Every year, sports fans watch NBA games on television. The journey always leads to the championship game where one team wins and brings back a ring. Given how popular this sport is, it’s worth asking who owns it or what its history is. There are many people that own different aspects of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which means there isn’t just one person that can claim total ownership over it all. For example, teams and organizations come together to form this collective body for league-wide management.
Just like any other sporting organization or franchise – there doesn’t have to be an individual person owning everything for something else to still exist as a whole – this also applies here for the NBA too! What if you wanted more information about specific owners though? Keep reading because I’ll tell you about each owner here! One of my favorite things about being passionate about basketball is hearing from others interested in learning more so they can see why they love the game so much too!
One might think that the National Basketball Association is just another group of people with a game to play, but in reality it’s so much more. The NBA generates an unimaginable amount of money every year – several billion dollars in fact. Surprisingly enough, there isn’t just one single owner running this highly profitable enterprise – there are actually thirty-two teams across America all managed by individual owners!
Who Owns The NBA?
The different organization leaders that make up the National Basketball Association are the owners of the National Basketball Association. Here is a list of them:
- Tony Ressler of the Atlanta Hawks
- H. Irving Grousbeck of the Boston Celtics
- Wycliffe Grousbeck of the Boston Celtics
- Steve Pagliuca of the Boston Celtics
- Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Hornets
- Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago Bulls
- Dan Gilbert, Gary Gilbert, Gordon Gund, and Usher of the Cleveland Cavaliers
- Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks
- Stan Kroenke of the Denver Nuggets
- Tom Gores of the Detroit Pistons
- Joseph Steven Lacob, Howard Peter Guber of the Golden State Warriors
- Tilman Joseph Fertitta of the Houston Rockets
- Herbert Simon of the Indiana Pacers
- Steve Ballmer of the Los Angeles Clippers
- Jeanie Marie Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers
- Robert J. Pera of the Los Angeles Lakers
- Micky Arison of the Miami Heat
- Marc Lasry of the Milwaukee Bucks
- Glen Taylor of the Minnesota Timberwolves
- Gayle Marie LaJaunie Bird Benson of the New Orleans Pelicans
- James Dolan of the New York Knicks
- Clay Bennett of the Oklahoma City Thunder
- Richard DeVos Sr. of the Orlando Magic
- Harris Blitzer of the Philadelphia 76ers
- Robert Sarver of the Phoenix Suns
- Paul Allen of the Portland Trail Blazers
- Vivek Ranadivé of the Sacramento Kings
- Peter Holt of the San Antonio Spurs
- Larry Tanenbaum of the Toronto Raptors
- Gail Miller of the Utah Jazz
- Ted Leonsis of the Washington Wizards
- Joseph Tsai of the Brooklyn Nets
- Joe Lacob of the Golden State Warriors
- Robert Pera of the Memphis Grizzlies
- Tilman Fertitta of the Houston Rockets
How Is The NBA Structured?
Because there isn’t a single owner of the NBA, some people might be puzzled about how it’s set up. The league has one head – the commissioner – who is currently Adam Silver. Silver was chosen by team owners (the Board of Governors) to serve as commissioner until someone else is elected by them. And what happens if they can’t come to a decision? Team owners then vote individually for who will be the commissioner when no agreement could be made. Besides overseeing operations, what power does this position offer the person serving in this capacity?
Well, each team handles their own finances and generates money on their own; however, since all the league’s teams are considered part-owners of the NBA too (not just including those that hold controlling shares), everything goes back into an NBA account where everybody contributes according to set percentages (depending on their share).
There are various ways that a team can make money, though they only have so much leftover before it needs to go back into helping out the other players. Excess funding is often spent on teams who may not be having much luck financially, in order for them to keep playing and competing. If the New York Knicks were keeping their own profits from happening – just think how many people would be affected!
There wouldn’t be enough income coming from those games if some of the teams weren’t able to play because they couldn’t afford it. And no one wants to watch a game when they know one side isn’t even trying! So instead of letting any team fall apart – take away any chance of competition – we share our earnings with those struggling across the NBA. This way, everyone gets what they want: more excellent gameplay without spending too much time worrying about whether or not something will go wrong.
Who Are The NBA Team Owners?
There are many elements needed to make an NBA team successful; it doesn’t rely just on the players themselves. There are lots of aspects behind-the-scenes that go into making a winning team, one being whether or not the owner is attentive and provides adequate funds for practicing. Another might be if there’s an egotistical ownership group involved – where they might undermine coaches because of their inflated sense of self-importance.
1. Tony Ressler
Entrepreneur Steven Ressler has been successful in his business endeavors and as an entrepreneur, owning businesses such as Floor & Décor Outlets of America (FDOA), Insight Global, and many others. His latest accomplishment was securing ownership of the Atlanta Hawks for himself and his company, which granted him the chairperson position in both FDOA and the Hawks organization. Under Mr. Ressler’s leadership, he established partnership with Apollo Global Management (APGM) to create a new firm named Ares Management (ARES).
