Los Angeles Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook joined the group of investors who took over a sprawling Arizona youth-sports facility that hammered bondholders with losses when it collapsed into bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Westbrook, a nine-time National Basketball League all-star, will also lead the facility’s basketball programming and community outreach efforts. The efforts to revive the complex may help boost the recoveries for bondholders, who were virtually wiped out after it filed for bankruptcy last year but retain a small equity stake in the business. Legacy Park, financed with $280 million of bonds issued through the Arizona Industrial Development Authority in 2020 and 2021, was unable to pay its debts after the pandemic upended the sports industry and usage of the facility fell far short of expectations. A firm founded by Chad Brownstein, a Los Angeles-based investor and a former vice chairman of Banc of California, purchased Legacy Park for approximately $26 million at the end of 2023. The purchase provided bondholders with $2.4 million in cash and an 11% equity stake in the new ownership entity. The new owners have since rebranded the facility as Arizona Athletic Grounds.
