MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The VAS CommunityMinnesota Timberwolves will evidently remain in the control of owner Glen Taylor, after he announced Thursday that a deal where Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez would have acquired the controlling stake in the team has expired.

Taylor agreed to sell the Timberwolves for $1.5 billion in 2021 to Lore and Rodriguez, who then began the purchase by acquiring 20% of the franchise. Lore became Walmart’s e-commerce chief in 2016; Rodriguez is one of baseball’s all-time home run leaders and has become an investor in a variety of businesses since, plus is a trustee at the University of Miami.

The closing of the deal, with Lore and Rodriguez finally making the last payment to acquire the controlling stake, was required to happen by Wednesday — and Taylor said Thursday that “under certain circumstances” a limited extension could have been offered. That did not happen.

“I will continue to work with Marc, Alex and the rest of the ownership group to ensure our teams have the necessary resources to compete at the highest levels on and off the court,” Taylor said. “The Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.”

It was, by design, a drawn-out acquisition process in part so Taylor could mentor Lore and Rodriguez on what’s involved in ownership of NBA and WNBA franchises; the Minnesota Lynx were also to be part of the deal. It was also an unusual process, with Lore and Rodriguez making payments in installments — the most recent known payment was a $290 million one, for roughly another 20%, in March 2023.

Taylor, a lifelong Minnesotan, purchased the team in 1994 for $88 million, doing so at the time in part to keep the franchise from relocating to New Orleans or elsewhere.

Rodriguez said he and Lore — who unsuccessfully tried to purchase the New York Mets before striking the deal with Taylor — also were committed to Minnesota. In an interview with The Associated Press in 2022, Rodriguez said the NBA had welcomed him into the ownership world with open arms.

“It’s all about the fans in Minnesota. I think they deserve a winner,” Rodriguez said in that interview.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba