When Mat Ishbia bought the Suns and the Mercury for 2.28 billion dollars last February, the other owners did not hesitate to validate the sale, to turn the page Robert Sarver.
The 29 owners unanimously approved the transaction… even if Dan Gilbert abstained.
Why did the Cavs owner refuse to validate the arrival of Mat Ishbia in the NBA microcosm? Quite simply because the two men are at the head of the two biggest companies on the mortgage market in the United States, they are both from Michigan and they have obviously crossed paths a lot…
“I could talk about it for hours or do it for a minute, and the minute is probably the easier option: he doesn’t like me and I don’t like him”explained Mat Ishbia to Bill Simmons. “I don’t like the way he does business in a lot of areas. He probably doesn’t like our way of doing things. We are in the same city. We are in competition. We win. This is what is happening right now. »
As Mat Ishbia’s ‘United Wholesale Mortgage’ eventually overtook Dan Gilbert’s ‘Rocket Mortgage’ in 2022 as the top mortgage company in the United States, the Suns’ new owner has never shied away from criticizing the management of his direct adversary, in particular when he laid off 2,000 employees last year, despite a turnover of 5 billion dollars. A “disgusting” choice in his eyes.
Compete everywhere, even on donations
“I knew that was how he would handle [le vote des propriétaires]. And the best part is now you can see who I see. It’s very clear. You see now who I see and what I know of this man”.
Already competitors on the mortgage market, while the company of Mat Ishbia is in the suburbs of Detroit, while that of Dan Gilbert is in Detroit itself, the two men are also on other grounds.
They are thus both passed by the college of Michigan State, Mat Ishbia having even been NCAA champion in 2000 in the basketball team (in an extremely reduced role). And the two men thus multiplied the donations to their former faculty, Rocket Mortgage answering a large check from United Wholesale Mortgage, a month later…
And now, here they are in competition on the grounds of the NBA.
“I know his business is not going well but I wish him the best”even allows himself to chamber Mat Ishbia. “But the reality is that in mortgages like now on the basketball court, I try to win in everything I do. And that’s what we’re going to do. »
