Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has made a very comfortable living buying and revitalizing distressed businesses. But the Chicago businessman, who bought the financially challenged team for $160 million in April 2000, might not be around to see a turnaround with his NBA club.

	Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley waved goodbye to Vancouver a year ago. Could he soon be saying goodbye to the team he brought to Memphis?

"I'm not going to go to my grave with the basketball team," said Heisley, who has a controlling interest in the team with a 70 percent share. "I'm in the business of buying and selling and this is no different. If an attractive offer presents itself, I'm not going to lie and say I won't listen."

Although Heisley's commitment to winning, for the team that has endured a 23-59 record in each of the past two seasons, can be seen in the reported $5 million per year he'll be paying his new president of basketball operations Jerry West and by the fact that he has said he is willing to pay a luxury tax on excess payroll this upcoming season, there have been rumors that Heisley has been quietly shopping his majority share.

Heisley said he is only actively looking to sell the 19 percent of the team that he earmarked for Memphis investors when he moved the team from Vancouver before the 2001-02 season and has not had any conversations about selling the majority interest. When the team moved, he put 49 percent of the team on the market. So far, local investors have purchased a 30 percent stake.

Heisley said the move to Memphis was a step in the right direction from a financial perspective. He claimed losses of more than $40 million in his first year of ownership, which was also the team's final year in Vancouver. Last year, excluding relocation costs, Heisley said he lost "less than half of that."

Although the Grizzlies' average attendance increased only by 678 fans from the 2000-01 season in Vancouver to the 2001-02 season in Memphis, Heisley said that the team was among the NBA's leaders in percentage increase of ticket revenues compared to the prior season.

Even if he no longer had a majority share in the team, Heisley said he could still be the managing partner. "There are a lot of owners that have it set up that way," Heisley said.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espnpub.com.