NBA Rumors: Michael Bloomberg Joins Alex Rodriguez Group to Buy T-Wolves, Lynx

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reportedly joined Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez's ownership group as they attempt to finalize the purchase of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Bloomberg is planning to help infuse the ownership group with enough cash to purchase 100 percent of the Timberwolves from Glen Taylor.

The Lore-Rodriguez group and Taylor are currently in a legal battle over ownership of the franchise. Taylor is attempting to pull out of a sale agreement, which originally set a $1.5 billion price tag on the Timberwolves in 2021.

Rodriguez and Lore own 36 percent of the franchise and were set to increase their stake to 80 percent earlier this year before Taylor put a halt to the deal.

According to Taylor, Rodriguez and Lore were unable to land the final $600 million they needed in funding to secure the deal by the March 27 deadline. Rodriguez and Lore say they were able to secure funding from Dyal Capital after their original backer, Carlyle Group, exited the bid and that they should have been granted a 90-day extension under terms of the original agreement.

The dispute is set to play out in arbitration.

Should Rodriguez and Lore be successful in their bid to take over the Timberwolves, Bloomberg will be part of the cash infusion necessary to buy out the final 20 percent of Taylor's stake and give the group 100 percent ownership. Bloomberg is not expected to be a major player behind the scenes.

The 82-year-old has a net worth of $106.2 billion, so his investment would amount to a small drop in the bucket for his financial profile. A three-term Mayor in New York City, Bloomberg has largely been out of the public eye since his failed attempt at winning the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election.