Arbitrators rule in favor of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez over Glen Taylor as next majority owners of Timberwolves

[firedavidkahn]

To give an example to non wolves fans how awful Taylor is... He has refused to retire Garnett's jersey.

Kevin Garnett!

One of the most loyal players in NBA history. Taylor managed to piss him off so much that his freaking jersey still isn't retired.

It's mind boggling how petty Taylor is. Now that Lore and AROD call the shots I would expect that to happen soon.

Ummm .. Taylor has asked Garnett many times, and KG refuses to attend a ceremony until Taylor is gone.

Taylor decided not to have a ceremony honoring Garnett without him being there, and fans can appreciate KG in attendance. If KG had changed his mind at any point, I’m sure Taylor would have had the ceremony - he just stopped asking after a while.

I love KG, and he has every right to do this, but he’s the one being petty, and the reason his Jersey hasn’t been officially retired.

Glen Taylor is gone. He can't hurt you anymore. This is a time to heal. You don't have to defend his nonsense anymore.

[shrink]

To give an example to non wolves fans how awful Taylor is... He has refused to retire Garnett's jersey.

Kevin Garnett!

One of the most loyal players in NBA history. Taylor managed to piss him off so much that his freaking jersey still isn't retired.

It's mind boggling how petty Taylor is. Now that Lore and AROD call the shots I would expect that to happen soon.

Ummm .. Taylor has asked Garnett many times, and KG refuses to attend a ceremony until Taylor is gone.

Taylor decided not to have a ceremony honoring Garnett without him being there, and fans can appreciate KG in attendance. If KG had changed his mind at any point, I’m sure Taylor would have had the ceremony - he just stopped asking after a while.

I love KG, and he has every right to do this, but he’s the one being petty, and the reason his Jersey hasn’t been officially retired.

Glen Taylor is gone. He can't hurt you anymore. This is a time to heal. You don't have to defend his nonsense anymore.

And maybe time for you to post honestly, and not blame everything on Taylor?

If you are mad as a fan that KG hasn’t had his jersey retired in Minnesota, that has been Garnett’s choice, not Taylor’s.

[ConSarnit]

I posted this in the Unpopular Opinion thread

I’m not making friends over on the MIN board with my opinion that Glen Taylor would be a better owner going forward than ARod.

1. Taylor won’t move the team.
2. Taylor is willing to pay when the team is a winner.
3. Taylor doesn’t interfere with basketball decisions.

The last trait magnified his problem of choosing bad GMs, but he took himself out of the process of GM selection now, so now he’s basically a MIN-loyal ATM.

Ah yes, Glen “hands off” Taylor. How do you reconcile that with the fact that he personally met with Wiggins before giving him that $150m contract on the promise the Wiggins “try hard”. Or that Taylor took personal responsibility for the Joe Smith fiasco? Yes, Taylor has a history of hiring incompetent management. He’s also personally admitted to being involved in probably the 2 worst contract decisions in Wolves history. That doesn’t sound very hands off.

Also, Taylor’s “willing to to pay” reputation is not backed up by any significant evidence. The Wolves rank 20th leaguewide in total tax paid since its inception. He’s not exactly Joe Lacob. The Wolves are due a large tax bill this season which is coincidentally the year the team transfers ownership. Taylor has not shown a willingness to pay any more so than the average NBA owner.

[shrink]

I posted this in the Unpopular Opinion thread

I’m not making friends over on the MIN board with my opinion that Glen Taylor would be a better owner going forward than ARod.

1. Taylor won’t move the team.
2. Taylor is willing to pay when the team is a winner.
3. Taylor doesn’t interfere with basketball decisions.

The last trait magnified his problem of choosing bad GMs, but he took himself out of the process of GM selection now, so now he’s basically a MIN-loyal ATM.

Ah yes, Glen “hands off” Taylor. How do you reconcile that with the fact that he personally met with Wiggins before giving him that $150m contract on the promise the Wiggins “try hard”. Or that Taylor took personal responsibility for the Joe Smith fiasco? Yes, Taylor has a history of hiring incompetent management. He’s also personally admitted to being involved in probably the 2 worst contract decisions in Wolves history. That doesn’t sound very hands off.

Also, Taylor’s “willing to to pay” reputation is not backed up by any significant evidence. The Wolves rank 20th leaguewide in total tax paid since its inception. He’s not exactly Joe Lacob. The Wolves are due a large tax bill this season which is coincidentally the year the team transfers ownership. Taylor has not shown a willingness to pay any more so than the average NBA owner.

