Two of the Phoenix Suns’ minority owners have filed a lawsuit against Mat Ishbia and the Mercury Ownership group. They have accused Ishbia and the Suns’ holding company of mismanagement, making side deals, and alleged a lack of transparency in everyday operations.
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The minority owners, Kisco WC Sports II and Kent Circle Investments, retained their shares in the Suns franchise after Ishbia shelled out $4 billion to purchase the team in 2023. They have accused Ishbia of trying to pressure and dilute minority stakeholders in the franchise.
While the details of the lawsuit can be found online, former NBA champion Richard Jefferson was more than happy to break it down for the layman.
“Basically, what happened is Ishbia came in, and he spent a lot of money on the team. And he wanted to make a big splash. But in order to do that, they had to spend a lot of money, right?” Jefferson pointed out.
The former forward added that the Suns have had to spend even more money on coaching, and another $30-40 million on people who aren’t even with the franchise. They are probably going to have to do this for a couple more years, something the minority owners aren’t particularly thrilled about.
“So, you look at that and the money and the tax that they were in. So, if you just buy a team and then you crush through a few 100 million dollars, then yeah, the other investors are going to look at you like, ‘Bro, can we slow down a second?’ His [Ishbia’s] business practices, and the minority owner was mad that he was spending so much money,” said Jefferson, before making a comparison to former Dallas Mavericks majority stakeholder, Mark Cuban.
“People forget, Mark Cuban showed up and did the exact same thing. So, he has to go to court for this because they were being sued by his minority owners,” continued Jefferson. Of course, Cuban showed up with results, which Ishbia hasn’t.
“The difference is, Mark Cuban showed up and presented the NBA trophy as evidence that the money went towards the right thing. He literally submitted the Larry O’Brien trophy as evidence that their spending of money wasn’t wrong, and Ishbia doesn’t have it,” Jefferson added.
The 2016 NBA champion also revealed that, as far as he could remember, Cuban was being sued by one of the Bushes at the time! Looks like if the Suns bring home a trophy of their own, Ishbia’s problems would get solved, at least to some extent. Unfortunately, as former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins pointed out, “You can’t buy a championship.”
