The Minnesota Timberwolves’ ownership dispute will advance to a mediation session on May 1 in Minneapolis, ESPN reported on Wednesday night.
Longtime majority owner Glen Taylor put an end to a three-year ownership succession plan with the group headed by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez on March 28. Taylor claimed the former Walmart eCommerce CEO and retired baseball star did not meet contractual obligations laid out in the purchase agreement between the two sides.
Lore and Rodriguez, in turn, said at the time that they did not miss a deadline and noted Taylor had a case of “seller’s remorse.”
After purchasing 36 percent of the Timberwolves and WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx in 2022 and 2023, Lore and Rodriguez said they filed paperwork to buy an additional 40 percent to assume majority ownership of the franchises in March. The pair claimed the NBA hadn’t formally approved the purchase, therefore the group did not close by the March 27 deadline.
Lore and Rodriguez are pushing to restore the original agreement, which called for a 90-day extension to obtain NBA approval.
ESPN reported that the projections Lore and Rodriguez submitted to the NBA project a $171 million payroll next season for the Timberwolves. As it stands, Minnesota’s roster payroll is $198 million — well above the $172 million luxury-tax threshold. Taylor previously claimed the team will stay intact if he maintains ownership.
