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Taylor: Wolves Not on Sales Block
Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners recently he
isn’t seeking buyers for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He and his
partnership group have owned the Wolves since 1995. Taylor said the
purchase price was $88 million, $40 million of it borrowed money. The
asking price today might be $350 million since that was the amount paid
for the most recent NBA franchise sold, the Seattle SuperSonics,
according to Taylor.
Certainly Taylor (the majority owner) and his partners could find
reasons to put out a for sale sign if they wanted. They could sell the
team for a large profit leaving behind the financial losses of the last
two seasons and the anticipated loss of this season. Despite those
losses Taylor described the Wolves as a “good investment.” Still, if he
wanted to use the team’s on-court performances of this season and the
last two seasons as motivation for selling, many people would
understand.
During an interview in his Mankato office Taylor, 65 years old, was
asked if he wants to own the team six years from now. “I am healthy
now. If (my) health is not good that could be an indicator (to sell),”
he said. “I haven’t thought about seriously giving up the majority
ownership at all. I just think it’s something that is still a challenge
to me, an interest to me. …But, on the other hand, I haven’t seen an
offer come forward. So I haven’t really had to make that decision
because no one has stepped up and just said, ‘I am a Minnesotan. I’ll
take over. I’ll buy you out.’”
The
public’s frustration with the Timberwolves’ on-court performances has
stirred intense criticism, some of it directed at Taylor. He said his
years in the Minnesota Legislature as a senator helped prepare him for
public scrutiny. He learned that leadership brings criticism and “I
accept that.”
More
impactful than the public is Taylor’s own self assessment. “I am
critical of myself,” he said. “What decisions did I make, or what
things can I do to change that? We’re just way below expectations and
it’s frustrating to me.”
Taylor thought the Wolves would become a playoff team this season.
Instead they are trailing in the playoff derby with only 11 games
remaining. The team is 11 games (30-41) under .500.
Taylor’s approach is that he and the Wolves organization will learn from
the mistakes of recent years and self correct. He bases that on hard
times he’s experienced during his life and that good results can come
out of difficult periods.
“I
don’t see it as all negative in the sense that bad times are just a
waste of time,” he said. “ We should learn from that and hopefully we
will be better because of that. I think great leaders learn from their
mistakes. …”
Taylor said he’s been encouraging coach Randy
Wittman, who took over from Dwane Casey in January, to
carefully evaluate his players for the future. Assess who fits, wants
to be here and has the right attitude.
For
now Taylor wants to lead this franchise and he’s determined to make the
future better than the immediate past.
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