Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia's business rivalry with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert: All you need to know

The Phoenix Suns are beginning a new chapter with new owner Mat Ishbia and putting behind the unruly tenure of former owner Robert Sarver. Ishbia is a billionaire based out of Detroit, Michigan, and is purchasing the Suns for a record-setting $4 billion.

The deal also includes the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and is roughly $700 million more than what Joe Tsai paid ($3.3billion) for the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.

Ishbia is the CEO and chairman of United Wholesale Mortgage and is worth close to $5 billion. Interestingly, his main competitor and fierce rival is Dan Gilbert, owner of Rocket Mortgage, who is also the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The two billionaires have apparently been rivals since their college days, and only time will tell if their feud spills onto the NBA hardwood.

A history of Mat Ishbia and Dan Gilbert's rivalry

Mat Ishbia, CEO and chairman of United Wholesale Mortgage, and new owner of the Phoenix Suns

Both Mat Ishbia and Dan Gilbert attended Michigan State University and ended up as rivals in the same industry, mortgage lending. In 2021, Mat Ishbia pledged $32 million to Michigan State Athletics to build a new football facility and improve and expand the athletics department. The donation was also for renaming the basketball court at the Breslin Center after Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.

As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Ishbia spoke about his decision to commit $32 million to his alma mater in a press release. He said:

"This donation is not about me, this is to give credit to and thank coach Tom Izzo, the business school and Michigan State University for the incredible impact they have had on my life."

A month after he made the donation, Dan Gilbert's Rocket Mortgage officially sponsored the Michigan State Spartans. According to a press release by Michigan State, the team will be known as the "MSU Spartans Presented by Rocket Mortgage" throughout the Breslin Center, while playing on the Tom Izzo court.

So the university athletics department was in the middle of a mortgage rivalry between the two billionaires.

Ishbia's United Wholesale Mortgage and Gilbert's Rocket Mortgage are direct competitors. A week before the MSU press release, Mat Ishbia announced that his company would no longer work with brokers who loaned money to competitors. This fueled the rivalry between the two and encouraged Gilbert to sponsor the Spartans.

Additionally, Mat Ishbia publicly criticized Gilbert and his company for laying off 2000 employees to save money. He proudly stated on his LinkedIn that United Wholesale Mortgage considers itself to be a family company and hasn't laid off any employees in over 35 years.

He called it "disgusting" and the "wrong thing to do." As reported by Deadline Detroit, Gilbert's team fired back, saying:

"Mr Ishbia’s comments about "families in Metro Detroit" is nothing but empty cynicism. There isn’t another company in Detroit or this country that can match Rocket’s record of philanthropy and community investment and service and overall commitment to its community. You sir have no such record to speak of."

This turned into an ugly public exchange between employees of the two Detroit-based companies. Former United Wholesale Mortgage employees who currently work at Rocket Mortgage would accuse their former employer of horrible working conditions, and former Rocket employees at United Wholesale would do the same.

The two captains of the industry are now going to face off on the basketball court. Not literally, but both know that they are trying to one-up each other.

The Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers have no rivalry. They play in different conferences, so they have never met in a postseason series. The Suns have made the NBA Finals three times since 1971 and have faced the Celtics, Bulls, and Bucks. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, have faced the Warriors and Spurs in five Finals appearances.

Hence, the fan base of the two teams have no hatred against each other. It is going to be tough for the team owners to bring their business rivalry into the NBA. We shouldn't expect any trades between the two teams anytime soon, though, as it doesn't look like Mat Ishbia and Dan Gilbert will do anything to help the other.