NBA Insider Labels Timberwolves Owner As “Worst In The League” After Alex Rodriguez Controversy

The name of baseball legend Alex Rodriguez has been affiliated with the NBA for quite some time now. For the past three years, the former athlete has been attempting to acquire a majority stake within the Minnesota Timberwolves. In that period, he and his business partner Marc Lore had successfully acquired 40% of the shares and were on their way to becoming the primary owners by the end of March. However, as the basketball world watched on, the current team owner Glen Taylor, who had earlier given his blessing on the same, ended up pulling the plug on the whole venture. This move sent shockwaves around the NBA spectrum and left the two minority owners bitterly disappointed.

A few hours ago, prominent sportswriter Bill Simmons released the latest episode of his podcast. He devoted a major chunk of time to discussing the recent halt of the ownership transfer of the Timberwolves. Simmons kicked things off by calling it “one of the most bizarre situations in recent NBA history” and highlighting how the $1.5 billion price at which Taylor was ready to sell the team was “incredibly low”. The podcaster used the latter as a way to justify his own personal opinion of the billionaire/politician.

“He (Taylor) was one of the worst owners in the league,” said Simmons. “I’m sure he is not a bad guy but just from a performance standpoint, really bad at owning a basketball team. Made just a slew of terrible, terrible, terrible decisions”. Simmons stated that other than the franchise’s success in securing the division title during the 2003-04 season, there weren’t many “happy moments” for fans during Glen Taylor’s reign. This made him believe that the ownership transfer would have made many people glad.

Bill Simmons is not the only individual who has questioned Glen Taylor’s decades-long ownership. According to SB Nation, the 82-year-old has often been “routinely ranked as one of the NBA’s worst owners”. While one of the criticisms has been directed towards the fact that the franchise hasn’t managed to win even a single championship under his eye, Taylor has also faced backlash over the feud he formed with star player Kevin Garnett during his playing days. The latter has never shied away from making his feelings about the owner known, as can be seen in the past as well. During an interview back in 2018, Garnett went as far as to claim that Taylor “doesn’t know sh*t about basketball”.

Alex Rodriguez is not ready to back down

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore were quick to react when the news became official that the NBA franchise they were coveting was no longer for sale. In an official statement, they expressed their disappointment and accused Taylor of having “seller’s remorse”. Since then, the situation has only escalated.

According to renowned sports reporter Shams Charania, Glen Taylor has reportedly “barred” the former Yankees player from entering the “back hallways of arena” and made it difficult for them to have “communication with team execs”. This move was taken even though Rodriguez continues to remain a minority owner of the team. A-Rod expressed his bitterness by stating “We can be in this (fight) for five years, 10 years, whatever. We’re not going to let go.” Marc Lore also put out a statement that read “We will use every ounce of effort here to enforce the contract that Glen broke.”

Do you agree with Bill Simmons’ assessment of Glen Taylor? Let us know in the comments down below.

READ MORE: Alex Rodriguez’s Desire For David Beckham-Like Profit Blamed For Ownership Crisis In Minnesota