Former Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron is interested in buying the Atlanta Hawks as part of a group bidding on them. The Hawks just went on sale this past week and should sell for a pretty penny. Aaron was the homerun king for 33 years after his retirement (thanks a lot, Barry Bonds) and is trying to team up with a group of potential owners led by Memphis Grizzlies minority owner and vice chairman Steve Kaplan, Indonesian media magnates Erick Thohir and Handy Poernomo Soetedjo and former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien, the current managing general partner of MLS club DC United. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the group also reportedly includes “a select and diverse group of prominent investors.”
The consortium with Aaron is the second known group to be interested in buying the Hawks. David Aldridge of TNT reported earlier this week that a group led by former NBA players Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman has put together a bid with a group including former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo and his son, former Suns and Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo. Aaron also has ties to the Atlanta area having been in the Braves front office since 1976 and he owns several different businesses to give him quite the impressive business portfolio.
