MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor says he stands by his promise to keep the franchises in Minnesota following a high-profile sale.
Earlier in May, Taylor announced an agreement to sell the teams to e-commerce mogul Marc Lore and former baseball star Alex Rodriguez for $1.5 billion.
However, current minority owner Meyer Orbach and his Orbit Sports, Inc. filed a lawsuit against Taylor and his companies May 26 in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, alleging Taylor breached a franchise partnership agreement. Among the allegations, Orbit claims Taylor failed to deliver a timely sale notice to minority owners, and failed to trigger "tag-along-rights" for limited partners like Orbit to sell its stake in the teams to a proposed buyer as well.
According to the suit, Orbit is the second largest stakeholder in the franchises, behind only Taylor, with Orbit Sports holding 17% of ownership.
Contained within the Orbit suit is an allegation that Taylor's purchase agreement with Lore and Rodriguez does not contain a provision to keep the Timberwolves and Lynx franchises located in Minnesota, despite previous public statements by Taylor to the contrary.
Taylor responded to the allegations with a statement posted on the Timberwolves website:
“I am aware of the story published by ESPN and the litigation that has been filed. As a policy, we do not comment on pending legal matters. I stand by my prior statements and commitment to keeping the Timberwolves and Lynx in Minnesota," Taylor's statement read.
Orbit's suit is seeking $300 million in damages and other relief.
In a Instagram post shared on June 14, Alex Rodriguez replied to a user who comments on his video, "Keep the wolves in Minnesota."
Rodriguez himself replied, "we will!" The comment has nearly 400 likes.
