Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez may need an extension for their last payment to become majority owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Glen Taylor revealed the circumstances of the unique payment plan during a podcast appearance. 

The incoming owners have until the end of December to exercise a call option, or state their intention to make their next payment and have the next 60 to 90 days to close, according to a lawsuit filing that outlines details of the unique layaway deal.

“I think they’ll push back [the deadline],” Taylor said. “I ask them if they’re set and if they got everything and they say they do, so I take them for their word. It doesn’t make much difference to me if it’s December, March or July. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. We’re pretty well set for this year.”

Lore and Rodriguez own 40 percent of the franchise after closing on the second payment. The third payment will push their interest to 80 percent, while the fourth option is due at the end of 2024. Taylor will retain a minority share in the team.

“Right now, I’m expected to run the team, and I do,” Taylor said on the podcast. “I work with the coach, [general manager] Tim Connelly and the businesspeople. That’s my responsibility, since I still have most of the ownership. When [Lore and Rodriguez] get in a position to take over those responsibilities within the next year, then I’ll still be part of the ownership [group], but we’ll see how much I participate.”

Taylor purchased the Wolves for $94 million in 1994 and agreed to sell the team to Lore and Rodriguez in 2021 for $1.5 billion.

ESPN and TNT are considering signing media rights deals with the NBA that will include smaller packages of games per season, sources tell the Wall Street Journal.

The arrangement would allow the league's two main long-term partners to continue at a more affordable annual amount while allowing the NBA to create a package for a streaming service. Amazon and Apple have already expressed interest in bidding on a package with the NBA.

“They’re benefitting from the fact that there are new entrants who look to want to play,” said Jonathan Miller, former NBA executive and chief executive of Integrated Media, which specializes in digital media investments.

The NBA is hoping to triple its last agreement, which would result in deals collectively worth about $78 billion over a decade. 

In the most recent season, NBA games on TNT, ESPN and ABC averaged 1.6 million viewers. The playoffs attracted more than five million viewers, according to Nielsen data.

The NBA continues to seek $75 billion over a nine-year period for its next United States media rights deals.

The bidding process won't begin until after the current season and any new deals won't begin until 2025.

The NBA, however, just closed a deal with TNT Sports for them to take over the NBA's United Kingdom media rights from Sky Sports. Sky is a subsidiary of Comcast, which owns NBC. TNT Sports in the United Kingdom was formerly known as BT Sport. 

TNT and ESPN are the two incumbent media rights partners in the United States. 

The NBA contends that their studies no longer support the notion that strategically resting players avoids injuries. 

“Before, it was a given conclusion that the data showed that you had to rest players a certain amount, and that justified them sitting out,” said Joe Dumars.

“We’ve gotten more data, and it just doesn’t show that resting, sitting guys out correlates with lack of injuries, or fatigue, or anything like that,” Dumars said. “What it does show is maybe guys aren’t as efficient on the second night of a back-to-back.”

Dumars added that the “culture” in the NBA should be that “every player should want to play 82 games,”

“Obviously everybody’s not going to play 82 games, but everyone should want to play 82 games. And that’s the culture that we are trying to reestablish right now,” he said.

The NBA is hoping to reverse the trend of load management by enacting the player participation policy. The changes come at a time when the league's television deals with ESPN and Turner expire after the 24-25 season and was worth $24 billion over nine years.

“All of this matters — the reaction to the fans, players, your TV (and) broadcast partners,” Dumars said.