When California businessman Alex Meruelo officially becomes the next owner of the Atlanta Hawks -- provided he passes the NBA’s review process, which few fail -- he will be the league’s seventh new franchise owner in just the past two seasons.
Next Atlanta Hawks Owner Alex Meruelo Becomes NBA’s Seventh New Member In Two Years
Six teams -- the New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Bobcats, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers -- have been officially sold since the start of 2010. The NBA review process can be lengthy, but you'd expect the Hawks sale to likely go through by the end of 2011. That's some amazing (and unprecedented) turnover for the league.
As SB Nation's NetsDaily notes, three more franchises have seen new generations of owners begin to handle the load: Josh Kroenke with the Denver Nuggets, Jim Buss with the L.A. Lakers and Greg Miller with the Utah Jazz, who took over that franchise when his father Larry passed away.
How this incredibly new class of owners affects the trajectory of the league remains to be seen.
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