Grizzlies sold to Aquilini Investment Group and Magic Johnson.May 22nd 2001
Vancouver, British Columbia - A group including former NBA player Magic Johnson has agreed to purchase Vancouver Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley's majority share in the team.
Heisley announced Monday that he will sell his 70 percent interest in Hoops, LP, the parent company of the Grizzlies and operator of the General Motors Place, to AIG Investment Group and Johnson.
A billionaire based in Chicago, Heisley bought the Vancouver Grizzlies for $160 million in 2000 and seventeen months later is selling the team after a failed relocation to Memphis Tennessee.
Magic Johnson famously played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons. After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
Johnson was a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team "The Dream Team", which won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. After leaving the NBA in 1992, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that travelled around the world playing exhibition games. Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. Getting Johnson on board with this bid was vital, as the franchise needs some positive PR to get back on track.
The remaining 30 percent of the Grizzlies belongs to a local ownership group that includes a range of local businessmen. The group has 60 days to decide whether to match the terms of the agreement between Heisley, AIG and Johnson.
"You have to engage the community and the city of Vancouver to believe in what you're trying to achieve," Aquilini said. "What I'm trying to achieve is to have a fantastic team that wants to win championships. The second thing you have to do is sit down with local leaders and municipalities and make this our team."
Listed among Forbes magazine's 400 richest Americans, Heisley was looking to relocate the team because it was losing money. When the NBA rejected the relocation, he felt he had no choice but to sell. Aquilini and Johnson were waiting in the wings to swoop in and buy the team.
Magic Johnson is now also rumored to take the role as President of Basketball Operations in Vancouver.
"Owning an NBA team has been one of my goals in my professional life," Johnson said. "I will be forever grateful to the people of AIG and Francesco for allowing me to come on board with this project. I am especially excited to connect with our great Grizzlies fans. I am sure they will support us from the very beginning. I am proud that we managed to keep this team in Vancouver and we are both confident that our future ownership will start building some success. We want to bring a new exciting and winning brand of basketball to the people of Vancouver."
