LAS VEGAS – Alex Rodriguez stood near his courtside seat, ignored by some fans, who were taking quick photos of him as he walked.
Instead he was lovingly watching the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rodriguez – who is currently part of the Timberwolves ownership group, plans to take control of Glenn Taylor and become the primary owner himself and business partner Mark Lore next year – said Wednesday he is looking forward to a change from baseball to basketball. Happy players to officers. He mentioned that he was still learning.
“I mean, I’ve come to this from a different perspective, I’ve been in baseball for almost a quarter of a century, and it’s interesting to experience Major League Baseball now, to broadcast and to be here as an owner now,” Rodriguez said before watching Minnesota. Summer League game against Milwaukee in Las Vegas. In an interview with the press. “It was great. The NBA has welcomed me openly.”
And the wolves have not sat quietly since Rodriguez and Lor began their mastery process.
This is the biggest thing in the off-season Minnesota league, with first executive Tim Conley being taken away from the Denver Nuggets to accept the presidency of the Timberwolves. Then came business, buying Rudy Gobert from Utah for a number of players and a draft pick, which probably created a NBA lead, while Gobert played with Carl-Anthony Towns.
“It’s all for the Minnesota fans. I think they deserve the title,” Rodriguez said. “They deserve it, they deserve it. And I think we’ve seen it. There’s something. There’s a lot of curiosity. And I think when you can guess, it’s good for the city’s energy. “
Taylor agreed to sell Timberwall Lore and Rodriguez for 1.5 billion last year. Lore became Walmart’s head of e-commerce in 2016, when the retailer bought the Jet.com startup to run its online business.
Rodriguez has scored 696 home runs in 22 major league seasons, including the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. 2016 was his last season on the field, the end of a career tarnished by the use of performance-enhancing drugs, he later admitted. He has invested in a number of businesses outside of basketball, has worked as a trustee at the University of Miami – his name is on baseball stadiums, although he has never played for the Hurricanes – and is now learning a new sport.
But he speaks like an already experienced pro, what Wolf Guard D’Angelo Russell can do in a pick-and-roll situation, how he feels – a defensive player three times a year. – Gobert is aggressively underestimated. And that’s why it was important to extend coach Chris Finch’s contract last spring.
He’s busy, and that’s what he wants.
“Own team 365, 24/7,” Rodriguez said, “I know.” [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver and his team were great, but they are better than what they project. Their senior management team, by the way, they are truly incredible. They add tons of value. And I think they’re good at welcoming people, so you’re a player, you’re the media, you’re the boss, you’re an executive, and they know how to do it better than anyone. “