National Basketball Association

Phil Knight's offers to buy Portland Trail Blazers rebuffed by Jody Allen

Published Jun. 4, 2023 6:12 p.m. ET

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Phil Knight, renowned as the co-founder of Nike, continues to put his bid in to become an NBA owner — and he's continually being denied. 

According to a Wall Street Journal report, for over a year now, Knight has been unable to establish a line of communication with Jody Allen in an attempt to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers.

Allen serves as the executor of the estate endowed by her late brother, Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft. Following his passing in 2018 due to cancer, Jody Allen's instructions were to liquidate his assets worth over $20 billion and allocate most of the proceeds to charitable causes.

Knight and Alan Smolinsky — a real-estate investor and minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers — began reaching out to Allen to purchase the Trail Blazers, reportedly offering more than $2 billion to acquire the franchise last June. 

However, according to the report, not only did Allen deny their offer without a counteroffer, she didn't take a phone call either.

"Phil Knight and I have not spoken," Allen told the Wall Street Journal last year.

Reports are that Allen redirected Knight and Smolinsky to Bert Kolde, the Trail Blazers vice chair, who also told the Knight and Smolinsky that "the Trail Blazers remain not for sale."

According to the report, Knight and Smolinsky tried again on numerous occasions, including earlier this year, telling Allen that they were aware the team's value likely increased and are still interested in getting a deal done. The two were prepared to make an offer higher than their initial one, but Allen referred them to Kolde again. The discussion did not lead to a sale.

Knight even hand-wrote Allen a letter and received an email from someone speaking on Allen's behalf saying that "Paul Allen's sports teams aren't on the market."

Allen bought the Trail Blazers for $70 million in 1988 and the Seattle Seahawks for $194 million in 1997. 

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