I don’t know why I love finding out the most valuable sports teams in the world every year, but, for some reason, it’s fun. Maybe it’s the fact that I know I’ll never, ever, in my entire life, have the billions of dollars it takes to own a pro sports team — squashing my hope of ever becoming an owner — or that I’m always blown away at the amount of cash a team actually makes. Either way, it’s always interesting.
And, if you’re an NBA fan, you might be interested in finding out the most valuable sports team in the Association, as Forbes just released the latest version of their annual valuations list. As you might expect, there are some surprises up towards the top, while others — like my Cleveland Cavaliers — took a major hit following the departure of LeBron James over the summer, leading to a ton of lost money and decrease in value.
Here’s a look at the full list of the NBA team valuations, with the New York Knicks — who are also Forbes‘ second-most valuable sports team in America, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys — leading the way. Who knew that losing could actually lead to so much money, right?
- New York Knicks – $4 billion
- Los Angeles Lakers – $3.7 billion
- Golden State Warriors – $3.5 billion
- Chicago Bulls – $2.9 billion
- Boston Celtics – $2.8 billion
- Brooklyn Nets – $2.3 billion
- Houston Rockets – $2.2 billion
- Dallas Mavericks – $2.15 billion
- Los Angeles Clippers – $1.9 billion
- Miami Heat – $1.75 billion
- Toronto Raptors – $1.675 billion
- Philadelphia 76ers – $1.65 billion
- San Antonio Spurs – $1.625 billion
- Portland Trail Blazers – $1.6 billion
- Sacramento Kings – $1.575 billion
- Washington Wizards – $1.55 billion
- Phoenix Suns – $1.5 billion
- Oklahoma City Thunder – $1.475 billion
- Utah Jazz – $1.425 billion
- Indiana Pacers – $1.4 billion
- Denver Nuggets – $1.375 billion
- Milwaukee Bucks – $1.35 billion
- Orlando Magic – $1.325 billion
- Atlanta Hawks – $1.3 billion
- Cleveland Cavaliers – $1.275 billion
- Detroit Pistons – $1.27 billion
- Minnesota Timberwolves – $1.26 billion
- Charlotte Hornets – $1.25 billion
- New Orleans Pelicans – $1.22 billion
- Memphis Grizzlies – $1.2 billion
While there’s some serious discrepancy between the Knicks and the Grizzlies, you can’t feel too bad for the Memphis ownership group, since the average NBA team is worth an astonishing $1.9 billion, which, per Forbes, is up 13 percent over last year and three times the valuation level just five years ago. That means that, if you’re a billionaire and are looking for a huge investment, owning an NBA team is probably the way to go.
Some other interesting info from the data about the most valuable sports teams in the NBA is the biggest five-year gainers, with the Golden State Warriors leading the way, which makes sense given the popularity of the team and the winning it has seen during that time. Per Forbes, here are the NBA teams who rose the most during that timeframe.
- Golden State Warriors – 367 percent
- Los Angeles Clippers – 282 percent
- Philadelphia 76ers – 252 percent
- Milwaukee Bucks – 233 percent
- Toronto Raptors – 222 percent
The entire statistics are pretty in-depth, showing revenue per fan and the team with the most debt, so to see more about the most valuable sports teams in the NBA, head on over to Forbes‘ site to take a look.