The NBA is a big business. As of late, this business has been generating great revenue for their owners, with NBA franchises growing their worth every single season. However, it wasn’t always like this. After the 2008 recession and the 2011 NBA lockout, the team owners affected were looking to move on and sell their teams.
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Things were bad, as around eleven teams were sold between 2010 to 2015. However, one man saw foresaw the future, and it was none other than Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer. When he purchased the Clippers for $2 Billion, people assumed he was crazy. However, the new broadcast deal in 2015 earned the teams $28 Million extra per season.
On top of that, the teams and the league make money through television, merchandising, sponsorships, and tickets. All of this has helped the teams become very profitable. Here’s a list of the owners of the 30 NBA teams.
NBA Team Owners List:
To give you a better idea about the profitability of the NBA, I’ll include a table with the list of teams, their owners, purchase value and year, and finally, current value.
| Franchise | Team Owner/Owners | Purchase Year | Purchase Amount | Current Value |
| Atlanta Hawks | Tony Ressler, Grant Hill, Steven Price, Rick Schnall, Sara Blakely, Jesse Itzler | 2015 | $730 Million | $2.19 Billion |
| Boston Celtics | Wyc Grousbeck, Stephen Pagliuca, H. Irving Grousbeck, David Bonderman, Jim Breyer, James Pallotta, Glenn Hutchins, Jonathan Lavine | 2002 | $360 Million | $3.92 Billion |
| Brooklyn Nets | Joesph Tsai | 2019 | $2.35 Billion | $3.86 Billion |
| Charlotte Hornets | Michael Jordan | 2010 | $175 Million | $1.77 Billion |
| Chicago Bulls | Jerry Reinsdorf | 1985 | $16.2 Million | $4.09 Billion |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Dan Gilbert | 2005 | $375 Million | $1.95 Billion |
| Dallas Mavericks | Mark Cuban | 2000 | $280 Million | $3.26 Billion |
| Denver Nuggets | Ann Walton Kroenke | 2000 | $202 Million | $2.13 Billion |
| Detroit Pistons | Tom Gores | 2011 | $325 Million | $2.19 Billion |
| Golden State Warriors | Joe Lacob, Peter Guber | 2010 | $450 Million | $7.56 Billion |
| Houston Rockets | Tilman Fertitta | 2017 | $2.2 Billion | $3.3 Billion |
| Indiana Pacers | Herbert Simon | 1983 | $10.5 Million | $2.02 Billion |
| Los Angeles Clippers | Steve Ballmer | 2014 | $2 Billion | $3.73 Billion |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Jeanie Buss, Jim Buss, and Johnny Buss | 1979 | $20 Million | $6.44 Billion |
| Memphis Grizzlies | Robert J. Pera | 2012 | $377 Million | $1.67 Billion |
| Miami Heat | Micky Arison, Nick Arison | 1995 | $68 Million | $3.2 Billion |
| Milwaukee Bucks | Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens | 2014 | $550 Million | $2.43 Billion |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Glen Taylor | 1995 | $88.5 Million | $1.7 Billion |
| New Orleans Pelicans | Gayle Benson | 2012 | $338 Million | $1.63 Billion |
| New York Knicks | James Dolan | 1997 | $300 Million | $6.58 Billion |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | Clay Bennet | 2006 | $325 Million | $1.75 Billion |
| Orlando Magic | Dan DeVos | 1991 | $85 Million | $1.91 Billion |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Josh Harris and Davis S. Blitzer | 2011 | $287 Million | $3.21 Billion |
| Phoenix Suns | Mat Ishiba and Justin Ishiba | 2023 | $4 Billion | $3 Billion |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Jody Allen | 1988 | $70 Million | $2.29 Billion |
| Sacramento Kings | Vivek Ranadivé, Paul E Jacobs, Gary E Jacobs, Hal Jacobs, and Jeffrey A Jacobs | 2013 | $534 Million | $2.32 Billion |
| San Antonio Spurs | Peter J. Holt | 1993 | $76 Million | $2.16 Billion |
| Toronto Raptors | Larry Tanenbaum, Rogers Communications, BCE | 1998 | $647 Million | $3.34 Billion |
| Utah Jazz | Ryan Smith, Ashley Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Mike Cannon-Brookes, the Miller Family, Dwyane Wade | 2021 | $1.66 Billion | $2.15 Billion |
| Washington Wizards | Ted Leonsis | 2010 | $551 Million | $2.7 Billion |
As we can see, the NBA owners have profited quite a bit since purchasing their teams(except Mat Ishiba, he’s yet to see the returns).
