RATHER THAN HUG THE POPE, REINSDORF MUST TALK ABOUT THE TROUBLED ISHBIAS
The White Sox boss still hasn’t addressed the ownership of the Ishbias, reported at 35 percent, as they are sued by Phoenix Suns employees and have a CEO who allegedly slept with Sophie Cunningham
As a columnist who was described as “anti-Semitic” by Jerry Reinsdorf — in a letter he wrote to attorneys in the 1990s — I find it fascinating as a Catholic that the White Sox are embracing Pope Leo XIV. They are thrilled to host a celebration without him on June 14 at Rate Field, providing music, testimonials, prayers and a service.
Reinsdorf is holding a Mass in his ballpark. Would he like to apologize today for calling me “anti-Semitic,” to the point the editor-in-chief of the Sun-Times asked me about it and shoulder-bulled me as I left his office, leading to his firing? Rather than address why the Sox lost 121 games last year and have lost 34 so far this year, the owner wants media to show video of Robert Prevost attending Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. The team has unveiled a mural in Section 140, where he sat.
“If there was divine intervention, we accept,” Sox executive Brooks Boyer said at a news conference. “It’s great for us to look at someone from North America as the pope and to be able to understand that he took some of his time to spend at the ballpark. When people come to the ballpark — it’s an interesting piece of our history — they’re going to want to see it.”
Rather than rescue his franchise by rallying around the Pope — who cannot help the Sox or build a new stadium when they lose in record numbers — Reinsdorf might want to make a big statement to fans about Justin and Mat Ishbia. They also cannot be helped by the Pope. The reason I’ve liked them as the next possible Sox owners are their portfolios — Justin’s net worth is $4.3 billion and Mat’s net worth is $7.3 billion, according to the Forbes website Tuesday. And that makes Reinsdorf look even shoddier as an owner who never has spent more than $75 million for a free agent when Juan Soto makes $765 million. The Ishbias will spend monstrous sums. We know that.
But while CNBC reported the Ishbias have bought a significant part of the team, and while 670 The Score reports their ownership rate at 35 percent, the owners of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns continue to have troubles. Not only did the Ishbias miss the postseason with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on the roster, they also spent league highs of $214 million in salaries and $152 million in luxury-tax payments.
This week, they deal with blazing reports that Suns and Phoenix Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein had an affair with Sophie Cunningham, who starred for the Mercury until he traded her to Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever in February. Bartelstein was married to his wife, Sydney, in 2022. He took a major job with Mat Ishbia in April 2023 after spending eight years with the Detroit Pistons. His father, Mark, has been a premier NBA agent in Chicago since 1985. The Ishbias just reassigned general manager James Jones, who helped send the Suns to the Finals four years ago, and replaced him with Brian Gregory.
Bartelstein? The Suns used their senior vice president of communications, Stacey Mitch, to fight back on the Cunningham allegation. “The recent reports concerning Josh Bartelstein and Sophie Cunningham are entirely false and morally reprehensible,” Mitch told Front Office Sports. “Let’s be absolutely clear about the origin of these claims.”
Here’s another problem for the Ishbias: The Suns are being sued by Gene Traylor — their former director of safety, security and risk management — for racial discrimination, harassment and unlawful retaliation. He told Bartelstein that Cornelius Craig, Traylor’s boss, was telling people about his supposed affair with Cunningham. From the lawsuit: “When Bartelstein asked Plaintiff to reveal what Craig was saying, Plaintiff explained that Craig had been telling others, ‘Josh Bartelstein is f—king Sophie Cunningham.’ ’’
This is the fourth lawsuit against the Suns filed by current or former employees in the last seven months. Remember, the Ishbias bought the Suns and Mercury from Robert Sarver, who was run out of the NBA by commissioner Adam Silver for using racial slurs and making a demeaning mockery of workplace conduct.
Mitch attacked attorney Sheree D. Wright, who represents workers demanding money from the Ishbias. “[Wright] continues to insert salacious lies and fabrications into her complaints — knowing the media may report them as fact, as happened yesterday — she hopes to coerce the Phoenix Suns into settling,” Mitch said. “Sheree Wright will not extort our organization and never see a single dollar.”
Said Wright to Front Office Sports: “If our goal were to pressure the Suns into settling, we would have taken the opportunity to mediate and pause the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] and Attorney General’s investigations long ago. I’m not interested in litigating this in the media. I will respond in court — where evidence, not headlines, decides the outcome.”
So, if I’m Jerry Reinsdorf, I might address the public about more than the Pope. He has yet to explain the original involvement of Justin Ishbia as an owner who increased his minority stake in the Sox after abandoning the MInnesota Twins, as reported by The Athletic. He never addressed the radio report of the Ishbias’ 35 percent ownership. All he said was something odd to his friend, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who wrote: “White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, 89, has made it perfectly clear to friends that he has zero interest in selling as long as he remains in good health. He has rebuffed all of minority investor Justin Ishbia’s requests to purchase controlling interest of the team.”
Well, unless CNBC and The Athletic and The Score are lying, Reinsdorf is not being honest with fans. What I’d want to know, as an owner who has all but destroyed the Sox in Chicago, is how Bartelstein was hired to run the business operations of two teams. Said Ishbia, more than two years ago: “Josh understands our culture and values and shares our strategic vision for the Suns and Mercury. His proven leadership abilities and deep experience in both the business and basketball sides of an organization makes him uniquely positioned to transform the teams into the best basketball franchises on and off the court.”
The best? He is accused of sleeping with the shooting guard and trading her.
We need serious answers from Reinsdorf that have nothing to do with Section 140. He cannot continue to run and hide and expect people to pay money. They will not come to Rate Field to see a mural of the Pope. They want to win games.
Speak up, dude. Robert Prevost always does.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.