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On the heels of the Phoenix Suns’ sale to Mat Ishbia for $4 billion, Milwaukee Bucks governor Marc Lasry might be looking to cash out.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported Monday that Lasry may be “open” to selling his stake in the franchise.
Lasry and Wes Edens bought the Bucks from Herb Kohl in 2014 for $550 million.
The value of the team has skyrocketed since then due to a number of factors.
The NBA is seeing record revenues, which is the rising tide lifting all boats. With the money that’s coming into the league, the 30 individual franchises are more coveted than ever.
The Bucks, meanwhile, have seen their on-court fortunes improve during Lasry and Edens’ ownership tenure. Milwaukee won its second NBA title in 2020-21, and it has a generational talent in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s under contract for at least two more seasons.
Lasry and Edens were also instrumental in the construction of Fiserv Forum, which was opened in 2018. The Bucks’ long-term status in Milwaukee was thrown into doubt before the venue was approved. Once that happened in 2016, a new 30-year lease followed.
That has all benefited the team’s bottom line.
Forbes‘ Mike Ozanian valued the Bucks at $2.3 billion in October, the 15th-highest valuation in the NBA. The real-world price tag on the organization might be higher, though, considering the Phoenix Suns were valued at $2.7 billion and sold for far more than that.
There’s no question Lasry could walk away and collect a handsome profit in the process.
Were that to happen, NBA fans may not have seen the last of the 63-year-old. Stein speculated Lasry could look to return to the ownership ranks elsewhere once his departure from Milwaukee was finalized.
