As the Minnesota Lynx were preparing for the 2021 WNBA Draft last week, a pair of individuals soon to be heavily invested in the organization swung by to meet with people throughout the Timberwolves and Lynx organization. Former MLB MVP Alex Rodriguez and billionaire businessman Marc Lore arrived in Minnesota to meet with Glen Taylor and others in the organization as they continue to progress toward finalizing a deal to take over both teams.
Along the way, Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve and her staff sat down with the two businessmen to familiarize them a bit with the WNBA powerhouse. “We were in the draft room on Monday when they came through, and we invited them in there for a chance to meet our group,” Reeve said. “We had some fun for a little over a half-hour just kind of talking about what we were doing and a little bit about the Lynx. We just exchanged some ideas.”
The topic of conversation included women in both sports and the business world, Lore’s interest in entrepreneurship, and Rodriguez’s interest in the selection process of players, among other things.
“We talked about Marc’s entrepreneurship and the ways he elevates women, we talked about some of the challenges for women in entrepreneurship, and he shared those things,” Reeve said. “What we learned was there are common themes in the ways in which women are marginalized, whether it’s in sports or in business, so that was a really cool connection.
“We talked to Alex about [the] selection of players and shared with them what our processes were. He talked a little bit about Major League Baseball players and some of the challenges, which were very similar. [We talked about] the importance of selecting really good people. … He really had an understanding of what we were going through and the importance of what we were doing.”
By the end of that half-hour meeting, Reeve said the prospective new owners left with a better understanding of who the Lynx are and what the organization stands for. If they weren’t familiar with the Lynx before that meeting, Reeve felt they certainly were when they walked out.
“We did a little bit of educating on the Lynx,” Reeve said. “I can’t tell you that they knew a lot about it, but I could tell you when they walked out of there, they knew a hell of a lot more. I think they were impressed.”
Earlier this month, Rodriguez and Lore signed a letter of intent to enter exclusive negotiating conversations with Taylor to take over in Minnesota, resulting in new ownership of the organization for the first time in nearly 30 years. According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, the team of Rodriguez and Lore would join Taylor’s ownership group as limited partners for two and a half years before Taylor would step aside and let the new owners run things themselves.
The Timberwolves and Lynx have been tied together as one organization ever since the Lynx’s inception in 1999 when the Wolves were already 10 years into existence. That means Rodriguez and Lore will be invested in the Lynx as much as they would be in the Wolves.
Ever since Reeve arrived in Minnesota in 2010, she has had a close relationship with Taylor. She often credits the owner for his leadership, commitment, and support to help turn the WNBA team into one of the more successful franchises in the history of the league. Now that Taylor is looking to sell his share in the organization, Reeve said she is happy for him and knows this has been something in the works for a while now.
“I’m really happy for Glen. Glen is kind enough to share updates periodically over the last however many months it’s been,” Reeve said. “At times, he’s talked about the different prospective owners and what he thinks about them. I know it was important to Glen to be able to do this and for him to be able to have partners now in this ownership to allow him to be able to be part of it and mentor. Glen has a real passion for mentoring. I’ve had a chance to experience that, and I think he’s tickled to have Marc and Alex as partners.”
For Reeve and the rest of the Lynx staff, having a positive relationship and an open line of communication to the organization’s ownership group has been one of the keys to the team’s continued success. Last week, that process began to take place with Rodriguez and Lore as all parties start to build that relationship moving forward.
