NBA owners unanimously approve $1.5B sale of Wolves, WNBA's Lynx from Taylor to Lore-Rodriguez group

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The $1.5 billion sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves from Glen Taylor to an investment group led by e-commerce entrepreneur Marc Lore and former baseball star Alex Rodriguez gained NBA approval on Tuesday, finalizing a complex and contentious process more than four years after the deal was reached.

The ownership transfer that Taylor tried to stop last year received an unanimous vote from the league's board of governors that comprises the 30 team owners. The deal, which is expected to close this week nearly 51 months and more than 1,500 days after the initial agreement, includes the four-time WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx.

The Timberwolves are planning an introductory news conference for Lore and Rodriguez next month in Las Vegas during the NBA Summer League. Lore and Rodriguez will serve as co-chairmen on the board, with Lore as Timberwolves governor and Rodriguez as alternate governor, the league announced. For the Lynx, Rodriguez will serve as governor and Lore as alternate governor.

“We fully recognize the great responsibility that comes with serving as stewards of these exceptional franchises,” Lore said in a statement distributed by the organization. "We are committed to building an organization that sets the standard for excellence, is universally admired, and rooted in pride that spans generations.”

The business partners and close friends who met during the pandemic over a Zoom call have said they're committed to keeping the teams in Minnesota.

“I’ve dedicated my entire life to the world of sports, not just as a game, but as a powerful force that unites people, uplifts communities, and changes lives,” Rodriguez said. “I’m incredibly honored and energized to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I know what it takes to be a champion, and I’m ready to bring that same commitment and drive to create a winning culture in Minnesota.”

The 83-year-old Taylor, who grew up on a Minnesota dairy farm and built a fortune with a business that specialized in printing wedding invitations, bought the Timberwolves for about $88 million in 1994 to prevent them from moving after a deal between the original owners and a group in New Orleans was nixed by the NBA.

After Lore and Rodriguez were outbid for the New York Mets by hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, they turned their attention to basketball after learning Taylor was exploring a sale. The deal was arranged in phases to allow Taylor to stay as a mentor of sorts.

The value of the franchise has more than doubled since that April 10, 2021, agreement due largely to soaring NBA revenues. Forbes has estimated the Timberwolves are worth $3.1 billion. Sportico’s most recent calculations pegged the club at $3.29 billion. Both publications put them as the third-lowest in the league, playing in a midsized market in a 35-year-old arena.

The Lynx have been valued between $230 million (Forbes) and $240 million ( Sportico ), in the bottom half of the league that’s in the midst of an expansion to 16 teams by 2028.

Taylor announced on March 28, 2024, he was exercising his right to back out of the sale because Lore and Rodriguez missed the deadline to purchase a third portion of the club that would have given their group about an 80% stake.

Lore and Rodriguez were blindsided by the decision and defended their integrity, accusing Taylor of having seller’s remorse. They blamed the payment delay on the slow pace of the league’s approval process and said they submitted paperwork six days ahead of the deadline.

The dispute first went to mediation and then to arbitration, where a three-panel judge ruled in favor of Lore and Rodriguez. Their group, which includes former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Google executive Eric Schmidt, has been poised to buy Taylor and his partners completely out rather than the leave him with a 20% stake from the initial agreement.

Taylor decided in April not to appeal the arbitration decision, near the end of his 31st season controlling the team. The Timberwolves saved him the best for last, reaching the Western Conference finals for a second straight year before losing to NBA champion Oklahoma City.

Even after making the playoffs in each of Taylor’s final four seasons, the Timberwolves have the worst all-time regular season record — 1,196-1,680, a .416 winning percentage — of the league’s current 30 franchises. They’re 39-55 in playoff games, with a first-round elimination in 10 of the 13 times they qualified.

Taylor and his wife, Becky, published a farewell message in Monday’s print edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune, which Taylor bought in 2014. The Timberwolves also posted it on the front of their website.

“This marks the end of an extraordinary chapter in our lives — one filled with purpose, pride, and a deep connection. When we kept the Timberwolves from moving to New Orleans in 1994, we did so with the hope of building something that could unite people across Minnesota and beyond. And when we added the Lynx in 1998, it was driven by our belief in supporting women and fully embracing the diversity and promise of the WNBA,” the Taylors said, thanking their limited partners, the players, the staff, the community and the fans for their support.

“Though we are stepping away as owners, our love for this organization and this community remains as strong as ever. We will always be fans, cheering from our seats, celebrating your triumphs, and believing in what comes next. It has been the honor of our lives.”

Lore, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $2.9 billion, is the CEO of the New York-based meal delivery service Wonder. He has founded e-commerce companies that were previously acquired by retail giants Walmart and Amazon.

Rodriguez, a 14-time All-Star who hit 696 career home runs but has fallen short of Hall of Fame induction due to his admitted use of performance enhancing drugs, built a business career around real estate investment and development. He made more than $450 million in salaries over 22 years in the major leagues.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

FILE - Minnesota Timberwolves minority owners Marc Lore, middle left, and Alex Rodriguez, middle right, watch during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Dec. 19, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

FILE - Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor chats with his wife, Becky, in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)