Rumors

The lawsuit between Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia and two Suns' minority owners is expected to head to a confidential binding mediation, which could lead to Ishbia buying out the minority owners' 13% stake at a price determined by a mediator, according to a new court filing obtained by ESPN. The proposal was filed Monday in Delaware state court, and, if approved by the judge overseeing the case, will ultimately lead to the lawsuit being jointly dismissed.

ESPN

Now, Ishbia is in position to buy them out, which would remove the final two members of the ownership group who were holdovers from the previous Suns regime under Robert Sarver. After buying their shares, Ishbia stands to increase his majority ownership stake to about 96%. A representative for Ishbia declined to comment. A source familiar with the matter said that Ishbia was in extensive conversations with Seldin and Kohlberg about buying out their shares prior to the litigation and that it was always his goal to buy out the limited partners.

ESPN

Front Office Sports: NEW: Years ago, Mark Cuban made the same prize money offer that Mat Ishbia did to lure stars to the NBA's dunk and three-point contests. David Stern had told him it would be "tampering," Cuban tells FOS.

Twitter

Suns owner Mat Ishbia wants more star players participating in All-Star Weekend events when Phoenix hosts the midseason showcase next year. To help, Ishbia has offered to pay a $1 million prize to the winners of the 2027 Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Contest, with another $1 million going to charity in each event. "Lets get the best guys in," Ishbia said Wednesday on the Pat McAfee Show, where he unveiled the idea. "Let's make it awesome."

ESPN

Officials from the NBA league office and players' union told ESPN such a prize would not conform with the existing bonus structure. Ishbia did not consult the league office before making the offer, sources said. But he is motivated to find a way to get more stars into the events.

ESPN

“I saw where another owner came out today and spoke on it, [the Suns’] Mat Ishbia,” Lacob said of Ishbia’s social-media comments lambasting the idea of tanking. “I think you know, it is not in my DNA, nor in this organization’s DNA, to do that. … It’s not a good look. This is sports. We’re supposed to play to win. “And that’s just not a way I would be comfortable, ever, trying to improve our team.”

San Francisco Standard

Mat Ishbia: This is ridiculous! Tanking is losing behavior done by losers. Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with. Embarrassing for the league and for the organizations. And the talk about this as a “strategy” is ridiculous. If you are a bad team, you get a good pick. That makes sense. But purposely shutting down players and purposely losing games is a disgrace and impacts the integrity of whole league. This is much worse than any prop bet scandal. This is throwing games strategically. Horrible for fans that pay to watch and cheer on their team. And horrible for all the real teams that are competing for playoff spots. Awful behavior that Adam Silver and the NBA will need to stop with massive changes, and I have complete confidence that with his leadership, he will fix it. Those of us in a position of influence need to speak out… the only “strategy” is doing right by fans, players, and the NBA community.

x.com

Mat Ishbia: Had so much fun at NBA All-Star Weekend! Was great to get back on the court and compete with some amazing people in the Celebrity Game, and was awesome to watch Devin Booker lead his team to a win yesterday. Look forward to welcoming hundreds of thousands of fans to the city of Phoenix and the Mortgage Matchup Center next year for the 2027 NBA All-Star Weekend!

x.com

With this sort of basketball approach, and a business playbook that included Suns games for free on local television, a $2 menu at games and new luxury options inside the arena for the first-class crowd, this was all part of a broader plan to win back the many disheartened fans whose loyalty faded in recent years. “We wrote it down on paper: What’s the Suns’ DNA?” Bartelstein said. “What is it gonna be defined by? … Before you get to all (of the moves), let’s figure out what we want to stand for? And me, BG, and Mat said here’s the list of what we’re gonna be. The hardest-playing team. We’re going to (embrace players who) sign autographs for our fans, and stuff like that. Everyone’s up on the bench. A little bit more collegiate really, like college style. We think when everyone’s zigging, we kind of zag.”

New York Times

When Ishbia decided to promote Gregory to the GM role, putting an NBA neophyte in the position that had been held by former player (and three-time champion) James Jones since 2018 (including the Suns’ 2021 Finals run), his longtime friend and former coach gave a blunt assessment of how he thought the unconventional move would be received. “He was like, ‘You’re gonna get blasted for this,’” said Ishbia, who is based in Detroit and attends approximately half of the Suns’ games. “And I said, ‘F— it. We’re gonna do what the right thing is.’ I got blasted when I did everything everyone wanted me to do. Give them the money, make all these big splashy trades, do all these nice things — and I got blasted for that. So if I’m gonna get blasted, I’m going to get blasted with what I believe. And what I believe is that you are the best guy for this job.”

New York Times

So when Gregory expressed concern about how the hiring might land, Ishbia didn’t budge. “Brian Gregory, you’re the right GM for my (team),” Ishbia said he told him. “You’re the guy I want. …I don’t care what everyone else says, because they’re not gonna be in those meetings when we’re debating on a trade or fighting over a draft pick, or deciding what kind of a guy we want where we cut or sign someone.”

New York Times

Added Ishbia: “Jordan Ott’s the worker. He comes in early, stays late, watches more film (than others), spends time with the guys. It’s not dissimilar to what Tom Izzo used to do. I don’t know if it’s gonna win a championship. I don’t know if it’s gonna be as successful as it has been (early this season), but you know what I do know? I feel really good about how we’re doing things – and the way we’re doing them.” Ott, who raves about the prospect of having an owner and a general manager who truly know the game, has license to push his players in the kind of way that isn’t the NBA norm. There is, they all agree, a college feel to the shared strategy.

New York Times

“I think the importance of doing it together is real,” he said. “We want a group that wants to go out and compete at an extremely high level, but do it together. And we trust that the group, when they feel that we’re all together, that we can do it better than any individual can. “The skill of playing hard is extremely valuable in today’s game, and it’s stressed here by our group on both ends. Having each other’s back is something that’s talked about here more than probably some other places that I’ve been around. I think you just lose (that energy) over time in professional basketball, to a certain extent. When you get the right guys, and you already want to do that, and it’s emphasized, I think you can take it to a level that not every place is stressing in quite the same way.”

New York Times

Yet as he finished his burger and fries inside the hotel — after watching the team’s shootaround that morning and attending the game against his hometown Detroit Pistons that night — the topic of regret was finally raised. If he could do it all over again, what might he change? “I would have paused and said, ‘Let’s define this first,’” Mat Ishbia admits. “You could blame me for not defining and setting the culture up front, because at the end of the day, that’s the leader’s responsibility. And I’m the owner. I’m the leader. It’s my job…So what would I have done differently? I would have said, ‘Let’s do this the right way.’ But I got excited. I bought a team.”

New York Times