The majority of ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA will continue to be in the hands of Glen Taylor after he announced that the club is "no longer for sale."
The billionaire politician said Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez's attempt to take over the club as the new majority owners failed because they did not meet the terms by the Wednesday deadline.
The duo was supposed to pay Taylor $1.5 billion for the latter to acquire the majority stake in the two franchises.
Taylor previously expressed a desire to hand the team to new owners, but he is singing a different tune now.
"We went through the process, and I spent a lot of time. We've got a really good team, we've got a lot of good things going for us, I enjoy it and I'm healthy enough to do this," Taylor said in an interview with The Associated Press after the announcement.
"I don't need the money, so I think I'll just keep running it and enjoy it. I like my coach. I like my staff. This way everybody gets to keep their jobs, and I'll be happy."
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Taylor, whose businesses include newspaper company Star Tribune and multinational printing and electronics, first purchased the Wolves in 1994 for $94 million.
He then became a majority owner of the Minnesota Lynx in 1999 and became a part owner of the Minnesota United FC in the Major Soccer League.
The team is worth $2.94 billion, and Taylor owns approximately 60 percent.
However, one knack about Taylor's ownership is that the Wolves were among the worst teams in the NBA during his tenure. The team has not reached the NBA Finals and suffered a 14-season playoff drought (2004 to 2018).
The team has a completely different look now, although some attribute their recent relative success to the arrival of Lore and Rodriguez.
Lore and Rodriguez refute Taylor's statement
Lore and A-Rod own 36 percent of the teams from their purchase in 2021 and 2023.
E-commerce giant Lore and MLB great Alex Rodriguez bought the Wolves and Lynx for 20 percent, with an additional 20 percent by 2022.
The plan was to give them another 40 percent share by 2023 to become controlling owners.
Both camps were bullish about the sale, so the duo were shocked by the development.
They accuse Taylor of buyer's remorse, stating that they were able to fulfill the obligations for the purchase and that the billionaire only had cold feet at the last moment.
"We are disappointed," Lore and Rodriguez said in their joint statement.
"We have fulfilled our obligations, have all necessary funding and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process. Glen Taylor's statement is an unfortunate case of seller's remorse that is shortsighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season."
The ownership drama comes as the Wolves are working to earn the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference. They are just .5 games behind the Denver Nuggets.
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