03 May 2023 , 22:20
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When billionaire businessman Mat Ishbia had been in the pursuit of purchasing the Phoenix Suns, he needed a majority 'yes' from fellow NBA t eam owners to go ahead with the deal.
Of the 29 owners across the league, 28 owners gave the green light, and one owner abstained from voting. That owner is one that Ishbia has a long-standing feud with - Cleveland Cavaliers ' Dan Gilbert.
Both billionaires are from Detroit, Michigan and have long competed way before they both owned NBA teams.
Gilbert is the owner and co-founder of mortgage loan provider Rocket Mortgage - meanwhile Ishbia is the owner and co-founder of United Wholesale Mortgage.
The companies are the two biggest mortgage providers in the United States, with it's two owners not getting along with one another. And with Gilbert choosing not to approve his rivals purchase of the Suns, Ishbia did not hold back on his feelings towards him.
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Speaking on the Bill Simmons podcast, he said: "I could go talk for hours on it or I could take for a minute and the minute is probably easier: He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him.
"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.
Suns owner Mat Ishbia"I knew without a question that that’d probably be how he handled [the ownership vote].
"And the best part is now you get to see who I see. Very simply. Now you see who I see and what I know about that man.
"I am trying to compete at everything that I do - I am trying to win. If someone does things the wrong way, I am going to call him out on it and that's what I have done."
Ishbia did acknowledge that Gilbert has been struggling with health issues and wished him well, after having a stroke in 2019.