Suns Owner Mat Ishbia Provides Savage Response to Rivalry With Dan Gilbert
Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia has brought a fresh breath of air to the Valley in numerous ways.
Not even 24 hours after his official introduction as the new leader of the Organization, Ishbia gave the green light to pull off the biggest trade in franchise history to land superstar Kevin Durant.
Just recently, the Suns and Phoenix Mercury announced they would be leaving their deal with television provider Bally Sports to make games more accessible to fans in the state of Arizona.
Yet Ishbia has also brought a sense of change in an owner acts. You can spot him sitting courtside at games, mingling and interacting with fans while cheering on the team.
He's also very competitive.
In an interview with Bill Simmons, Ishbia was asked about Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert - who abstained from voting Ishbia's approval of sale, making the NBA's total vote 29-0 instead of a perfect 30-0 to approve Ishbia taking over the team.
The rivalry between the two runs deeper into their own personal business, as the two run the top mortgage companies in the world (Ishbia with UWM and Gilbert with Rocket Mortgage).
"I can talk for hours on it or I'll talk for a minute, and the minute is probably easier," said Ishbia.
"He doesn't like me and I don't like him, right? That's how it is. Business. His company used to be No. 1 mortgage, my business UWM is No. 1 in mortgage. I don't like the way they do business in a lot of things - he probably doesn't like the way we do things. We're in the same town, we compete, we're winning. That's what it is right now.
"The reality is, people ask me what I though about that [Gilbert abstaining], I knew without a question that'd be how he handled it, and the best part is you get to see what I see. Very simple. Now you see who I see and what I know about that man."
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Ishbia continued by saying, "I wish him nothing but the best. I have no animosity, but the reality is don't think we're not competing ... In the mortgage business and now the basketball floor, whatever it is, I'm trying to win at everything I do. That's what we're gonna be and if somebody does things the wrong way, which he's done, I'm gonna call them out on it and that's what I've done."