Well, I would say that Wiggins and Joe Smith were a decade or more ago, and in neither case was he overriding his GM. The only other interference I can think of in his entire tenure was to tell Connelly to sign Naz Reid, which no Wolves fan is complaining about now. In fact, he has been so hands off that he agreed to all the Connelly trades and extensions, even when he publicly didn’t like the Gobert one. And that meant spending nearly $100 mil in lux taxes this year, which makes it pretty hard to call him cheap, especially in that market.

Taylor’s biggest problem has always been hiring the wrong people, and then giving them too long a leash before removing them. He doesn’t even do that any more - he saw he was the problem, and uses consulting firms now to hire GMs. I would also point out that, like many owners, Taylor was willing to pay the lux when his team was a winner, which hasn’t been very often (his fault for his GM hires). When they have though (and even sometimes when they were mediocre), he has been quick to go into the lux.

The three things I listed are baseline what I want out of an owner. If you look around the NBA, many owners don’t do all three. Beal and LaVine are in PHX and SAC because the owners wanted them. NOP and CHA owners have never paid the luxury tax, and CHI and DEN owners have hamstrung their teams by being cheap. And Minnesota owners have nearly lost two franchises to other cities (Wolves, Twins), and did lose two others (Lakers, Northstars). If an owner doesn’t do all three, the franchise suffers.

[Shaka_Zulu]

To give an example to non wolves fans how awful Taylor is... He has refused to retire Garnett's jersey.

Kevin Garnett!

One of the most loyal players in NBA history. Taylor managed to piss him off so much that his freaking jersey still isn't retired.

It's mind boggling how petty Taylor is. Now that Lore and AROD call the shots I would expect that to happen soon.

Ummm .. Taylor has asked Garnett many times, and KG refuses to attend a ceremony until Taylor is gone.

Taylor decided not to have a ceremony honoring Garnett without him being there, and fans can appreciate KG in attendance. If KG had changed his mind at any point, I’m sure Taylor would have had the ceremony - he just stopped asking after a while.

I love KG, and he has every right to do this, but he’s the one being petty, and the reason his Jersey hasn’t been officially retired.

Glen Taylor is gone. He can't hurt you anymore. This is a time to heal. You don't have to defend his nonsense anymore.

I fully blame Glen Taylor for how ugly an nonexistent KG, biggiest legend in frsnchise history, relationship with he organisation has become. That KG felt backstabbed and lied to after Flip Saunders passing and possible takeover bid etc.


But the reason the Jersey isn't in the rafters isn't because of Taylor deciding it be so like your first sentenced said. It's because KG can't stand Taylor. He chose to not have it in rafters aslong as Taylor is there. Is very well known fact.

[shrink]

I fully blame Glen Taylor for how ugly a nonexistent KG, biggest legend in franchise history, relationship with he organization has become. That KG felt backstabbed and lied to after Flip Saunders passing and possible takeover bid etc.

But the reason the Jersey isn't in the rafters isn't because of Taylor deciding it so like your first sentenced said. It's because KG can't stand Taylor. He chose to not have it in rafters aslong as Taylor is there. Is very well known fact.

I think there is a lot of blame to go around to both sides here. I’ll tell the story for those that may not have heard it. Before we start, I love KG - he is probably my favorite NBA player of all time. So when you hear me say any negative instances about him, realize these are instances, but don’t do enough to even take him down to #2 to me.

As you recall, Garnett was incredibly loyal to Minnesota, and wanted to get them a championship to repay McHale for taking a chance on him at #5 back when players needed to go to college. And to their credit, the team tried, with Cassell and Sprewell, and when they had exhausted their trade resources and were loaded with bad longterm free agent contracts, they even took a Hail Mary on Ricky Davis and Marc Blount, which of course failed as well. MIN didn’t have the assets to build a contender around KG, so it was good for him, and the organization for a trade. Garnett took that as an insult, rejected initial trade offers, and Flip finally convinced him that a move to BOS would be best for everyone. But Taylor took a final shot at the intrangent Garnett as he walked out the door, saying that it was good for everyone because KG’s attitude kept him from playing 100% on the court. You couldn’t have created a more hurtful statement to KG, and I never thought he’s come back.

