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Alex Rodriguez has had better Opening Days.
The former baseball star has missed his window to buy a majority stake in the Timberwolves, alongside his business partner, Marc Lore.
Glen Taylor, Minnesota’s current owner, released a statement confirming that the purchase—including the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, also owned by Taylor—had fallen through.
“I will continue to work with Marc, Alex and the rest of the ownership group to ensure our teams have the necessary resources to compete at the highest levels on and off the court,” said Taylor in the statement. “The Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.”
Rodriguez and Lore still own 40% of the teams.
The terms of the purchase agreement, which was previously agreed upon, required the sale to be completed within a 90-day window that closed Wednesday. “Under certain circumstances, the buyer could have been entitled to a limited extension” to get more capital, Taylor said in his statement. “However, those circumstances did not occur.”
Last week, Rodriguez and Lore lost the backing of the Carlyle Group investment firm, which was set to provide $300 million in capital to complete the purchase. Afterward, The Athletic reported that the pair were getting backed by Dyal Capital Partners and had submitted the paperwork for approval.
Rodriguez and Lore first purchased 20% of the team in 2021, in a deal that valued the team at $1.5 billion. They bought another 20% chunk last year. The former Yankees star had long expressed interest in owning a sports team. Had the purchase gone through, Rodriguez and Lore would have owned 80% of the franchise. The saga comes amid one of the franchise’s best seasons as the T-Wolves are currently 50–22, which has them at second place in the Western Conference, as of Thursday, and just a half game out of first.
“We are disappointed with Glen Taylor’s public statement today,” Rodriguez and Lore said in a 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 short sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season.”
The “seller’s remorse” Rodriguez and Lore mention could refer to the fact that the team’s value has likely significantly increased since the pair bought in at a $1.5 billion valuation in 2021.
Editors’ note, Mar. 28, 12:59 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Rodriguez and Lore.
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