11-0 lead last night against Los Angeles. And, oh, by the way, Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve, she won her 307th regular season game, and she moves past Bill Laimbeer for second place in the WNBA's career wins list.
So good things happening, and they will be Friday-- they play in Phoenix. So the Lynx will continue their schedule. And let's hope that they can keep it rolling.
NINA MOINI: Sure. How about Minnesota United? They have a match this weekend, Eric?
ERIC NELSON: They do. Yeah, good things happening on the pitch. That'll be Saturday night at Allianz Field. So FC Dallas takes on MinU. And the Loons have 28 points. So that's third place right now in the MLS Western Conference.
And the new head coach, Eric Ramsey, he's made an instant impact. He's very organized. He's got a blueprint, a plan on how to improve this team and get it to, perhaps, championship caliber levels.
He's just 32 years old, youngest coach in Major League Soccer. He came from Manchester United, which is in the English Premier League, and that's one of the most prestigious sports franchises on the globe. And one thing about MinU, they have a potent scoring tandem in Tani Oluwaseyi. He's got 7 goals and 4 assists.
Robin Lode from Finland has 10 assists and 5 goals. The goalkeeper, Dane Saint Clair, has been brilliant as well. He's going to play for Team Canada in the Olympics in Paris.
But the bummer for Saturday is MinU is going to be minus nine players against FC Dallas because of international duty, and that includes Oluwaseyi, Lode, Teemu Pukki, and Saint Clair. So it's not going to be the Minnesota United team you want to see because a lot of guys are going to be serving their country in friendly play, as they say.
NINA MOINI: All right. Well, looking forward to all of that. Thank you both so much.
ERIC NELSON: Thank you.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Nina. Have a great day.
NINA MOINI: You, too. Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports magazine and co-host of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS Eye on Football and SiriusXM.
Download transcript (PDF)
Transcription services provided by 3Play Media.
Dear reader,
Your voice matters. And we want to hear it.
Will you help shape the future of Minnesota Public Radio by taking our short Listener Survey?
It only takes a few minutes, and your input helps us serve you better—whether it’s news, culture, or the conversations that matter most to Minnesotans.
