Mookie Betts to LeBron James on Dream Ownership Group: 'Count Me In'
January 6, 2021
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts expressed interest in an idea floated by NBA superstar LeBron James to create a group to purchase the WNBA's Atlanta Dream.
James posted the proposal early Wednesday after Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler, a Republican senator from Georgia, lost her bid for reelection with several Dream players supporting her opponent, Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Multiple Dream players began wearing "Vote Warnock" shirts over the summer because of their unhappiness with Loeffler's views toward the Black Lives Matter movement.
"When we realized what our owner was doing and how she was kind of using us and the Black Lives Matter movement for her political gain, we felt like we didn't want to feel kind of lost as the pawns in this," center Elizabeth Williams told reporters.
WNBA players from other teams joined in to support the Dream's efforts.
Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart, the 2018 WNBA MVP, celebrated Warnock's victory and praised her fellow players' work:
Loeffler, who's co-owned the Atlanta franchise with Mary Brock since 2011, has not expressed any desire to sell the franchise, per ESPN's Mechelle Voepel.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told CNN (h/t ESPN) the league wouldn't force her to sell the team.
"We're not going to force her to sell her ownership," Engelbert said in July. "She is not a current governor, she is not involved in the day-to-day, and we are aware there are interested parties who want to purchase the team."
James ($343.9 million in career contract earnings) and Betts ($108.6 million) could surely generate a lot of interest from other athletes to form an ownership group.
It's less clear if there's any potential avenue for them to convince Loeffler to sell.