Glen Taylor Played a Role in Some of NBA’s Biggest Business Stories

Since Glen Taylor purchased the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1994, the team has won a playoff series in just two seasons: 2004 and 2024. Every other franchise that’s been active during that timespan has advanced to the conference semifinals at least four times.

What Taylor’s ownership tenure lacks in on-court success, though, it makes up for in financial intrigue. Taylor and potential future majority owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are nearing an arbitration process to decide control of the team. The disputed sale may force the NBA to change its rules on approving transactions, according to commissioner Adam Silver.

It’s not the first time that Taylor has played a leading role in events that impacted the league’s economics. The 83-year-old has been at the helm for three of the most consequential NBA business decisions of the past 30 years.

The Kevin Garnett Contract

In 1997, Taylor shelled out the richest contract in NBA history to date: a six-year, $126 million extension to Kevin Garnett, who was just 21 years old at the time. It was a risky deal that made it difficult for the Timberwolves to sign quality players to surround their new franchise player (see: Joe Smith, below).

More important, it was the last straw for owners tired of seeing young players get the bag so early in their careers. Alonzo Mourning and Juwan Howard had each signed deals for $105 million the prior offseason, while the Los Angeles Lakers secured Shaquille O’Neal with a $120 million offer.

The Garnett contract was one of the major instigators of labor tensions in 1998 that led to the lockout-shortened 1999 season. The owners emerged with a maximum contract policy, and the concept of players earning an increasing percentage of the salary cap with additional years of experience is a foundation of the NBA’s pay structure to this day.

The transaction is also tangentially connected to the Wolves’ current ownership situation. It is widely acknowledged that Rodriguez signed his record-breaking 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers in 2000 for a total that was intentionally twice Garnett’s $126 million, so that he could claim to be paid double any other athlete on the planet.

The two remain linked in 2024, as Garnett has publicly supported Rodriguez in the dispute over the man who gave him his first big payday. “I f*** with A-Rod,” KG said on a podcast earlier this month. “A-Rod knows, and Marc knows that they got a dope a** vision. They’re going to turn this thing around. I hope this don’t slip out of their hands, man.”

The Joe Smith Scandal

Following the 1999 lockout, former No. 1 overall pick Joe Smith was a coveted free agent after averaging 16 points and eight rebounds per game over his first three seasons at Golden State. He curiously signed in Minnesota for just one year and less than $2 million, well below his expected value.

Two years later, the league unearthed that the Timberwolves made an under-the-table agreement with Smith’s agent in which Smith would sign several cheap, short-term deals to allow for salary cap flexibility and eventually be rewarded with a bigger contract down the road. The rule-breaking scheme came out during a separate lawsuit involving Smith’s agent.

Then-commissioner David Stern came down harshly on Taylor, suspending him for an entire season. The NBA also forced general manager Kevin McHale to take an unpaid leave of absence, fined the team $3.5 million and stripped the Wolves of five future first-round picks (two of which were eventually restored).

After all that trouble, Smith turned out to be an NBA journeyman, playing for 12 different NBA teams and never appearing in an All-Star Game. He signed with the Detroit Pistons in 2000 after the aforementioned debacle voided his existing contract with Minnesota.