Jerry Colangelo’s name could soon surface in a very different NBA conversation than the one Phoenix fans are used to.
The former Suns owner is part of a group pushing to bring a franchise to Las Vegas, according to Bloomberg, and the bid already has serious financial backing behind it. The group, called the Las Vegas Jacks, says it has secured $8 billion in financial commitments as it tries to land one of the league’s next expansion teams.
The leadership group includes Colangelo, David Levy, who founded Horizon Sports & Experiences, and Scott Colangelo, the managing partner of Prime Capital Financial. US Bank and its subsidiary BTIG LLC, along with merchant bank Global Leisure Partners, are listed as the group’s financial partners.
For Phoenix, seeing Colangelo attached to a potential rival would be a strange twist. He remains a giant in Arizona sports, with a legacy built across the Suns, the Rattlers and the Diamondbacks. He’s also widely credited with helping bring the Coyotes to the state.
Colangelo’s connection to the Suns goes all the way back to the franchise’s beginning. He was the team’s first general manager when the club was founded in 1968, and he also served as head coach at different points in the 1970s.
Under his watch, Phoenix reached the NBA Finals in 1976 and again in 1993. Along the way, he collected four NBA Executive of the Year awards.
He sold the Suns in 2004 to Robert Sarver, who owned the team until 2022.
That long run in Arizona is part of why The Arizona Republic named Colangelo the state’s “Most Influential Sports Figure” of the 20th century.
The idea of him helping lead a Las Vegas team that could end up facing the Suns regularly in the Western Conference would be a notable one, especially with Phoenix expected to see plenty of the new franchise if expansion moves forward.
ESPN’s Shams Charania previously reported that the NBA Board of Governors voted on Las Vegas and Seattle for bidding processes that are expected to reach up to $10 billion per franchise.
There’s still no exact start date for either team, but the expectation is that the league could make things official within the next few seasons.
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