'The elite NBA franchise': New team owner Mat Ishbia's vision for Phoenix Suns
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Mat Ishbia grew up in Birmingham, Michigan, wanting to be an NBA player.
Now he owns a team.
The billionaire mortgage lender has received final transaction approval from the NBA to become the majority team owner of the Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. The NBA announced late Monday its Board of Governors approved the sale. Persons familiar with the situation informed The Republic that team owners voted 29-0 for approval, with Cleveland abstaining.
Ishbia bought the two franchises for a record $4 billion. The 43-year-old is chairman, president and CEO of Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage, the leading mortgage lender in America.
“We are going to make it the elite NBA franchise and that’s the goal,” Ishbia said. “Why not us.”
The Republic spoke with Ishbia to discuss his vision for the Suns, his dinner conversation with Robert Sarver and how he plans to approach roster moves with the NBA trade deadline on Thursday.
“This team, from my personal perspective, we have a championship-caliber team right now with no changes,” Ishbia said. “If I can take an upgrade from a player that is not playing to a player that is playing, we’ve gotten even closer and if I can do more than that, I’m sure that would be even better.”
What’s your vision for this franchise?
MI: “I know that I’m the new owner, but I look at it like the Mercury and the Suns are owned by the city, by Phoenix, and my job is a steward. How do I do the right thing by them, make it a community asset, how do I take care of it and build it into a thing that the community can be proud of? As an owner, my job is to do the right things by the community. Do the right things by the fans, do the right things by the ‘team members’ as I call them and then finally, we’ll have a culture of winning on the court, off the court. Winning the fan experience, winning the sponsorship deal, winning all the things. ... The real vision, long term, is how do we make Phoenix the elite NBA franchise in the country? We can do it. We have the market, we have the people, we have the organization. We are going to do that and that’s the goal and how do I measuredly? That’s one of the things I’ll put together here in the near future, but we are going to make it the elite NBA franchise and that’s the goal. Why not us?”
At your core, what’s churning inside of you about this moment?
MI: “I’m excited. Energized. Passionate. Being able to achieve a lifelong dream of being part of an NBA organization. My original lifetime dream was to play in an NBA organization, wasn’t good enough. I had to come back in a different way. So I’m really excited and energized by it and excited to dig in. I love rolling my sleeves up and figuring out what’s going on. ... We're going to dominate the fan experience, dominate the culture with team members. We’re going to be focused on winning and we’re going to make a huge impact in the community. I’m not a trick-play kind of guy. I’m going to be very basic with the fundamentals. If we do those four things, we will become the elite franchise in the NBA and that’s what we’re going to focus on. So I’m excited about it and passionate about those things and figuring out how to do it.”
How did you and Robert Sarver connect to begin this process?
MI: “I had dinner with Robert and wanted to understand about owning an NBA team. I’ve had dinners with a lot of NBA owners not with the goal of buying their team. Phoenix was the elite one and when it came up for sale, I wanted to make sure I was the next guy and and how could I do that and the way I started it is with the relationship. I had to meet him ... had dinner with him and talked to him about the organization, about being an NBA owner, the Phoenix market and understand those things. And so, we built a relationship from there. At the end of the day, you can build a lot of relationships, but I also paid the top price – by a lot.
“Relations are cool, but then dollars talk sometimes. I had to not only say that I have a passion for being an NBA owner in Phoenix and being the next guy, but I'm also going to pay your more than anyone else is willing to do and I’m willing to do it, with certainty, and I can do it myself. I don’t need to go and raise the money and I think that gave him a lot of certainty. To Robert’s credit, he was very big on doing what was right for the Phoenix Suns and Mercury and the market. He was like, ‘I know you’ll be a great owner. You know basketball.’ He goes, ‘You’re young, you’re passionate, you’re energetic. You have the money.’ And it's certainty for him, so it’s not like a big league approval process, going to raising money and all these different funds. It’s just me. My brother (Justin) and my dad are in it as you know.”
MI: “I think that was alluring to (Sarver) and he knew I was big on culture and taking care of people and he wanted me to come in there and do some things. So that was kind of how we talked and why we aligned on it. Everything he was looking for in a buyer was what I was and I think hopefully from a seller perspective, knowing that he wanted to do it and knowing that this is not a distressed organization from an on-the-court perspective. It’s in a great position and I think there are a lot of great pieces with the Suns and Mercury organizations. I’m excited to come in and hopefully add a little bit of things to make them even better.”
With the trade deadline coming up, how aggressive will you be when it comes to trades, signing free agents, keeping current guys?
MI: “I’m very active. And I’ll say this. I gave you the four things that I’m all about. None of them were profit. It’s all about team member experience, fan experience, community engagement and winning. There’s no money involved. Money follows success, not the other way around. I’m focused on winning. I’m focused on doing the right thing, not just short term. So I’m going to make good, long-term things, but remember, I also said the word culture, too. I need cultural fits that are about winning, that have long-term opportunity as a team, and I think you’ll see. You never know. I still got 2½ days left to go ... but I’m extremely active. ... We obviously have one player (Jae Crowder) that we have to move. This team, from my personal perspective, we have a championship-caliber team right now with no changes. If I can take an upgrade from a player that is not playing to a player that is playing, we’ve gotten even closer and if I can do more than that, I’m sure that would be even better.”
What are you looking to establish in the first 90 days as team governor?
“I’m a big listener and learner. ... I’m coming in to learn. I’m coming in to find out who the people are, find out who is ready, who is doing great things, who are the people who want to be part of this the right way, the long term. Who aligns with the vision that I’m going to set for the organization, which I’m going to be very clear with what I look for and how we look for it. And there are things I’m going to learn cause you know what, I’m not coming in making a bunch of changes. There will be very few changes between now and the end of the season. I’m coming in, listening, learning, finding out what the organization is about. Finding out who the people are, finding out who is passionate, who cares about the fan experience the way we think. Who is going to align and who doesn’t want to be a part of it and we’re going to figure all that stuff out.”