A-Rod's $1.5 billion Minnesota Timberwolves purchase includes the WNBA's Lynx - but you wouldn't know it from his statement

• Alex Rodriguez made headlines for acquiring the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves for $1.5 billion.
• He and Mark Lore also took ownership of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx as part of the deal.
• They didn't acknowledge the Lynx in initial statements, casting doubt on their support for the club.

WNBA fans know better than to overlook the Minnesota Lynx.

But Alex Rodriguez, the franchise's new owner, has some catching up to do.

The former New York Yankees slugger made headlines earlier this month when he and business partner Mark Lore acquired the NBA's ailing Minnesota Timberwolves. The $1.5 billion purchase also included the Wolves' sister organization - the four-time WNBA champion Lynx - but you would never have known it from A-Rod's and Lore's statement upon agreeing to terms with former owner Glen Taylor.

"We look forward to entering this phase of the process with Glen Taylor," they said, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. "Our respect for him and the legacy he has built lays an amazing foundation for what is to come. We are excited by the prospect of getting to know the Timberwolves organization, the talented team, and their incredible fans."

No mention of the Lynx to be found.

Taylor fostered an equitable environment for the Timberwolves and Lynx. It's the new owners' responsibility to carry the torch.

Taylor has been widely criticized in NBA circles for failing to uplift the Timberwolves from their status as perennial bottom-dwellers. The team has made the playoffs just once in the last 15 years. But in his more than two decades as owner of the Lynx, he's overseen a bona fide powerhouse that has made a WNBA-record 10 consecutive playoff appearances to date.

More importantly, Taylor has been an ardent champion of the women's game. The billionaire businessman has long been known for treating the Timberwolves and Lynx with equal regard throughout his ownership tenure.

His efforts helped bring top talent like Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, and Lindsay Whalen to Minnesota. It also helped elevate the status of women's basketball at large, according to Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve.

"It was important to [Taylor] that [our] facility would reflect that two teams resided there and so everywhere you see a Timberwolves logo, you see a Lynx logo," Reeve said on the Nothing But Net with Debbie Antonelli podcast in February. "So it's co-branded."

And as Just Women's Sports notes, press releases from either franchise include both teams' names.

"What that says to the community is that the Lynx are important," Reeve added.

Thus far, Rodriguez and Lore have failed to carry on the precedent of equity Taylor set as top brass for the Timberwolves and Lynx. Whether through ignorance or a more sinister force, their omission of the Lynx in their debut statement as owners sent a signal - deliberate or not - that the women's players are worth less than their male counterparts.

What that says to the community is that the Lynx aren't even worthy of a single line.

But there's so much success to celebrate - or, at the very least, acknowledge - when it comes to women's basketball in Minnesota

In addition to their four championships and 10 consecutive playoff appearances, the Lynx have once again reloaded to position themselves as serious contenders for the 2021 WNBA title.

Reeve has the league's all-time rebounding leader in Fowles at her disposal. And her roster boasts the past two WNBA rookies of the year in Napheesa Collier and Crystal Dangerfield, respectively.

In the offseason, Reeve and her staff acquired the potential steal of the 2021 draft in Tennessee's Rennia Davis. They also recruited mega-watt free agents Kayla McBride and Aerial Powers to the Twin Cities.

And should Moore ever choose to rejoin the WNBA after taking multiple seasons off to fight for criminal justice reform, the 2014 league MVP, six-time All-Star, and future Hall of Famer will likely return to Minnesota, where she'd pursue a record-breaking fifth championship for herself and her franchise.

To their credit, Rodriguez and Lore met with Reeve and her Lynx staff while in Minneapolis to visit the teams' facilities, according to The Star Tribune. The three-time WNBA Coach of the Year seemed to acknowledge the new owners' lack of familiarity with her team and its winning culture but said she did her best to inform the duo during their initial encounter.

"I can't tell you they knew a lot about the Lynx," Reeve told The Star Tribune's Jim Souhan. "I can tell you that when they walked out, they knew a lot more and were impressed."