Alright so last Thursday I was scrolling through Twitter and saw someone mention NBA team values skyrocketing. Got me wondering – who actually owns these teams? And how much cash they really got? Figured I’d dig in.
The Starting Point Was Just Simple Curiosity
First thing I did? Just googled “richest NBA owners 2024”. Big surprise – bunch of Forbes links popped up. Of course. But you know how Forbes does those lists? Sometimes the numbers feel kinda… slippery. Needed more.
Pulled up Wikipedia team pages one by one. Like, clicked on “Los Angeles Clippers owners” – boom, Steve Ballmer info pops up. Did that for maybe… five teams? Then my browser had like 20 tabs open. Got messy real quick.
Hitting Brick Walls (& Weird Detours)
Some owners? Ghosts. Cleveland Cavs? Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans stuff and his stroke recovery kept popping up instead of clear current net worth. Spent like 45 minutes going down that rabbit hole about his medical stuff before slapping myself. Off track!
Another headache? Ownership groups. Knicks and MSG ain’t just James Dolan’s piggy bank – it’s this whole giant corporation thing tied to his daddy’s cable fortune. Couldn’t easily slap one number on that. Damn thing was buried in SEC filings somewhere. Skipped trying to read those legal docs… my eyes started glazing over.
Turned out one owner made his real billions from… casinos. Fertitta in Houston. Tilman Fertitta. Found that nugget buried in some local Houston business article. Never seen him mentioned like that before!
Finally Piecing It Together Was Satisfying
After cross-checking Forbes, ESPN deep dives, and legit business news sites (no blogs!), I settled on ranking them mostly by Forbes “real-time” billionaire net worths where possible. For the corporate ones like Dolan? Just used the estimates floating around.
Made my little top ten list:
- Steve Ballmer (Clippers): Blew everyone away. Like $90 billion?! Tech money is nuts.
- Dan Gilbert (Cavaliers): Even after the health stuff, still loaded.
- Micky Arison (Heat): Cruise ship cash flow. Insane.
- Tilman Fertitta (Rockets): Restaurant & casino kingpin. Billions built on shrimp & slots.
- Tom Gores (Pistons): Private equity game. Steady billions.
- Mark Cuban (Mavs): Sold out big to Adelson/Dumont, but still deep pockets.
- Josh Harris (76ers): Investment wiz. Owns way too much stuff.
- Robert Pera (Grizzlies): Made billions selling wifi gear quietly.
- James Dolan (Knicks): Family fortune is just… massive.
- Glen Taylor (Timberwolves) / Wyc Grousbeck (Celtics): Sold/trading hands, but legacy wealth still counts.
Biggest takeaway? Owning an NBA team is basically just a status trophy for these guys. Pocket change! The real wealth came from tech, casinos, boring investments… everywhere BUT basketball. Wild. Also learned I ain’t got the patience for corporate ownership research. Gimme straightforward billionaires any day.