2. H. Irving Grousbeck
Grousbeck has been an owner of the Boston Celtics for many years, and before that was a businessman who went to Harvard Business School. He studied at Amherst College before moving onto Stanford University where he teaches business courses. In 2022, Grousbeck received his honorary doctorate in humane letters from his alma mater.
3. Wycliffe Grousbeck
Wycliffe Grousbeck is the son of H. Irving Grousbeck. He joined the team ownership in 2002 and quickly changed the group’s name to Banner 17 LLC. The name change signified his goal, which was to bring a title back to Boston – one that hadn’t been seen since 1986. In 2008 he made his wish come true when the Celtics came out on top during game seven against the Lakers with an 85-79 victory for their seventeenth NBA title victory!
4. Steve Pagliuca
Another team owner of the Boston Celtics is Steve Pagliuca. He acts as the chairman of the Boston Celtics on the committee and is a member on several other committees within the National Basketball Association. Pagliuca focuses his attention primarily on improving our team and winning games, but also works as a managing director at Bain Capital when he isn’t with us in professional basketball leagues around America. With his help, this private equity firm has grown over time – it’s now worth $160 billion because of him.
5. Michael Jordan
Jordan, while needing no introduction, deserves some recognition. Previously owning the Charlotte Hornets and still being an owner today, Jordan increased the team’s value exponentially within just five years. He spent $175 million to own a piece of this organization and gained his share at only around five years later when the overall worth skyrocketed up to 1.5 billion dollars.
Jordan came from humble beginnings as an owner before even being drafted onto the NBA court when he was traded from Seattle to Chicago where he became one of their greatest players – winning six championships. Now retired from playing but still running his company, there is little doubt that Michael Jordan will continue his legacy in sports for years to come after retiring as a player.
6. Tom Gores
When Gores first became an owner of the Detroit Pistons in 2011, there were a few other team owners with him. But just four years later, he’d been able to buy out every single one – save for himself and fellow minority owner Tom Wilson -to become sole proprietor of the franchise. This had happened in 2016 when he finally managed to buy out everyone else after founding Platinum Equity (based here in California), which sits at over 8 billion dollars in net worth today.
How Do You Become An NBA Team Owner?
If you dream of one day sitting on the Board of Governors and guiding the sport of basketball down a new path, then what you really need to do is become an NBA team owner. Though it may sound easy enough, there are some steps that will be necessary if you want to make this happen.
1. Find A Purchasable Team
To start, you’ll need to find a team that is up for sale- not all of them are and what makes matters difficult is that successful teams usually want to stay with the owner they have while others want new ownership. You’re most likely going to look at teams who either don’t have an owner yet (and never had one), or those whose ownership has deteriorated.
Other than putting up with subpar management, older owners might be looking to retire and leave all control behind which means if there’s no family member waiting in line to take over then there will eventually come a time when it will become sold off through brokers or auctioned off publicly by MLB. You’ll probably come across candidates who can’t seem to put out a winning season no matter how much money they throw around (considering your inexperience), so why not turn this into an advantage? Reach out aggressively but responsibly and see what kind of conversations end up happening!
2. Demonstrating Your Skills And Plan
Proving oneself to be a worthy candidate for NBA ownership is easier said than done. In order to stand out among potential buyers, it’s important to understand what both sides want and need. This means tailoring your application accordingly – emphasizing the skillset or experience you may have that aligns with those needs. For example, if the team has been struggling due to lackluster attendance, perhaps present plans for ways how you could remedy this issue; opening an elite training center being just one possible solution.
After all, it wouldn’t make sense to buy a franchise without knowing exactly what they needed most! It also helps if you’re already knowledgeable about basketball – any other applicable skillsets/experience go without saying. But even if not – don’t underestimate yourself! Know thyself- and make sure you know what you’re getting into!
3. Capital
To become an NBA team owner, you need a substantial amount of cash. In fact, many teams sell for over $1 billion dollars, so you have to be rich just to get started. That’s why most owners are affluent investors or top-tier businessmen: They have the finances that allow them to take risks and make big investments. Not only do you need enough money for the initial purchase, but it takes about $10 million per year just to meet all of a team’s operational needs, according to Forbes. Owning an NBA franchise is serious business – something most people can’t afford without years and years of preparation ahead of time.
Richest NBA Owners And Their Respective NBA Teams
It is important to remember that some of these people could also be owners for another professional sports team. This article will mainly focus on how these particular people are involved in the NBA.
1. Antony Ressler (Atlanta Hawks)
Antony Ressler had an admirable track record before buying the Atlanta Hawks basketball team. He was an integral part of Apollo Global Management -co-founding it in 1990, after all – and was able to steadily increase his net worth through investing in various businesses; a feat which he has been able to carry over into ownership for both teams. His newest asset, the Atlanta Hawks, has slowly but surely improved over the past few decades and will only continue to do so with one of their most recent trades: acquiring Trae Young from the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic.
