Despite making efforts in the past to buy the Trail Blazers, Nike co-founder Phil Knight said on Wednesday that he won’t be involved in the bidding process now that the franchise is formally up for sale.
“Five years ago, when I was a younger man, I had a great interest in being a part of the Portland Trail Blazers franchise,” Knight said in a statement, per Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter link). “However, at my current age, I can confirm that I no longer have interest.”
Knight, formerly the chairman and CEO of Nike, is now the chairman emeritus of the company at age 87. A native of Portland, he has an estimated net worth of over $30 billion, per Forbes.
Knight teamed up with Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky in 2022 in an effort to buy the Trail Blazers from late owner Paul Allen‘s estate, which was being overseen by his sister Jody Allen. She stated at the time that the franchise wasn’t for sale.
According to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter links), it’s unclear whether Vulcan LLC – the ownership group that controls the Blazers – would have wanted to sell to Knight even if he still had interest in bidding. As Highkin explains, the group believes Knight planted Jody Allen hit pieces in the New York Post and Wall Street Journal after his offer for the team was turned down.
Potential bidders for the Blazers haven’t yet been identified, but Highkin wrote in his story on the sale (Substack link) that Allen’s estate expects a “competitive group.”
As Highkin details in that story, resolution on the future of the Moda Center likely won’t occur until after the sale of the franchise is complete. The city of Portland and the Blazers agreed last year to a five-year bridge extension for the team’s lease on the arena, which runs through 2030. That extension was designed to give them time to negotiate a longer-term deal.
Well he’s a thousand years old.
Dude looks like beetlejuice when he became the snake on the stairs.
Dude look like yo mama lol