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I want to talk about this excellent GQ Article that you wrote it's titled it's An exceptionally hard decision mark Lazri on selling his share of the Milwaukee Bucks So this this article was relevant to me And I think should be relevant to a lot Of hornets fans because there are more Than rumors uh there are confirmed Reports that the Michael Jordan is Exploring options to sell a majority Stake that he owns in the Charlotte Hornets so my first question is why was It a hard decision for Mark lazri to Sell because it seems like it might be a Hard decision for Michael Jordan to sell As well why was it a hard decision for Mark So thanks for that oh yeah it was a hard Decision for Mark lazri Um because you know you know as an owner As one of the co-owners of the bucks for The last you know decade or so I think It was maybe nine years Um he's one who was really invested more Than financially right I think owners You know and every owner uh every team In this in this league for the most part Has multiple owners not all of them a Lot of them have multiple owners and so If you own a majority share a minority Share whatever it may be you got into it Because you were probably a fan first Right you didn't just do it as an
Investment you know a lot of these guys Are billionaires I think maybe the Majority are billionaires by now but you Don't buy a share of or a majority stake In a sports franchise unless you really Love sports there are better I don't know how many better Investments There are out there but there are other Investments you could make And you do this one because it has the Added benefit of there's some status hey I'm the owner of you know the Bucks I'm The owner of the Hornets I'm the owner Of the Pelicans whoever there's some Status for sure Um it sets you apart from your fellow Billionaires not everybody can buy into These clubs um there's only so many uh Teams and shares to go around Um And it's fun it's fun so my that was Kind of my first question to Mark was Like You know look I know how much you enjoy This isn't it hard to just decide to Walk away like I get that you are making Literally hundreds of millions of Dollars in profit and selling the share That you you bought nine years ago and You know maybe as a pure investment uh Vehicle it's just too great of an Opportunity not to cash out now and I Think that's really how the scales Tipped for for Mark is that yes he loved
Being a an owner of the box and they had A rotating thing with who was going to Be the governor and all that stuff so he Was you know they're co-owners but at Times he was kind of like the majority Guy because he was he was the governor Um To give that up was very difficult he Enjoyed it a lot but I think the the Practical part of him and the Financially minded part of him uh that Saw this also as an investment Looked at it and said I never thought Values would be this high you know um The valuation of the Bucks was whatever Five point something billion and so his Share was you know northward of 800 Million he I think he bought it that his Share was you know two to three hundred Million like how do you say no to that Um and so I think I I it cuts both ways Here they won a championship a couple Years ago so on the one hand you got to Achieve and experience the highest highs As an owner of a franchise The flip side of it is so it's hard to Walk away from that because it's so fun On the flip side is you've already done It right you've got to experience that a Lot of owners are going to go their Entire career as owners without Ever Getting to experience that so Mark got That so maybe that made it a little bit Easier to walk away too but he loves the
Relationships that he formed over those Years whether it's with current players Like Giannis obviously weren't getting To know guys like Oscar Robertson Um and I think he really enjoys being in This realm and he is he is going to Launch some kind of um Sports uh Investment fund within his firm so he's Going to stay involved in sports as an Investor on some level and it wouldn't Surprise me actually if Mark bought into Another even another NBA team at some Point uh but this it seemed like this Was just kind of too good of an Opportunity financially to pass up That's interesting it feels like when One team sells you know it sets the Valuation it sets the mark and it's Really a litmus test for a lot of the Owners it's like how much do he really Love being an owner because you might Love it a little bit but not enough to Pass up this huge payday and I've made This analogy to other people that I've Talked about this with that owning an MBA franchise or owning a sports Franchise seems a little bit like the Old adage about owning a boat that like The best days that you own a boat are The day you buy it and the day you sell It but especially I I think and maybe You might disagree with this or you Might you know in your conversation with Mark
Um you know have some additional context To add to this but it feels like Especially for small to mid-market-sized Teams It can be very difficult to look at the Financials year to year and be satisfied With your investment even though all Evidence points to the fact that the day You sell the franchise you're gonna make Buku bucks but year to year it can be a Tougher proposition Yeah and we talked about that a little Bit too because I this is something I've Really been fascinated by in my years of Covering the league that Um you know the big Market versus small Market thing is is real Um it it doesn't always you know apply Across the board to every team in terms Of what they're they're grappling with But there there is a dynamic there right Uh on a couple different levels one is That players generally prefer the bigger Markets or I sometimes call them just The glamor markets right like Miami's Kind of a mid-sized Market but it's a Glamor market right players prefer being In Miami than Minneapolis Um that's no shot at Minneapolis it's Just the reality right and they get it The teams will understand this their Fans understand this um so there's that Aspect the other aspect is New York la Couple other places make such an
Incredible amount off of their local TV Rights deals that they can just simply Outspend the smaller markets so you know We've seen the Warriors and the Clippers In particular go you know way into the Luxury tax and now the new CBA is going To try to ratchet down or make it harder For those teams to just you know keep Running laps around everybody else in Terms of their spending And so there's that Gap as well so if You're a small Market owner if you're if You're Michael Jordan if you're mark Lazri You're looking up every day and going How do I keep up with the war you're Spending and the Clipper's spending and You know do I need to is there a way to Do this smartly and not have to now the Bucks what a championship Um they did have to go into the tax at Some point along the way here and They've probably you know by by pure you Know business terms they've been deficit Spending right they're spending more Than they're bringing in and so that's Why I put the question to Mark at one Point in our interview was is owning a Team just purely an investment is it a a Vanity play uh as I put it at one point Which I think he kind of recoiled out a Little bit that was probably not the the Most diplomatic uh phrasing by me Um but it is like the part of it where
