The NBA board of governors approved Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez as limited partners with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx in a vote on Tuesday, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Lore and Rodriguez join Glen Taylor’s ownership group as part of an anticipated succession plan that includes a 2½-year pathway to control.
Taylor announced in July 2020 he was looking for a buyer. The terms of the sale are similar to talks Taylor had in the past year with billionaire Ryan Smith, who walked away from a potential deal to ultimately purchase the Utah Jazz for $1.66 billion in October.
Taylor, 80, saved NBA basketball in Minnesota when he bought the team for $88 million in 1994 after it nearly moved to New Orleans. But he has had an unspectacular ownership run in the 26 years since, missing the playoffs in 16 of the past 17 seasons and advancing past the first round only once.
Taylor has had a much more successful tenure owning the Lynx, who have won four WNBA championships in the past 10 years.
He has discussed keeping the Timberwolves in Minnesota with new ownership, but Rodriguez’s ties to Seattle and that city’s desire for a return of an NBA franchise could become an issue in the long term.