In the 2026 Olympic gold medal men’s ice hockey game, American player Jack Hughes scored the overtime game-winning goal, clinching the gold medal for Team USA. His goal was reminiscent of when Sidney Crosby, captain of Team Canada, scored the “golden goal” in overtime against Team USA in 2010. However, these stories diverge beyond just the country each represented because the respective national heroes disagree about who should own the infamous pucks for each of those goals. Crosby said that he never even thought about owning the puck and was simply happy to have scored the goal. He was delighted that the puck would rest in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Hughes, on the other hand, believes that he should receive the puck because he is the one who scored the goal.

If you were in the market for an eighteen-time NBA champion franchise, the cost will run you $6.1 billion. This was the price paid by the new ownership of the Boston Celtics in late March 2025. That astronomical price tag makes it the most expensive sale of a sports franchise in North American history, beating out the last previous sale by $500 million. But what does buying an NBA franchise actually grant the owner in terms of property rights? This paper will examine the process which NBA ownership is acquired and the rights and responsibilities conferred to the new owner. The NBA is more like a fancy New York City Co-op apartment building in more ways than one.