2. Steve Pagliuca (Boston Celtics)
Steve Pagliuca is a Managing Partner and Chairman of the Boston Celtics Basketball Committee. His goal for this committee is to improve its basketball operations, which include his work on the NBA Board of Governors and NBA Competition Committee. In addition to working with his various teams at Bain Capital, Mr. Pagliuca has also been involved in several other ventures, including co-founding Moneyball Sports Technologies LLC, an investment management company focused on sports analytics data analysis software applications. This work has earned him quite a bit of fortune over time – around $80 billion so far – and we hope it continues into the future!
3. Joseph Tsai (Brooklyn Nets)
Joseph Tsai may be one of the wealthiest players in the NBA. He’s not only an owner of the Brooklyn Nets, but he is also Vice Chairman and Co-Founder at Alibaba Group – a company which Tsai helped create with Jack Ma. With his knowledge coming from both Yale University – where he received two degrees, and experience at Alibaba Group – it makes sense that Tsai would invest into another leading business opportunity; which happened to be purchasing 49% shares for the Brooklyn Nets in 2018 before completing ownership this year by purchasing 51%. One can see how much potential this team has when looking back at just how many championships they’ve already won.
4. Michael Jordan (Charlotte Hornets)
Michael Jordan is without a doubt one of the best basketball players to ever take the NBA court. His talent on the court made him stand out even more than usual, raising ratings for his games and bringing attention back onto the sport he loved playing most.
His popularity – this thing that set him apart from everyone else, helped make him one of the most well-known people in history. Topping off his title as the greatest athlete ever was when he became a multimillionaire. When it came to business, nobody could beat Jordan – until now; when he had successfully amassed enough wealth for retirement which he can use to do something other than play ball. He was also popular because of how much work ethic he had – on top of being supremely talented at what he does, Michael would always put 100% effort every single time and never settle for less then victory. Finally, this excerpt from The Rise & Fall by John Taylor illustrates just how ambitious MJ really was.
5. Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago Bulls)
Jerry Reinsdorf began his career as an income tax attorney at the IRS, but he quickly learned that this was not what he wanted to do. His true passion came from buying sports teams and letting them sit there waiting for their worth to increase in value over time. He picked up the Bulls in 1985 for just under $10 million, one year after picking up Michael Jordan who led them to six championships. Today, even though it has been 25 years since then – the Chicago Bulls are worth nearly $2 billion dollars; made mostly due to winning those six titles with MJ.
Who owns the NBA? Is it Adam Silver?
If you search Who Owns the NBA on Google, Adam Silver’s name may show up. He is the league’s Commissioner and plays a vital part in governing the operation of it. Silver is the fifth Commissioner for the NBA. His duty is to take care of all administrative things for this league such as negotiations for TV deals or events involving promotion; although he does not own it himself.
What gives him authority over how things are handled are his many responsibilities which include suspending team owners who act inappropriately and making major decisions about every situation concerning this popular sport. One such example would be how he forced Donald Sterling to sell off The Los Angeles Clippers after players accused him of racial discrimination; among other offenses against them during his tenure as owner for that team.
If you want to know who owns the NBA, it is the team owners themselves. When looking at it as a consortium, each individual person has an equal stake in making decisions for the entire league. Every team has its own owner so, technically, every person does have their hands in running it. As such, some of the most recognizable names include Michael Jordan (Charlotte Hornets), Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks), Steve Ballmer (Los Angeles Clippers) and Jeanie Buss (Los Angeles Lakers). Not only do these people take care of what happens with their respective teams but also dictate what happens in terms of management for the NBA itself.
Commissioners impact the game
The work of a Commissioner can never be understated. They’re indispensable to the league; their job is to lead the way in achieving success and turning the organization into an international powerhouse brand. The late David Stern served as commissioner for three decades, during which time he helped propel basketball leagues around the globe before being succeeded by Adam Silver in 2014 – who has also performed admirably so far. Though Commissioners might not hold ownership of an entire league, they’re instrumental in its success; without one, everything would come crashing down.
FAQs About Who Owns The NBA
Who Is The Richest Owner Of The NBA?
The wealthiest NBA team owner is Steven Ballmer, the sole owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. His net worth is $100.0 billion dollars, without a doubt making him the richest NBA team owner in all of the league.
Is The NBA A Private Entity?
Yes, the NBA is an independent and fully self-managed entity. This organization has been an independently managed entity for most of its history working outside of US Basketball Federation territory. It is indeed a private entity just like other sports businesses and sports entertainment.
Conclusion
Who owns the NBA? There is no single person who holds complete ownership over this huge organization. Thirty people own shares of each individual team and have an immense amount of money to spend in order to purchase these teams – because owning a basketball team also means managing it. And for someone who spends so much time on one aspect of their life, there needs to be proper leadership and management. If this doesn’t happen, then even before playing its first game, that newly created franchise will certainly fail.
The NBA belongs entirely to all owners (or shareholders) of the teams currently present within the organization– they’re collectively known as the Board of Governors – who make managerial decisions together at meetings which they hold throughout the year. Owning a part of an NBA team isn’t easy; but with enough money and luck, anyone can do it!