It's the status symbol and he Acknowledged that Um or is it a business because in a Normal bit in a normal business Um you make x amount and that hopefully That X is larger than the uh why of your Spending you're supposed to turn a Profit in most businesses we kind of Have stopped expecting that of NBA Owners or probably Major League Baseball NFL owners too I don't cover those Sports because we're saying your Franchise is going to increase in value By such a dramatic amount that whatever Day that comes that you decide to sell You're going to make this massive profit In the hundreds of Millions Why should we the fans or Media or Anybody else care that you have to Deficit spend on a year-to-year basis to Stay competitive Easy for us to say we're not the ones Writing the checks for tens or hundreds Of millions of dollars in luxury tax uh Bills right but that's the view and That's certainly the view of the of the Players union by the way Um which is you know this is just part Of it if you want to own an NBA team Um and you want to be competitive if That's what it requires then that's what You got to do and if you don't want to Do that then sell to somebody else who Will uh
I'm not sure where I stand on all of That I just I just think it's an Interesting debate uh but yeah I think I Think owners getting into this now you Know wealthy people buying shares of Teams Um have to kind of expect that if you Want to compete at a high level there's Probably going to be years where you're Not truly quote unquote turning a profit In the uh on an annual basis But you know that you're eventually Going to sell your share for for a lot But it does make it harder to compete Right I think it does some teams are not Don't feel that they are as capable of Spending to that level as as others Um which forces them to be a little more Creative it may force them to make Harder decisions on on players they're Letting walk at times certainly um the Money was a part of the rationale for Why the Bucks decided to let Malcolm Brogden walk a couple years back so Um you know it's it's a real issue the NBA has been trying to Grapple with it Through multiple CBA cycles and um not Sure if they've gotten there Another thing that's interesting to me And something that you touch on a little Bit in the article is This idea of player empowerment this era That I I don't know if we're currently Living in it or where we are in the in
The cycle of these things uh I mean the CBA negotiations seem to be At least returning a little bit of some Advantages back to small and mid-market Owners uh at the cost of some of the the Glamor markets as you call them but We're still in an era where players are Are deciding that they're going to go Play where they want to go play and Signing shorter term contracts do you Think that makes it from the view of of Mark or anyone else do you think that Makes it less fun uh or I I don't know If Fun's the right word but just Um less desirable to own one of these Franchises no knowing that that's going To make it a little bit more difficult To put together a winning team It's an interesting question I don't Know I mean I I think I don't really know the full effect of These uh CBA wrinkles as they you know You know rework it every you know seven To ten years we don't really know the Full consequences until it's in in place For a while Um I do think that it's just generally Challenging for owners in smaller Markets to uh to build in in the same Way that that the larger markets can With more resources more money basically Available to them Um I think that the good news is you
Know you alluded to the player Empowerment era and the player Empowerment era what we mostly mean There's a there's a bunch of different Facets to that but I think we mostly Mean this is the era that started when LeBron left Cleveland for Miami right in 2010 and kind of kicked off this era of It's actually like Superstar Mobility Right like player empowerment just not Really all 450 that's mostly about the Stars Um and it's mostly about you know having A little bit more self-determination About the course of your career and that Means they're moving around more often And sometimes it's not even through free Agency anymore it's now through forced Trades and initially it was with forcing A trade with a year left then it was Forcing trade with two years left now With guys are forcing trades with four Years left And they have the leverage to do so so That's that's the empowerment we're Alluding to Um And I think it makes things more there's There's more anxiety built in if you're If you own a team or the GM of a team Uh that happens to be fortunate enough To have one of the great players in the Game and especially if you're in a Smaller market now they can sour on a
Large Market too right you know I just Watched Kyrie Irving Kevin Durant forced Their way out of Brooklyn where I live Uh a few months back so you can sour on Any market right but I do think there is A a Higher degree of difficulty for owners And GMS of small Market teams to keep Their guy happy or the onus is is that Much greater because the temptation to Leave to go to a warmer Market or a Bigger Market is always there the Bucks Were you know had the advantage of Having you know identified Giannis as a Talent developed him as a talent had him Blossom into an MVP two-time MVP Um on their watch and They didn't secure his his you know Signature on extension a couple years Ago until they made that trade for Drew Holiday because that was the linchpin That was the one where Jana said okay We're serious here we just we just you Know send out all these pics and excuse Me invested in a guy who's a little bit Older in his career and everything Because He's somebody I know we can win with and So that's that's the thing like you were You that's and it's it's a good pressure Right there should be pressure on teams To do the best they can by their Superstars and put them in the best Possible position to win
Um if you if you misfire on that though That's where the consequences come in That's where it's you know you're you've Got a guy waking up one day and saying It's time for me to go and we've seen You know you know countless examples of That over the last 10 years Well it's been two decades since the Hornets have won a playoff series but I Hope it's not another two decades before Uh you and I chat again because this was A fascinating conversation uh Howard Beck the article is it's an Exceptionally hard decision mark lazarry On selling his share of the Milwaukee Bucks go read it at GQ because I think It's going to be extremely relevant who Knows I mean you just said Mark might Buy into another team it might be the Hornets who knows so go get to know a Little bit about Mark lazarry through That article thank you so much Howard Really appreciate all the Insight you Shared with the audience today I appreciate it Doug thanks for having Me [Music]
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