Mat Ishbia, owner of the Phoenix Suns franchise of North America’s National Basketball Association (NBA), has announced the formation of a new sports-focused investment group under which all of the Suns’ operations will be managed.
The group, named Player 15, will group Ishbia’s investments in sports, entertainment, and real estate, including the Phoenix Suns, the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, and the Footprint Center arena where both sides play.
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Ishbia confirmed that Player 15 will be the home of all of his future investments.
The announcement coincides with the reveal that the Phoenix Suns will have an affiliate team in the NBA’s minor league, the NBA G League, which will also come under the Player 15 umbrella.
As yet unnamed, the announcement of the G League side means that all 30 NBA teams now have G League affiliates, with Ishbia stating: “Adding a G League team creates another area for us to compete to be the best and will be a vital tool to help develop players and coaches.”
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“Just like the Suns and Mercury, our G League team will serve as a community asset and make a positive impact on and off the court.”
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By GlobalDataThe team will debut in the 2024-25 NBA G League season.
The purchase of the new G League side expands the league to a record 32 teams, something that G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim says fulfills a long-time ambition with regards to every NBA team having an affiliate.
Abdur-Rahim stated: “The NBA G League has never been more valuable to NBA teams than it is today, and the Suns’ investment only reinforces that reality.”
A name for the new team will be decided through the results of a competition open to Suns and Mercury fans, in the same fashion that the Suns moniker was decided upon its foundation in 1968.
The team will play its games in the Phoenix metropolitan area, although it is unknown whether or not this will be at the Footprint Center.
Mat Ishbia purchased the Suns and the Mercury in February 2023 for $4 billion from embattled previous owner Robert Sarver, who sold the team following an NBA suspension and a $10 million fine for engaging in “workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies.”
The findings came as part of investigations by the governing body into allegations of historic racist, misogynistic, and hostile incidents by Sarver over his nearly two-decade tenure at the franchise.
Ishbia, the youngest team owner in the NBA at 42, is the chairman and president of US mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage and has a reported net worth of $5.1 billion. His brother Justin, a founding partner of private equity firm Shore Capital, is also part of the ownership group.
