The regular season of a compelling NBA championship is drawing to a close. High-scoring games have helped contribute to an increase in TV audiences this year and the series continues to be a booming business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NBA teams saw their value rise an average four per cent last year in a period of economic slowdown, and the Minnesota Timberwolves are in the middle of a $1.5 billion sale, to prove that business is thriving for the league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here we take a look at the five most expensive teams in NBA history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When former Michigan State player turned mortgage executive Mat Ishbia agreed to buy the Phoenix Suns and their WNBA affiliate Mercury at the end of last year, the $4 billion price tag was, and remains, the biggest ever paid for an NBA franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also represented a bumper return for previous owner Robert Sarver, who had paid $401 million for the Suns in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phoenix exited in the second round of the playoffs last season despite being the top seeds in the Western Conference, losing in a game-seven showdown to the Dallas Mavericks, and they go into this year’s postseason as the fourth seeds in the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to Ishbia splashing the cash, the highest amount paid for an NBA team was Joe Tsai’s $3.3 billion purchase of the Brooklyn Nets in September 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That figure included around $1 billion for the operating licence of Barclays Arena – not every NBA team owns or runs its own home stadium – but even with that amount deducted this purchase would still make number two on the all-time list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time of the sale to Taiwanese-Canadian lawyer and businessman Tsai, the Nets had missed the postseason in three of their previous four campaigns, and they have won just one playoff series since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sixth-seeded Nets will play Philadelphia in the first round this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Restaurant and casino tycoon Tilman Fertitta won a bidding war against Beyonce of all people to acquire the Houston Rockets in September 2017, with the deal also including ownership of eSports organisation Clutch Gaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Franchise was previously owned by Leslie Alexander, who paid $85 million for them in 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rockets are set to finish in the bottom three of the NBA standings this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer parted with pocket change to buy the LA Clippers for $2 billion in May 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite banning his players from using Apple products, Ballmer was voted the best owner in basketball in a survey by The Athletic in December 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 42-year-old Ryan Smith took over the Jazz in October 2020, agreeing to honour former owner Gail MIller’s wish that the team stay in Utah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team began that season with a franchise-record 23 wins in their first 28 games and ended the campaign with the best regular-season record, only to lose in the second round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time since 2016, the Jazz have missed the postseason this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The regular season of a compelling NBA championship is drawing to a close. High-scoring games have helped contribute to an increase in TV audiences this year and the series continues to be a booming business. NBA teams saw their value rise an average four per cent last year in a period of economic slowdown, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":39465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n