Glen Taylor bought the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1994 and has been at the helm ever since. But since then there have been many ownership changes in the NBA. Taylor sat down with TheStreet and explained why he thought so many teams had changed hands and what he looks for in a potential owner.
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Full video transcript below:
CONWAY GITTENS: Are you happy now with the investment you have made in the team?
GLEN TAYLOR: Well, if you have only made one investment, it has been great because when I bought the equipment the price was somewhat different. I paid 88 million dollars for it. And you know, it's been 30 years and values have increased. So that's been good. If you're talking about investments to get to the championship, we were disappointed because every time we had a pretty good team, we suffered injuries and we just didn't get as far in the Championship Series as we anticipated.
CONWAY GITTENS: Now, you mentioned how things have changed in terms of ownership, how much you paid for equipment, and how much things are worth now. You know, the Suns, Mavericks, 76ers, The Nets, The Jazz, all those teams got new owners in the last five years. So what do you think of all the recent changes in terms of ownership?
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GLEN TAYLOR: Well, the value has really changed due to television rights and all that has gone up a lot. You just discovered that there are more people who want to own the team than there are teams. And that just changes the market so that sellers can control it. And that's where it is now.
CONWAY GITTENS: And so, as someone with a seat at the table, as an owner, what do you look for when it comes to potential owners approaching the league wanting to buy a team?
GLEN TAYLOR: Well, I think the ideal would be to find owners who live in the community, who have the equipment, but that's not always practical and hasn't always worked. So you want people to build a staff that lives and works there and really cares not only about the team but also the community. I think this is kind of a community asset and I think it's a very important element to the property.
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