Inside the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx’s incredible ‘game-changing’ $25m HQ which includes new therapy tubs
ADAM Silver has described the Minnesota Timberwolves' $25 million HQ as the gold standard – and it is easy to see why.
The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in downtown Minneapolis is one of the finest training facilities across the NBA and WNBA.
Opened in June 2015, the privately-funded facility is the home to the both the Timberwolves and Lynx basketball and business operations.
The 107,000-square-foot building also houses the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center, a treatment and rehabilitation space for athletic injuries.
Silver, the NBA commissioner, was blown away when he first visited the property.
“Frankly, I’ve never seen anything like this," he said.
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"This is truly the gold standard.”
There are two basketball courts, with the Timberwolves and Lynx each having a primary court.
Meanwhile, the Lynx are one of the few WNBA teams to have their own dedicated practice space, which includes their own locker room and training area.
The facility includes administrative spaces for 150–plus employees.
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There are also media centers, locker rooms, weight rooms, film rooms, therapy tubs and saunas.
In addition, there is a 7,000-square-foot fan experience store.
The building also includes a indoor artificial turf area with multi-function cages for pitching, batting, and golf.
The location of Mayo Clinic Square also makes it unique.
It is situated right across the street from Target Center, the teams’ home arena.
Silver believes the facility is an example of how teams should operate off the court.
"These are how championship organizations are built,” Silver said.
"To us, of course it’s wonderful to see championships, but we have 30 teams in the NBA, 12 teams in the WNBA and not every team is going to win a championship.
"But every team can operate in a world-class fashion.”
Meanwhile, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor described the property as "a game-changer in our franchise history."
In January, the Timberwolves and Lynx renewed their lease at the property in a long-term deal.
The Timberwolves and Lynx are poised to be purchased by MLB icon Alex Rodriguez, business partner Marc Lore and billionaire Michael Bloomberg in a $1.5 billion deal.
The matter is now headed for arbitration after mediation failed to resolve an ongoing conflict regarding the terms of payment.
And Bloomberg, who has a net worth of $106 billion, wants to help Rodriguez and Lore create a new regional sports network that will carry the Timberwolves and the Lynx.
The YES Network-style RSN would also air games of other teams in the Twin Cities area, per The Athletic.
The group are also developing plans for a new, privately financed arena to replace the Target Center.
A-Rod and his team have found a piece of land for a new stadium and hope to open the arena in time for the 2031 season.
How the WNBA works
THE 2024 WNBA season features 12 teams with the regular-season running from May 14 to September 9.
Each team plays 40 regular-season games - four against five teams from the same conference and two teams from the other conference, and three games against the remaining four teams.
The top eight teams in the league standings qualify for the playoffs - regardless of what conference they're in.
The playoffs will use a best-of-three format in the first round while the semifinals and WNBA Finals are best of five.
This season also includes a month-long break for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Las Vegas Aces are defending back-to-back WNBA champions.
Lore and Rodriguez have had discussions with Oak View Group and Live Nation about the new facility, the report added.
The Lore-Rodriguez group currently owns 36% of the Timberwolves, including the Lynx.
They were working on acquiring another 40% stake for majority control in March when Taylor called off the deal.
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Lore and Rodriguez accused Taylor of having "seller's remorse."
Since the deal was penned in 2021, the Timberwolves and Lynx's collective value has risen from $1.57 billion to $2.9 billion.