Those in the Know Do Not Believe A-Rod and Marc Lore End Up with Majority Ownership of Timberwolves

Glen Taylor dropped what Marc Lore described as a “nuclear bomb” on him and Alex Rodriguez late last week when he announced that the Minnesota Timberwolves were no longer for sale and that he was voiding the purchase agreement in place with his new minority investors.

So, A-Rod and Lore hired one of the most high profile legal firms in the world, got their shit together, and fired back at Glen Taylor with an all-out media blitz on Friday and Saturday. First, they zeroed in on the fan base’s hatred for its 30-year owner.

Glen Taylor badly losing PR battle vs Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore

A-Rod told Dane Moore (The Dane Moore Podcast) that Taylor was against the Rudy Gobert trade and scoffed at the idea that Tim Connelly would leave the Denver Nuggets for a mid-rate franchise like the Timberwolves. Rodriguez went even went as far as to say he and Marc were there “to protect the fans from Glen Taylor”.

Clearly, the new ownership group is and will continue to dominate the PR battle against Taylor. That was the first thing longtime Minnesota media member and reporter, Phil Mackey realized after conversing for a couple hours with people “very plugged into” the situation.

“I spent a couple hours yesterday afternoon and evening talking to multiple people who I would characterize them as just being very very plugged in to this entire situation and I just want to summarize my takeaways from those conversations here. First off, there’s an acknowledgement across the board here that Mark and Alex are going to steamroll Glen Taylor in the PR battle. Fans, rightfully so, do not like Glen Taylor…”

Phil Mackey – Mackey & Judd Show

But Glen has never cared about that, which we all know too well. Not only will A-Rod and Lore win the battle for the hearts and admiration of Wolves fans, but they may very well win the contractual battle against Taylor, too. By all accounts, the contract they have is “ironclad”, as Lore and A-Rod put it.

A-Rod, Lore unlikely to receive NBA approval to buy Minnesota Timberwolves

But neither their ironclad contract, nor their PR pounding of Taylor, will get them past the NBA offices and its commissioner, Adam Silver, who does not hate Taylor as much as we do. At the end of the day, whether they are willing to admit it or not, all signs point to their being some serious financial concerns with the A-Rod, Lore ownership group.

That’s why, Mackey reports, there’s a “very strong feeling among people in the know” that Alex and Marc will NOT end up as majority owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their application for majority ownership, which is currently being reviewed by the NBA offices, will probably get rejected, due to concerns with funding.

“In my conversations yesterday, there’s a very strong feeling that, despite A-Rod and Lore coming out swinging in the media yesterday and shredding Glen Taylor limb from limb in the court of public opinion, there’s a very strong feeling among people in the know that the deal still won’t go through. That Glenn Taylor will be the owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves at the end of all of this.”

Phil Mackey – Mackey & Judd Show

Mackey has been embedded in the MN sports scene for 25 years so there’s no doubt he has contacts deep inside the Timberwolves organization. Not only that, but he (like the rest of us) wants Glen Taylor gone. But it’s not just Phil who is hearing that this deal is unlikely to go through.

As Phil mentions, the NY Post has its doubts (which we also aggregated), along with former Marlins president David Samson. Anybody who has dealt with A-Rod knows he is struggling to find the funding for this deal.

“I would love for A-Rod and Lore to own the team but I feel like there’s so many credible people and publications that have come out, from David Sampson with the Marlins, over to the New York Post report, to some of the people I have been able to talk to… there’s enough questions and concerns about whether they can get this to the finish line, through the league most importantly, that I don’t know that that’s going to happen. Like, it’d be great if those guys had all the funds, all the money, all the liquid to run a team in the luxury tax, once they actually purchased the majority stake… but just because they came out swinging yesterday, unfortunately, it doesn’t mean it’s a done deal.”

Phil Mackey – Mackey & Judd Show

Nobody likes Glen Taylor and we all want Kevin Garnett’s jersey hanging in the raftors. But having broke owners would be even worse than Glen. At least he cuts checks when called upon.