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Marc Lasry: “I think COVID, what it did was, it could either split apart a team or it brings everybody together. Bud did a great job of keeping everybody together. We talked about it. Look, ‘We need to do this. We’re going to try to do team dinners, we’re going to try to do all these different things so the team could feel we’re all in this together.’ I think that ended up working well. I think Bud did a great job, but I also think the players understood what it meant and the players bought into it.“
The bidding for NBA Europe franchises ended on Tuesday, with sources saying a few of the various offers are from current EuroLeague teams, former Bucks owner Marc Lasry and existing soccer clubs hoping to launch first-time basketball franchises. Those sources indicated many of the undisclosed bids exceeded the NBA’s preferred range of $500M to $1B and that ownership groups from Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Istanbul, London, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris and Rome all are in the running.
It is unknown which of those markets Lasry -- who sold the Bucks in 2023 -- is pursuing. But he was born in Marrakesh, Morocco, moved to the U.S. at the age of 7 and, according to sources, is likely not the only former NBA owner to bid for a franchise. Lasry was unavailable for comment.
Other notable people involved in groups include Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, who announced his bid officially on Monday, and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry. NBA superstar and part-time Las Vegas resident Shaquille O’Neal is also interested in being part of an ownership group, according to his Las Vegas-based business manager Perry Rogers. Rogers said they’ve had conversations with various ownership groups.
The stage has expanded to the NBA. Korean college basketball is receiving global attention. The Asian University Basketball League (AUBL) announced on the 10th that it has completed a Series A funding round with participation from global investors. AUBL views South Korea as one of its core strategic markets and plans to actively promote league operations and community expansion. AUBL is a pan-Asian university sports league launched with the goal of strengthening competitiveness and globalizing Asian college basketball. The 2026 season will be a pivotal year for league expansion, with the opening match and first home-and-away games scheduled to be held in South Korea. This investment round was led by Blue Pool Capital, the family office of Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba and owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. Other investors included Avenue Capital Group, led by Marc Lasry, former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks; Bolt Ventures, co-owned by David Blitzer, co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers; Nan Fung Group, a Hong Kong conglomerate; HSG (formerly Sequoia China), a venture capital firm; and Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball legend.
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Wes Edens and Jimmy Haslam told ESPN this setup has worked well since Haslam purchased a 25% stake in the team from Marc Lasry in 2023. "The Jimmy partnership is unbelievably good," Edens said. "And that's really, really important because ... the likelihood is, just given the season we just had, the things we've got in front of us, we've got to make some hard decisions, and it'd be great to make hard decisions with somebody who you really like and trust." As Edens' term as controlling owner wanes, however, there are strong indications that Haslam's power within the organization is growing.
The Connecticut Sun ownership intends to present multiple options to the WNBA as it looks to salvage what would have been a record-breaking $325 million franchise sale, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. The Mohegan tribe, which has owned the franchise since buying and relocating the Orlando Miracle in 2003, is seeking clarity on the league's desired path forward for the organization, sources said, after an agreement to sell the team to a group led by former Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca was met with resistance from the league office. After news broke of the deal's existence -- and Pagliuca's eventual plan to relocate the franchise to Boston -- a league statement emphasized that "relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams," and that cities that have already gone through the expansion process have priority over Boston, which did not submit an expansion bid in any of the three recent expansion rounds over the past three years. Among the Mohegan tribe's likely proposals to the league, according to sources: • A full franchise sale to Pagliuca's group. • A sale to a group headlined by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, who would move the team to Hartford, Connecticut. • Selling a minority stake in the organization. • Allowing the league to purchase the franchise for $325 million and relocate it from the WNBA's smallest market.
A source close to the ownership group says the tribe is frustrated and feels the league is presenting a one-path option: relocation of the team to a market of its choosing at a value of its choosing. The league, in recent weeks, offered to purchase the Sun for $250 million and not charge the buyer an additional relocation fee -- which would allow the league to facilitate a sale to one of its preferred expansion cities, according to sources. That offer was presented before Pagliuca's bid of $325 million was reported on Aug. 2, sources said.
The tribe had informed the league that it had reached a deal with Pagliuca to buy the team and presented a general executive summary with the terms of the agreement on July 2, sources said. The ownership group did not present a signed term sheet at that time, according to sources, per guidance from its investment firm, Allen & Co. While that deal did not specifically mention Boston, Pagliuca's intention would be to move the team there, pending WNBA board of governors approval, as early as the 2027 season, according to sources. Pagliuca has also committed to building a $100 million practice facility.
In addition to Harris, Austin’s proposal was supported by NBA superstar Kevin Durant (who starred one year at the University of Texas), former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry and PEAK6 founder Jenny Just. All big names, but none with active control of an NBA team.
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Marc Lasry: “I think valuations will go up. I don’t think you’re going to have the growth that I had where you could pay a dollar and you got paid $8 ten years later. When I was looking at selling, I thought values would keep going up about ten, fifteen percent a year. And I think that’s what’s going to continue happening… It’s not just going to stop. It can level off, it can go up 5%, it may go up 10%. I don’t think it’ll be going up 20% or 30%.”
Front Office Sports: How are you feeling about that decision and how hard was it to walk away? Marc Lasry: Well, I think it was hard. I don't think it's ever easy. Life's long dreams are either to play in the NBA or which that wasn't going to happen. So then it’s to be able to own a team. I think that was a phenomenal accomplishment. I loved it. I had a great time. I think in what I decided to sell, I thought it was probably the right time. I could have waited an extra year. I could have done it a year earlier. I think for me, I wanted to focus on a few other things and I thought it made sense.
Marc Lasry: When I was looking at selling, I thought values would keep going up about 10, 15% a year. And I think that's actually what's going to continue happening. That's not a big chop. Where you get a little bit more is when it's a control piece, right? Where people want to control. I think you'll see that continuing to go up. It's hard. Like it's not that it's just going to stop. It can level off. It can go up 5%. May go up 10. I don't think it'll be going up 20 or 30%.
Former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry believes NBA franchise valuations will continue to go up, but not at the explosive rate recently witnessed. Lasry, who alongside Wes Edens bought a total 50% stake in the Bucks at a $550 million valuation in 2014, sold his 25% stake in 2023 at a $3.5 billion valuation. That means the Bucks’ value increased by more than 218% over the course of their ownership.