Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Michael Jordan could part with $1.5 million following an investment in a failing Chicago-area gym

For years, Chicago-based personal trainer Tim Grover worked with some of the NBA's biggest stars as the league's go-to personal trainer. From Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade to dozens of Chicago-area NBA vets and various Chicago Bulls, Grover remains lauded for his work as his Attack Athletics gym served as a destination spot for all manner of NBA-types even in the heat of a muggy Chicago summers.

His most-recent real estate venture, a sprawling 65,000-foot facility built in 2007, hasn't worked out as well for Grover, despite his respected work with the best of the best. And his most famous client and investor, Michael Jordan, might lose $1.5 million while various banks circle the waters following his company's bankruptcy filing. From the Chicago Tribune:

Grover's company listed claims for $12.2 million in its bankruptcy filing, including a $2 million second mortgage to Chicago-based SomerCor 504, a non-profit development company certified to make Small Business Administration loans. Jordan's $1.5 million stake topped the list of other unsecured creditors, which also included former NBA player Michael Finley as a guarantor, and the Cook County treasurer.

A foreclosure sale was apparently staved off "with minutes to spare" in April following the bankruptcy filing, and though an eventual sale seems probable, the company looking to recoup its massive loan on the gym won't comment as to its likelihood.

Jordan currently owns the Charlotte Bobcats, and while his team is notorious for suffering through droughts in attendance and financial woes, a presumed $1.5 million hit won't affect his coffers all that much — it'll represent less than a third of the first year rookie scale salary that he'll dole out to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

It's still a downer, though, because Grover has made a real difference with hundreds of athletes either famous or anonymous, and he's to be credited for putting his facility in the area he built it in. This particular misstep, based on what we've read thus far, should not change anyone's perception of Grover in the slightest.

And considering what Grover has done for Jordan, for years at this point, even a seven-figure price tag seems like a pittance to lose.



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