Former MLB Player Alex Rodriguez and Walmart’s Marc Lore are Buying the Minnesota Timberwolves

Well it’s finally happened for former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez, who incidentally is pop star J-Lo’s main squeeze. Rodriguez is finally going to own his own team.

Rodriguez and former Walmart e-commerce CEO Marc Lore have agreed to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves for a reported $1.5 billion.

The move will still need the approval of the NBA owners as well as the Timberwolves current owner Glenn Taylor who is expected to operate the franchise for two more years. During this time both Rodriguez and Lore will transition into their new ownership roles.

“They’ve asked that I would be there for any decisions that would need to be made,” Taylor told the Associated Press. “I would enjoy that. I love teaching people. These are a couple of very bright guys, and I think it could be helpful to the club, and I think I could be helpful to them so that they feel confident once they take over 100%.”

Taylor purchased the club back in 1994 for approximately $90 million.

Taylor told the Star Tribune that fans have nothing to worry about after the sale of the team living the city. The team is staying put.
“They will keep the team here, yes. We will put it in the agreement,” Taylor told the Star Tribune, a paper he also owns. “At this point, we have a letter of intent, but when we make up the contract we’ll put that in there. That’s no problem. That won’t be a problem.”

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said over the weekend that he hadn’t yet spoken to Rodriguez or Lore but was excited at what Rodriguez could bring to the organization.

“I’m sure he understands sports at a very high level,” Finch said. “Certainly will bring some sex appeal to the organization, the city, to the team and we’ve got, again, I think the more skill sets and personality types you can bring to any kind of leadership group the more it’s going to be reflected in the overall mission.”

“[Taylor’s] excited,” Finch said. “We’re excited to welcome in new owners to what’s looking like a really dynamic ownership group over the next couple of years. That doesn’t change our mission. Our mission is to still try to build a winning team here and that’s a day by day procedure.”

“It’s about having the vision and the resources and the patience and the leadership and all the things that it takes for any organization to be successful,” Finch said. “That trickles down all the way through to the team on the floor.”