Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore chat KG, the luxury tax and a new arena at press conference
Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez held their first press conference since taking over as the majority owners of the Timberwolves and Lynx on Friday in Las Vegas the site of NBA Summer League The two delivered statements and fielded a number of questions from local and national media members alike Here are a scarce things that stood out Roster building Lore and Rodriguez were specifically requested Friday about new owner syndrome a made-up condition in which new sports owners make unwise decisions out of haste shortly after purchasing a franchise But the new ownership duo thinks it s well positioned to avoid such an error partly because they ve been around the organization for years now amid the ownership transition They already made a splash with the hiring of Tim Connelly as Timberwolves president of basketball operations and were proponents of the Rudy Gobert contract And they don t feel a need for any more fireworks in the near future just in the name of shaking it up We re being very methodical about the decisions we make Lore announced We re thinking in every decision what s in the best interest of the long-term sustained heritage of winning That s not an easy thing to achieve in currently s NBA given the new strict salary-cap rules But Lore and Rodriguez have plans for how to confront the waters Rodriguez spoke of the value of continuity which he called one of the arbitrages of the league But keeping a unit together likely requires paying a luxury tax perhaps even a hefty one Lore states they re fine with that likening that assets to the financial losses startup companies endure early in their building process Because it s creating enterprised value over the long term he commented And I think that s the way we think about it Investing in the group in winning creates long-term franchise value And it s not over the next three to five years but the next years even We re prepared to invest we re prepared to lose money to create a winning way of life a sustainable winning heritage A new arena Rodriguez noted that new upgraded arenas may have been vanity features back when he was playing in Major League Baseball But he no longer feels as though that s the situation Nowadays it s a necessity Rodriguez explained reporters If you want to compete at the level we want to compete year in and year out a new arena is what our fans deserve Lore and Rodriguez are in the very very early stages of a plan to get a new basketball arena in Minneapolis to replace an aging Target Center Talk about public organization Rodriguez stated an arena is an anchor to the locality KG comeback Kevin Garnett is as Lore put it the GOAT greatest of all time in the Timberwolves organization But Garnett s presence within the franchise has waned significantly since the passing of Flip Saunders as Garnett and Glen Taylor s relationship was frequently sour Will the entrance of two new majority owners pave the path for Garnett s return to the Timberwolves in several quota We have a tremendous amount of respect for KG and everything he s accomplished and we would love to get closer to him Lore explained reporters We know the fans want to see that and we want to see that too Added Rodriguez Anything that s crucial to our fan base is going to be significant to us Obviously he means a great deal to our fan base and Marc and I are going to be working on that New ticketing system The Timberwolves and Lynx broadcasted a multi-year agreement with Jump a ticketing company founded by Lore and Rodriguez The group s release described Jump as the only unified fan experience and ticketing platform purpose-built for professional sports teams Fans using the app will be able to purchase and manage tickets And in an gripping new feature Lore disclosed fans in the lower bowl even sitting courtside can put up their tickets for auction if they re leaving a battle early and other fans in the arena can purchase them for a discounted price to move closer to the action As a startup founder it s all about innovation it s about being disruptive and not doing things the conventional way Lore explained We ve got a clean slate here to rethink how things are done not just accept how they re done We have big ideas on how to innovate how to do things in a way that will separate us from others Related Articles Wolves rookie big Joan Beringer hosts block party in Summer League debut Here s what Wolves need to see from Rob Dillingham in Summer League After adjustment-filled rookie year Wolves Rob Dillingham ready for his shot This Summer League Timberwolves will see just how much Terrence Shannon Jr can handle Now an NBA champion Chet Holmgren returns to his roots in St Paul
