The Houston Rockets are on sale. Current owner Leslie Alexander, a businessman from New Jersey, bought the franchise in 1993 and paid $85 million. If inflation is taken into account, that amount is worth $143.8 million today.
Forbes valued the NBA franchise at $1.65 billion in 2016, but the recent acquisition of Chris Paul surely inflated the value a bit. Alexander is already getting up there in age, so this sale is not surprising.
One of the biggest rumors around the franchise is that the legends of the team will possibly buy it from Alexander. One of those legends is Yao Ming. Ming was chosen first by Houston in 2002 and spent his whole career in Texas. The Hall-of-Famer spent eight season in the league, and was an All-Star for all eight seasons.
However, he is reportedly not interested in buying the Rockets. In a statement published through Xinhua news agency, Ming was clear about what he wants to spend his time on. He recently became the Chairman of the Board of the company that runs the Chinese Basketball Association. Due to this, he has no time to buy and run an NBA franchise.
“I have no time to consider anything else (including buying Houston Rockets).” Ming said.
In the same statement, Ming also invited the Rockets to come to China once again. They played one game versus Shangai Sharks before the last season, a team that Ming owns.
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