This time it was Hawks owner Bruce Levenson, who in a 2012 email had complained to NBA officials that "the black crowd scared away the whites." The Hawks are on the verge of adding five minor investors to their ownership group, according to several people familiar with the situation. The Sacramento Kings recently sold for $534 million. After their youngest son went off to Georgetown last year, the couple relocated to Atlanta, where they're building a house, in order to fully focus on the Hawks. ", Running a basketball team has turned out to be something of a full-time job, but Gertz and Ressler have thrown themselves into it. But then — making an anything but typical entrance — Jami Gertz strolls onto the court, all 5-foot-5 of her, wearing a skirt in fluorescent "volt green" (one of the team colors) and black stilettos, which click-clack on the polished gym floor as loudly as a drumroll. 'Wouldn't it be cool? Former NBA stars Horace Grant and Alonzo Mourning will join him, repping the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks, respectively. she asks the former Golden State Warrior of his wife) and congratulated "Uncle Steve" Holman, the Hawks' longtime radio announcer, on his upcoming 2,500th game.

So far, they say they have been warmly received by the locals, so long as they keep their Left Coast politics to themselves. They lost the bid to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who paid a staggering $2 billion for it in June 2014. All but four of the 30 teams were profitable last season. “We’ve been saying for some time that we’ve been trying to find strategic investors to bring into the organization,” Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. … [Fighting The Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story starring Gertz], It’s not the first time Gertz will be “fighting the odds” at the NBA draft table — she represented the Hawks in 2018 too. "), caught up with shooting guard Kent Bazemore ("How's my girl Sam?" According to those familiar with the situation, the investors believe the NBA and the Hawks are a sound investment. Gertz and her husband Antony Ressler also own part of the Milwaukee Brewers in Major League Baseball. The additions were described as “a plus strategically, but not a big deal.” The Hawks could add additional investors in the future. Privacy | "At some point, it became a reality.". "When Mom married my dad, she realized how much he loved the sport and slowly started to gain an appreciation for the game," explains middle son Nick (who recently relocated from New York City to Atlanta to work as the Hawks' coordinator of basketball services). "I didn't know [her movie and TV credits]." The group will be background players and likely will not disclose their identities publicly. | Cookie Settings, Main Image: Photographed by Andrew Thomas Lee. She'll be representing the Atlanta Hawks because she's part owner of the team. As for their friends back in L.A., not all are thrilled with the move. "I was doing an episode of Ally McBeal with Marlo Thomas," Gertz recalls, "and I wanted to get home because I was having 70 people over for Passover." The investors will not have a significant ownership in the team nor will their additions change the current structure. I paid for our first house. In an interview with the AJC in October, Levenson said the ownership group is committed to keeping the Hawks after a failed attempt to sell a majority interest to Alex Merulo in 2011. The notoriously press-shy financier is nowhere to be found at the moment — he made a brief appearance in the morning then slipped out before camera crews started arriving — but his wife, it turns out, is indisputably good at working a room, even one the size of a sports arena.

© 2012-2020, 2paragraphs Productions, LLC. Despite living in a 13,000-square-foot mansion at the time, Ressler did his best negotiating from inside a closet. ", They were married two years later. (NBA on TNT). Their first shot at ownership came out of a scandal, after TMZ released a conversation between L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his mistress, V. Stiviano, in which Sterling complained about her "associating with black people."

There's a State Farm Arena staff uniform fashion show that evening, and she's both the organizer and emcee. That’s Gertz’s challenge. She's great at that. In other words, it's just another typical day in the NBA. "He has a little tiny desk in there, and he was taking calls in the closet," Gertz recalls of Hawks auction night in June 2015. The NBA Draft Lottery will feature gorgeous actress Jami Gertz.

She had no idea I had this whole other side to my life. ", "All I knew was that she was a working actress," says Ressler of their early romance. Billionaire Tony Ressler, co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, joins CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin to discuss the controversial new abortion laws that have been enacted in Georgia. NBA legend Patrick Ewing will be on hand representing the New York Knicks in the 2019 NBA draft lottery. The notion of Gertz being the team's ambassador was not popular with NBA officials, who typically want the role to be filled by a team legend like Dominique Wilkins. And on that note, she excuses herself from the table and hustles to her next appointment. At least part of what Ressler does is snatch up struggling companies like Serta Simmons and Neiman Marcus at bargain prices and turn their fortunes around, along with his own. ", That last part — the engaging — Ressler leaves mostly to his wife.

"You reach an age, and you slow down, and the jobs are a little hard to come by," she says. The Hawks were one of the four franchises in the red. And then we were jumping and screaming, 'Oh my God — we just bought a basketball team!'".