But at the end of his career, KG relented, and returned to play and mentor a young Karl-Anthony Towns. Again, Flip mended fences between KG and Taylor, and talked about Garnett having a role in the franchise’s future after he retired. The problem was that Garnett believed this meant ownership stake (we don’t know what was discussed), but the biggest problem was that he thought he should be able to buy his percent of the Wolves based on their value when he was first in the organization, since he put it on the map. This may be true, but the value of all NBA franchises were balooning. Garnett isn’t the brightest business bulb (and has lost a lot of his NBA earnings because of it), and he believes that Taylor didn’t live up to his agreement, and calls him a snake. And with Flip’s passing, there is no middleman who loves both guys.

In my mind, both sides deserve a lot of blame here, and the Wolves fans suffer for it. I agree, Garnett’s jersey should be hanging in the rafters, and if there is one bright spot we can all agree with, the sale of the franchise should make that happy day happen.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Ummm .. Taylor has asked Garnett many times, and KG refuses to attend a ceremony until Taylor is gone.

Taylor decided not to have a ceremony honoring Garnett without him being there, and fans can appreciate KG in attendance. If KG had changed his mind at any point, I’m sure Taylor would have had the ceremony - he just stopped asking after a while.

I love KG, and he has every right to do this, but he’s the one being petty, and the reason his Jersey hasn’t been officially retired.

Glen Taylor is gone. He can't hurt you anymore. This is a time to heal. You don't have to defend his nonsense anymore.

And maybe time for you to post honestly, and not blame everything on Taylor?

If you are mad as a fan that KG hasn’t had his jersey retired in Minnesota, that has been Garnett’s choice, not Taylor’s.

Sure. Not everything is Taylor's fault. And Garnett doesn't seem like the easiest to work with...

Personally, I think the worst part about the Taylor/Garnett stuff is Taylor ripping Garnett after he was already in Boston for "TANKING" the end of the 2007 season once the team was out of the playoffs. OK.

BUT... this was one year removed from one of the most obvious tanking games in NBA history... which Taylor conveniently ignored.

The Wolves wanted to move up one place in the draft. So, they tried to tank game #82. Nothing new, right? Consider...

- Mark Madsen had made 1 three pointer in his entire career.
- Madsen avg. 10 mpg that season. He'd never played 12 minutes straight in any game in his career.
- Up 6 going into the 4th quarter... Madsen was put in the game and he played all 12 minutes with other bench guys.
- Madsen had not taken 5+ shots in any game that season. He took 5 shots in that quarter... including 2 three pointers. It wasn't enough to lose.
- So... the game went to OT. No problem. Madsen played all 5 minutes and missed 2 more three pointers. It STILL wasn't enough.
- The game goes to 2nd OT... and now the scene is set... Madsen plays 5 more minutes... and takes FIVE more three pointers.
- Madsen played the final 25+ mpg of that game without a rest... shot 1 - 15 fg (career high)... including 0 - 7 (career high) on three pointers.

Finally, the tank works!

The Wolves moved up one spot in the draft! YEAH! So what do they do?

Taylor jumps back to the draft spot they had but Taylor pocketing the cash that made the trade work.

___________

And THAT's the guy who ripped the franchise's only HOFer for "tanking" in the same season Garnett won an NBA championship as the missing piece and leader.

That's the Glen Taylor legacy.

[Optimus_Steel]

GLEN TAYLOR IS FINALLY GONE
I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE THE DAY

As a Suns fan, I say this: Be careful what you wish for as a new owner doesn't always turn out exactly as you hope them to be.

As a fan of the NBA in general, I truly hope Lore and Rodriguez don't go down a sharp cost cutting road and gut a franchise that's finally in a solid place after a truly long period of mediocrity.

They probably borrowed a ton of money to make this work so yea they are probably cutting costs.

[Effigy]

They about to trade Ant Edwards to the Knicks.

Luka in LA and Ant in NY. Everyone is happy.

They already did their rip off trade to help the Knicks

[Effigy]

Kevin Love DID get the max. But at the time, the CBA only allowed one, 5-year max, and Taylor-hired David Kahn wanted to save the five year max for Ricky Rubio. Kahn offered Love the max for four years, but Love was offended and asked for the max for a three year max, with the last season a player option. [And as an aside, Taylor was president of the Board of Governors at the time, and pushed group a later amendment to get rid of the “only one five year max” rule in the next CBA.]

And of course, Taylor lets his basketball people make basketball decisions. He didn’t tell Kahn “be cheap with Kevin Love.”


Finally, it’s also telling that people are looking for hand-waving evidence of cheapness from ten years ago, when Taylor said yes to every trade an extension to accrue a tax bill of nearly $100 million right now. Seems pretty desperate.

