Milwaukee Bucks owners Wes Edens and Marc Lasry have a long way to go before reaching the same heights Herb Kohl did during his time as the team’s owner. In fact, it was Kohl himself who handed over the reins to Edens and Lasry when the former sold his stake in the team to the new owners back in 2014.
Kohl had firmly established himself as a well-loved figure as the team’s owner, which was why it was a sad day to see him go when he sold the team. Kohl had an undying love for the Bucks, though, so he made sure it was left in the right hands by the time he left.
Why Herb Kohl Chose Wes Edens, Marc Lasry as New Owners of Milwaukee Bucks
Speaking to Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Wes Edens recently spoke out about how the sale of the franchise came to be. According to the New York-based entrepreneur, Kohl did everything in his power to make sure that the sale would go as smoothly as possible:
“After the process had started, we were invited to come out to tour the facilities and meet management, and of course, to spend time with Senator Kohl,” Edens said. “And we spent a couple of days with the Senator and the word that comes to mind is just authentic. He was so authentic in his love for the Bucks and his love for Milwaukee and the people in Wisconsin.”
Edens then went on to say that the reason why Kohl handpicked them as the new caretakers of his beloved team is because Edens and Lasry shared his vision of keeping the Bucks in Milwaukee by all means necessary:
“And he really was very focused on doing everything that he could to make sure that they stayed the Bucks,” Lasry continued. “And so he was just a really authentic guy. He had a lot of steel and he was a very determined person, but he was a very, very sweet man. And his love for the Bucks and the organization and the state and the city were manifest.”
Marc Lasry echoed his business partner’s sentiments. According to Lasry, the biggest motivation for Kohl was to make sure that Milwaukee was going to keep their team long after he had gone:
“His goal was to make sure that if we bought the team, that the team stayed in Milwaukee. That was the requisite for us owning the team,” Lasry told The Athletic. “He cared deeply about the city, about the people and he cared deeply about the Bucks.”
To this day, Edens and Lasry remain committed to fulfilling Kohl’s wish. Perhaps even more so now that he has passed.
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