The WNBA announced that the Atlanta Dream, co-owned by former Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, will have her stake sold.
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“As it relates to the Atlanta Dream, we understand a sale of the franchise is close to being finalized,” the league said in a statement. “Once the sale negotiation is concluded, additional information will be provided.”
WNBA players called for Kelly Loeffler to sell her 49% stake in the Dream. This happened after she wrote a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert over the summer, objecting to the league’s initiatives to advocate for racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Loeffler, a Republican Senator, didn’t immediately sell the team. This led to WNBA players endorsing and campaigning for her opponent, Democrat Raphael Warnock. Warnock defeated Loeffler in Georgia’s runoff election on 5 January by a margin of 75,000 votes. Combined with Jon Ossoff’s runoff victory in Georgia’s other Senate seat, this handed Democrats control of the Senate.
Is LeBron James buying the Atlanta Dream from Kelly Loeffler?
A couple of weeks ago, LeBron James had posted an open invitation on Twitter to people interested in buying the team with him. This was in the wake of the Georgia Senate election results. They’d consigned Loeffler to an exit from the Senate – post she’s held for barely a year since December 2019.
Think I’m gone put together an ownership group for the The Dream. Whose in? #BlackVotesMatter✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/9wclgdED2w
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 6, 2021
At the time, Carmelo Anthony and Chamath Palihapitiya were two prominent names to throw their names in the ring. LeBron and Melo obviously go way back, but Chamath is the richest person whose name is doing the rounds in relation to the Atlanta Dream.
In all likelihood, the team will be sold to someone unrelated to LeBron on the business front. But his declaration signals his clear intent to be a team owner in the future.