Did they ever end up giving Ricky the max though? I remember them telling Kevin Love that, but they never actually did it. It's like if you ask your boss for a raise and he says he can't give it to you he can only give it to your co worker, but never gives it to him either. Maybe it's not technically being 'cheap' but it's awfully convenient how he wound up not having to give out a max contract.

[shrink]

Kevin Love DID get the max. But at the time, the CBA only allowed one, 5-year max, and Taylor-hired David Kahn wanted to save the five year max for Ricky Rubio. Kahn offered Love the max for four years, but Love was offended and asked for the max for a three year max, with the last season a player option. [And as an aside, Taylor was president of the Board of Governors at the time, and pushed group a later amendment to get rid of the “only one five year max” rule in the next CBA.]

And of course, Taylor lets his basketball people make basketball decisions. He didn’t tell Kahn “be cheap with Kevin Love.”


Finally, it’s also telling that people are looking for hand-waving evidence of cheapness from ten years ago, when Taylor said yes to every trade an extension to accrue a tax bill of nearly $100 million right now. Seems pretty desperate.

Did they ever end up giving Ricky the max though? I remember them telling Kevin Love that, but they never actually did it. It's like if you ask your boss for a raise and he says he can't give it to you he can only give it to your co worker, but never gives it to him either. Maybe it's not technically being 'cheap' but it's awfully convenient how he wound up not having to give out a max contract.

Rubio got hurt November in his fourth year, and only played 22 games that season. No team was offering him the max after that.

But yeah, if you prefer your conspiracy theories, Taylor probably injured his beloved Rubio mid game to save money.

[Effigy]

Kevin Love DID get the max. But at the time, the CBA only allowed one, 5-year max, and Taylor-hired David Kahn wanted to save the five year max for Ricky Rubio. Kahn offered Love the max for four years, but Love was offended and asked for the max for a three year max, with the last season a player option. [And as an aside, Taylor was president of the Board of Governors at the time, and pushed group a later amendment to get rid of the “only one five year max” rule in the next CBA.]

And of course, Taylor lets his basketball people make basketball decisions. He didn’t tell Kahn “be cheap with Kevin Love.”


Finally, it’s also telling that people are looking for hand-waving evidence of cheapness from ten years ago, when Taylor said yes to every trade an extension to accrue a tax bill of nearly $100 million right now. Seems pretty desperate.

Did they ever end up giving Ricky the max though? I remember them telling Kevin Love that, but they never actually did it. It's like if you ask your boss for a raise and he says he can't give it to you he can only give it to your co worker, but never gives it to him either. Maybe it's not technically being 'cheap' but it's awfully convenient how he wound up not having to give out a max contract.

Rubio got hurt November in his fourth year, and only played 22 games that season. No team was offering him the max after that.

But yeah, if you prefer your conspiracy theories, Taylor probably injured his beloved Rubio mid game to save money.

Was the injury retroactive by any chance, lol? Because in his first 3 seasons he averaged 10 points and 8 assists per game, so not exactly someone you'd be throwing the max at, with or without an injury. It's not a conspiracy theory, I'm just pointing out that he told Love he couldn't have the max because he was saving it for another player who at that point had done nothing to show he was going to earn it, and then never gave it to either of them. But whatever, our teams are all just farm teams for the Lakers anyway, lol.

[Homer38]

Kevin Garnett Could Join Wolves' Front Office When Lore-Rodriguez Assume Control

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/279406/Kevin-Garnett-Could-Join-Wolves-Front-Office-When-Lore-Rodriguez-Assume-Control

[firedavidkahn]

Turd Taylor™ is finally gone!!!!!!

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[Sealab2024]

Turd Taylor™ is finally gone!!!!!!

Read on Twitter

Now ends the long winter of our discontent. Of course it's Minnesota so there's almost no chance this doesn't lead to a completely different kind of disaster.

[firedavidkahn]

Turd Taylor™ is finally gone!!!!!!

Read on Twitter

Now ends the long winter of our discontent. Of course it's Minnesota so there's almost no chance this doesn't lead to a completely different kind of disaster.

I'm half expecting it. Minnesota sports always end up in disaster and I'm not oblivious that Lore and Arod will somehow mess not things up. But at least there's a (small) chance they wont. We've suffered for 30+ years. For the first time in DECADES there is the tiniest sliver of hope.

[bisme37]

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[Shaka_Zulu]

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https://youtu.be/lRd13-JxBkQ?si=plOcWmRI3D7lUWvy

[SkyBill40]

Unanimous vote, too. Interesting. Wonder when the Wolves fire sale begins?