Baker Botts, DLA Piper and White & Case are advising on the record-setting $2.2 billion sale of the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets from former lawyer Leslie Alexander to casino and hospitality billionaire Tilman Fertitta.

The deal, the news of which emerged Tuesday, represents the highest price ever paid for an NBA franchise, beating out the $2 billion that former Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer paid for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014. In July, the Rockets confirmed their decision to pursue a potential sale of the franchise.

A source familiar with the deal said that Baker Botts and White & Case are advising Alexander on his proposed sale of the team, which he bought for $85 million in 1993. Michael Goldberg, chair of the international arbitration and dispute resolution group at Baker Botts in Houston and a longtime legal adviser to the team, declined to comment when contacted Tuesday.

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