T-Wolves Shareholder Meyer Orbach Alleges A-Rod Sale Violates Partnership Agreement

Gene Sweeney Jr.

The ownership saga of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx took another turn.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Meyer Orbach has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis about the sale of the Timberwolves from Glen Taylor to a group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. Orbach is alleging the pending sale violates the franchise’s partnership agreement.

Most notably, the complaint said the deal doesn’t include any provision that requires Lore and Rodriguez to keep the Timberwolves in Minnesota, per Wojnarowski.

According to the complaint, the sale agreement requires the owners to take a possible relocation decision to the Advisory Board, however, the board’s approval wouldn’t be required for any such move.

Taylor signed a lease with the city of Minneapolis in 2016 to keep the Timberwolves at Target Center through the 2034-35 season. However, the team’s ownership group would need to pay only $50 million in order to bolt Minneapolis before then.

That presumably wouldn’t be an issue for Lore and Rodriguez after they struck an agreement to purchase the Timberwolves and Lynx for $1.5 billion. The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski initially reported they had entered into a 30-day negotiating window to get things done. The plan tentatively calls on Taylor to remain part of the ownership group for two and a half years, after which he’d relinquish his control.

The complaint also alleges that Taylor did not honor minority shareholders’ “tag along rights” which would allow them to sell their stakes in the franchise before the majority owner’s sale is completed.

Any time ownership in a sports franchise changes hands, relocation is often one of the biggest concerns for the fanbase, especially when the team plays in a smaller market.

For example, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the Seattle Supersonics from the moment they were bought by a group of businessmen from Oklahoma City in 2006. The Oklahoma City Thunder were born in time for the 2008-09 season.

Neither Lore nor Rodriguez has deep ties to the Twin Cities, so Wolves fans would inevitably worry about the team’s future.

Taylor attempted to allay those fears when he said in April that “the NBA will not approve of the Timberwolves moving from here to Seattle.” He added the league would prefer to expand rather than have a team relocate to the Pacific Northwest.

The 80-year-old was more definitive in April with Chris Hine of the Star Tribune.

“They will keep the team here, yes,” he said. “We will put it in the agreement. At this point we have a letter of intent, but when we make up the contract we’ll put that in there. That’s no problem. That won’t be a problem.”

Orbach’s complaint may reveal whether Taylor was true to his word.