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Forbes released its updated team values on Wednesday and the value of the average team in the NBA this year skyrocketed by an average of 72 percent, largely bolstered by the $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers by former Microsoft exec Steve Ballmer.
Last year, there were only 3 teams that Forbes valued at over $1 billion last year, the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls, but that number has skyrocketed to 11 teams with that high of a value.
The Lakers, Bulls, and Knicks have also all increased to well over $2 billion in value. With all the teams now valued in the billions, the average worth of a team in the NBA has reached an average $1.106 billion.
This year saw the largest increase in value on average for the NBA since 1998, the year that Forbes first began to estimate the value of teams.
While there are still a majority of teams that haven’t broken the $1 billion mark in the NBA, most teams have still seen some incredible boosts in their value. This includes teams that have been struggling mightily on the court as well.
For example, the Charlotte Hornets’ owner, hall of famer, and longtime Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, first purchased the team for $275 million 5 years ago, and now the organization is worth a whopping$725 million.
The sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer bodes well for the other teams on the market this year, including the Atlanta Hawks, valued at $825 million, and the Brooklyn Nets, valued at $1.5 billion.
With both those teams for sale, and NBA teams valued more highly than ever, the Nets and Hawks are likely to attract a fair amount of attention from the market and, if they are sold for high prices, the NBA can expect to see the average value of their teams increase once more.
