The New York Knicks haven’t been good in two decades, but that hasn’t stopped them from setting NBA records for franchise value.
The annual Forbes list of NBA team valuations was released on Wednesday, and all 30 franchises are above $1.2 billion for the first time ever as the league continues to see rapid growth in the value of franchises. The usual suspects top the list, with the Knicks on top, becoming the first franchise to ever crack the $4 billion mark on the Forbes list.
Behind New York you’ll find the Lakers ($3.7 billion), Warriors ($3.5 billion), Bulls ($2.9 billion), and Celtics ($2.8 billion). All of those teams saw between 11-13 percent increases in value from last year’s list to now, and only one team in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers, saw their value depreciate (-4 percent) from a year ago for obvious reasons.
The Philadelphia 76ers took the biggest leap in valuation, gaining 40 percent from last year as they now are at $1.65 billion, good for 12th in the league. The Bucks, Blazers, Pelicans, Nuggets, and Raptors all saw at least 20% increases from last year, as the tide has risen across the league.
The bottom five franchises in terms of value this year are the Pistons ($1.27 billion), Timberwolves ($1.26 billion), Hornets ($1.25 billion), Pelicans ($1.22 billion), and Grizzlies ($1.2 billion), but all saw at least 15 percent increases. What this says is that money is flowing through these teams and it will be interesting to see, if this trend continues, what the next round of CBA negotiations look like as players will assuredly want to continue seeing their piece of the pie increase.
Also, please remember this list the next time an NBA owner cries poor to get public funding for their arena renovations, or tries to strong arm a city into building them a brand new arena.
