NBA's Jewish billionaires

Over 40% of NBA teams have Jewish owners

To assess Jewish representation in sports, I tried to focus on the majority or full owners of NBA teams.

Out of 30 teams, 12 are majority-owned by Jewish stakeholders. Based on my assessment, 40% of NBA teams have Jewish individuals holding controlling ownership stakes. Additionally, five other teams have Jewish minority stakeholders.

For the last forty years, the NBA has been led by Jewish commissioners David Stern (1984-2014) and Adam Silver (2014-present).

These are the NBA teams with Jewish majority owners

• Anthony Ressler (Atlanta Hawks)

• Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall¹² (Charlotte Hornets)

• Jerry Reinsdorf³ (Chicago Bulls)

• Dan Gilbert⁴ (Cleveland Cavaliers)

• Miriam Adelson⁵ (Dallas Mavericks)

• Joe Lacob and Peter Guber⁶ (Golden State Warriors)

• Herbert Simon⁷ (Indiana Pacers)

• Micky Arison⁸ (Miami Heat)

• Marc Lore⁹ (Minnesota Timberwolves)

• Steve Ballmer¹⁰ (Los Angeles Clippers)

• Joshua Harris and David Blitzer (Philadelphia 76ers)

• Mat and Justin Ishbia¹¹ (Phoenix Suns)

Other NBA teams with Jewish minority owners

• Jacobs family (Sacramento Kings)

• Larry Tannenbaum¹² (Toronto Raptors)

• George Kaiser¹³ (Oklahoma City Thunder)

• Oliver Weisberg¹⁴ (Brooklyn Nets)

• Larry Fink¹⁵ (New York Knicks)

It gets tricky. Take the Denver Nuggets. There are conflicting reports about whether owner Stan Kroenke is Jewish. The Jerusalem Post claims he is Jewish, while The Times of Israel states that he is not and is often mislabeled as such. Given that he does not appear on Forbes' list of Jewish billionaires, I lean toward the conclusion that he is not Jewish.

Another good example is Tom Gores, the owner of Detroit Pistons. He is listed on Forbes’ list of Jewish billionaires. But he is Catholic, not Jewish. And his cousin advocates for Palestinians.

Sometimes it’s unclear, but clues help. Take Marc Lore, owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was an esteemed speaker at a Jews in Tech event with other Jewish speakers. In October 2023, he posted a tributary message to Israelis. One of his social media affiliates referred to him as a “fellow Jew”. Based on this, he’s likely Jewish.

To add complexity, under the NBA’s private equity rules, institutional investors can own up to 30% of a team’s equity, but no single fund is allowed to hold more than 20% of any franchise. Additionally, a single fund can own stakes in no more than five teams.

And then there are people like Ted Leonsis, who fully owns the Washington Wizards. He is Greek, but considers himself an “honorary Jew”.

This article is part of a series on Jewish leaders in America. Executive branch, Congress, state and local government, university presidents, NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS, and WNBA.

1. Rick Schnall leads the group that holds the majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets and also owns a minority stake in the Atlanta Hawks.

2. Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall rotate the governorship of the team every 5 years.

3. Jerry Reinsdorf owns 40% of the Chicago Bulls.

4. Dan Gilbert owns 72% of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

5. Miriam Adelson, her daughter Sivian Ochshorn, and her son-in-law Patrick Dupont own 73% of the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban owns 27% of the Dallas Mavericks as a minority stakeholder. He is Jewish as well.

6. Joe Lacob owns 25%, while Peter Guber owns 20% of the Golden State Warriors.

7. Herbert Simon owns 80% of the Indiana Pacers. Steven Rales owns 20% of the Indiana Pacers as a minority stakeholder.

8. Micky Arison owns 88% of the Miami Heat. A minority stakeholder of the Miami Heat — Raanan Katz — is Jewish as well.

9. Marc Lore led the purchase of Minnesota Timberwolves. One of the minority owners is Michael Bloomberg, who is Jewish as well.

10. Steve Ballmer owns 100% of the Los Angeles Clippers.

11. Mat and Justin Ishbia own 57% of the Phoenix Suns.

12. Larry Tannenbaum owns 25% of the Toronto Raptors. The remaining 75% of the organization is owned by Rogers Communications.

13. George Kaiser owns 19.23% of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

14. Oliver Weisberg has an undisclosed minority stake in BSE Global, which owns the Brooklyn Nets.

15. The New York Knicks are owned by Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (MSGS). It is a publicly traded holding company. James Dolan owns 71%. (technically, the article says 71% of “voting power”). Around 10% is owned by BlackRock. BlackRock is an investment firm founded and led by Larry Fink, who is Jewish.