Taylor hangs on to approximately 60% of the team at a time when the value of NBA franchises has increased. In October 2023, Forbes valued the Timberwolves and Lynx at $2.5 billion, $1 billion more than he agreed to sell it for to Lore and Rodriguez.

It remains to be seen what legal action might come from the Lore/Rodriguez camp.

Taylor purchased the Wolves in 1994 for $88 million. Lore and Rodriguez still own what Taylor says is 36% of the Timberwolves and Lynx from two previous purchases of stakes in the teams in 2021 and 2023.

Thursday is the culmination of a three-year period in which Lore and Rodriguez were set to take over the two franchises from Taylor after the sides agreed on a sale in 2021 for $1.5 billion.

Lore and Rodriguez had 90 days to complete the final portion of the sale after notifying Taylor of their intent to purchase another 40% ownership stake in late December, as was detailed in their original agreement. But the window closed on that time and no extension was given.

"Under certain circumstances, the buyer could have been entitled to a limited extension. However, those circumstances did not occur," the statement from the Wolves read.

In recent weeks, Lore and Rodriguez were working to secure funding to complete the sale. A deal with the Washington D.C.-based Carlyle Group fell through recently. Lore and Rodriguez did secure an investment from BlueOwl Homecourt, which was formed in 2020 as a partnership with the NBA "to provide institutional capital to the NBA ecosystem" and is used to acquire minority equity stakes from minority shareholders of NBA teams.

The fund has previously invested in the NBA's Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns but usually in smaller percentages. In 2022, HomeCourt acquired a 6% equity stake in the Hawks from nine existing minority shareholders.

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Star Tribune writer Patrick Reusse contributed to this story.

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