"We'd prefer Jami and her husband Tony to spend all of their time in L.A.," says Iger, adding, "but we are excited about their stewardship of the Hawks. "Our old owner, Ted Turner, would just call me 'Mr. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com Forbes estimates his net worth to be $2.1 billion, rich even by the standards of the gated community in Beverly Hills where he and Gertz have lived in a seven-bedroom estate since the 1990s, raising their three sons, Oliver, 26, Nick, 23, and Theo, 19. ", Of course, the move to Atlanta has made it hard for Gertz to stay on top of Hollywood opportunities. Gertz recalls family members contemplating. Last year Gertz wore a lucky red ribbon attached to her bra — which she generously showed to fans while she was getting her hair and makeup done — see video below. This time it was Hawks owner Bruce Levenson, who in a 2012 email had complained to NBA officials that "the black crowd scared away the whites." Despite the lure of Wall Street, Ressler decided after Drexel's collapse to make things work in Los Angeles, for Gertz's career, which at that time was humming with gigs on movies like Renegades and a role on the ABC family drama Sibs.

But Jami steps in when it comes to so many parts of the business that I did not appreciate or have any experience in. "I'd rather go with Jami. '"), "I get it," Gertz says during a break in schmoozing, acknowledging the weirdness of her journey from screen ingenue to billionaire's wife and basketball team owner. Sitemap | ET. It was Ressler who in May insisted that Gertz represent the team at the nationally televised NBA Draft Lottery, in what essentially was her coming-out party as the face of the Hawks, a move that caught many fans off guard. For many people, Tony Ressler is best known as the owner of the Atlanta hawks. Levenson issued an apology and announced his intention to sell his controlling share of the team. She’ll be representing the Atlanta Hawks — because she’s part owner of the team. I'm like, 'I don't know. "I'm very active on the business and player personnel decision-making. "It just seemed like a natural moment for me to take a break from acting," she says, pushing away her lunch plate. He actually co-owns the team with his partner Grant hill. "But I said fuck it," Ressler says. The Shakira-esque bad girl from broody teen '80s flicks like The Lost Boys and Less Than Zero. "She explained to them the importance of the fan experience," Ressler adds. “There is a real belief in the future of the Hawks and the future of the NBA,” one person familiar with the deal said of the investor’s interest. Before long, the idea of owning a team became a frequent topic for dinner-table conversation. " Gertz invited Thomas to the Seder only to see her jaw drop when Thomas arrived at something closer to a state dinner. Says Ressler, "Many of the things we've done we thought were luxuries but we realized early on were requirements: having a top-tier practice facility and a really world-class arena. "I think it's fair to say that she makes a better impression on our fan base than any of us in the organization," Ressler says. About Our Ads Think Staples Center meets Soho House. ", Meanwhile, as her husband grew more and more successful, he began, as billionaires sometimes do, to fantasize about owning his own basketball team. The bra ribbon was pretty successful as Young had a strong rookie year. I'm so scared.' All rights reserved. And though she continues to dabble in acting — she appeared last year in an episode of Hulu's since-canceled Difficult People — she's less focused on that part of her life. So, instead of becoming a producer, Gertz threw herself into entertaining the couple's circle of powerful friends. The completion of a deal is in the NBA approval process and likely will be completed by mid-March. But forget about double teams and consider double takes — the person most likely to get more of those during the Draft Lottery is gorgeous actress Jami Gertz. Gertz will have to do even more this year.

The Hawks are seeking to make capital investments in the organization, including the addition of a new practice facility. Hill called Ressler, and the two committed to bidding on the Hawks. The Hollywood Reporter, LLC is a subsidiary of Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Radio. "I guess the right quote would be, 'We're the most amazing investment firm in the history of the universe.'".

There are 14 teams and the Hawks have a 10.5% chance of getting the first pick in the draft. Trying to redevelop downtown so that people are excited to come downtown. Wouldn't that be fun?'" "Which is what any Jewish girl from Glenview would want. ", It was Gertz's publicist at the time, Susan Geller, who introduced her to Ressler, who was then working at Drexel Burnham Lambert, the banking firm that four years later would collapse over the illicit dealings of junk-bond king Michael Milken. And he looked at me, and I looked at him, and he's like, 'Jami, are we going to do this?' Those guys have made careers out of demanding attention and often a double team from opposing defenses. New end-of-court scoreboards were added last year, among other improvements to the arena.

Charles Barkley Says NBA Star “Drains Energy Out of The Room”, Charles Barkley: "He walks around like he's on his death bed." "He was a nice guy with a job," says Gertz. Hoops already was a big part of family life for the Resslers.

The five new investors have been described as being adept in the digital-content and social-media fields and will offer access to new team sponsorships. She held lavish dinner parties around the Jewish holidays, attended by the likes of Disney chairman Bob Iger and wife Willow Bay.

The Hawks would not comment on the additions to the ownership group. By continuing to use this site you agree to the use of cookies.



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