Las Vegas NBA expansion team being pursued by group led by former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo

Former Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo has thrown his hat into the ring for a Las Vegas NBA expansion team.

Colangelo, 86, leads a group called the Las Vegas Jacks that Wednesday announced an $8 billion plan to bring the NBA to Southern Nevada.

The Chicago native is known as one of the icons in NBA history. He started as a general manager of two expansion teams, saved a franchise from moving, helped to usher in major officiating changes as leader of the league’s board and revamped the country’s Olympic basketball program that led to four consecutive gold medals.

Colangelo’s group includes former NBA player and coach Vinny Del Negro, media executive David Levy, finance chairman Scott Colangelo, American Century Investments CEO Jonathan Thomas and former No. 2 NBA pick and ESPN broadcaster Jay Williams, according to a news release.

“Basketball has become a global sport to levels never seen before,” Jerry Colangelo said in a statement. “With the five top MVP vote-getters being all internationally born, the game is reaching unparalleled heights.

“My excitement for this project and for our Jacks’ vision is right up there in terms of my career. We all are committed and working as hard as we can to bring the league, owners and the fans, the best proposal and end product possible to Las Vegas.”

The Jacks would not be the name of the NBA team should their bid be successful, according to the group’s spokesman.

Jerry Colangelo has extensive basketball experience besides the Suns, including running USA Basketball between 2005 and 2021, the Olympic basketball arm which runs its camps at UNLV.

Colangelo began his career in the NBA in 1966 with the Chicago Bulls and was named the general manager of the Phoenix Suns in 1968 when the team began as an expansion franchise. In 1987 he purchased the Suns with a group of investors and owned the team until 2004.

His NBA clout goes into the league’s New York offices. He served as the chairman of the NBA Board of Governors and spearheaded some of the changes in the way the pro game is officiated.

Colangelo also helped in the formation of the WNBA and owned the Phoenix Mercury from their inception in 1997, until he sold the team as part of the Suns deal in 2004. More recently, he was the architect of Grand Canyon University’s rise to NCAA Division I.

He has further expansion ownership history with MLB, where he and his investment group were awarded the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1995. He sold his controlling interest in the team in 2004.

The group is partnering with financial firm BTIG and U.S. Bank, supported by Global Leisure Partners, who serve as institutional financial partners, who will assist the group in their acquisition and development strategy. The group is targeting raising between $12.5 billion to $13 billion, with $5 billion already committed and another $3 billion formally indicated, according to the news release.

“Our team is focused on executing on three very distinct levels,” Scott Colangelo said in a statement. “Raise the entirety of the capital in cash with exceptional business leaders. Build the most impressive state of the art basketball arena in the world. And be part of a group committed to giving the city of Las Vegas what they deserve, exceptional.

“Not good or great. Exceptional. You can only do that with people who know basketball and have successfully run professional sports teams.”

The group plans for a Las Vegas NBA team to begin playing at T-Mobile Arena while a new arena is being built, according to the release. Golden Knights owner, Bill Foley, who is part of a different group pursuing a Las Vegas NBA expansion team, told the Review-Journal last week that he is open to the idea of T-Mobile being used as a temporary home for an NBA team, should his group not prove successful in their bid.

“I’m thrilled to be part of this All-Star lineup,” Thomas said in a statement. “Making this historic announcement on the eve of the NBA Summer League and our event - the American Century Championship - is certainly the perfect precursor.”