Cover Before they were business partners, they were just five incredibly competitive people locked out of a restaurant on a scorching hot night in 2016. What should have been an annoying reservation mix-up became the exact moment this group bonded, with the same obsessive drive it takes to win an NBA Championship could be channeled into making the perfect tequila with Cincoro. (Photo: © Lila Photo)
Before they were business partners, they were just five incredibly competitive people locked out of a restaurant on a scorching hot night in 2016. What should have been an annoying reservation mix-up became the exact moment this group bonded, with the same obsessive drive it takes to win an NBA Championship could be channeled into making the perfect tequila with Cincoro. (Photo: © Lila Photo)
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While the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs lock horns in an intense battle for the legendary Larry O’Brien trophy during the 2026 NBA Finals, basketball royalty Wes Edens, Jeanie Buss, Wyc Grousbeck, and Michael Jordan have already pooled their historic haul of hardware off the court. Their goal? Bottling a championship mindset into Cincoro, a spirit designed to look and taste like the ultimate victory. Tatler Sports gets the exclusive.
The Lakers and the Celtics have met in the NBA Finals 12 times. Their combined championship tally reads like a history of the sport itself. Jeanie Buss and Wyc Grousbeck have faced each other twice in the Finals—the series is tied at one apiece. Jeanie owns nothing green; Wyc won’t wear purple. These are not casual preferences. They are convictions.
But this isn't just a two-sided war room; sitting right between these historical rivals is the ultimate basketball neutral: Michael Jordan. Brokering a peace treaty between Boston and Los Angeles takes a specific kind of gravity, and Jordan brings exactly that, along with six Larry O'Brien trophies of his own. Off the court, his six rings act as the perfect, golden bridge between Buss’s 17 franchise titles, Grousbeck’s 18, and two from the Milwaukee Bucks, inclusive of co-owner Wes Edens' 2021 championship run. Together, this foundational group doesn't just run a business—they command an unprecedented ecosystem of 43 combined NBA championships.
Would the Lakers be the Lakers without the Celtics to define us? You really need that rival to bring out your best.
The rivalry behind the brand: when NBA icons share a table
This massive concentration of sports royalty dates back to the summer of 2016, standing outside one of the most sought-after restaurants in America. A booking mishap had left them stranded on the pavement in 85-degree (30°C) heat. Yet nobody stormed off. Jordan, Buss, Grousbeck, and Edens simply waited, talked, and bonded. Standing quietly among them was the woman who would ultimately turn that evening into a business empire: Emilia Fazzalari, founding CEO of Cincoro Tequila.
Fast-forward to today, and three of the co-founders are sitting across a Zoom call with Tatler, a sleek bottle of tequila behind them and, at one point, Emilia casually hoisting a glittering Larry O'Brien trophy on camera.
Above A symbol of ultimate victory meets the gold standard of spirits. During an exclusive interview with Tatler, the founders displayed the legendary Larry O’Brien trophy—the design muse behind Cincoro’s iconic glass bottle geometry.
A symbol of ultimate victory meets the gold standard of spirits. During an exclusive interview with Tatler, the founders displayed the legendary Larry O’Brien trophy—the design muse behind Cincoro’s iconic glass bottle geometry.
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The bond formed that summer evening runs deep—Jeanie even signed Wyc and Emilia’s marriage certificate when they eloped in Las Vegas. But the competitive instinct never truly disappears. “It’s like best friends at a poker night,” Wyc laughs. “You’re still trying to win the game.”
Three years. One thousand tequilas. Reviewed by Jordan personally.
If the founding story is warm, the making of Cincoro is obsessive. The group spent three years developing the liquid — testing over a thousand custom expressions across four distilleries. The final four competed, in Emilia’s words, “like a Final Four bracket.” The winning distillery is a third-generation operation in Jalisco, Mexico, whose owner admitted that in 200 years, they had never been put through such a rigorous vetting process.
Michael Jordan and his lead shoe designer, Mark Smith, designed the bottle together as a surprise for the rest of the group. It doesn't just look like a generic trophy; it embodies the sleek, towering ambition of a championship award. For a group that measures success exclusively in gold hardware, that architectural nod was entirely intentional.
Above Sculpted like championship hardware. Acclaimed Jordan shoe designer Mark Smith collaborated closely with Michael Jordan to give the bottle its signature 23-degree tilt—a meticulous architectural nod to sports immortality. (Photo: Cincoro)
Sculpted like championship hardware. Acclaimed Jordan shoe designer Mark Smith collaborated closely with Michael Jordan to give the bottle its signature 23-degree tilt—a meticulous architectural nod to sports immortality. (Photo: Cincoro)
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Quality control still runs through Jordan personally. Wyc describes walking downstairs at 7:00 AM to find MJ and Emilia in the kitchen, swirling glasses and debating a batch. “He’s like, 'I think there’s something missing,'” Wyc recalls. “And she goes: 'That’s it, it’s out.' That one decision sent them back to the distillery for three more weeks.”
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The meticulousness paid off. The Extra Añejo—aged 44 months—scored in the 99th percentile at double-blind spirit competitions globally, where Cincoro submitted all expressions in generic, numbered bottles. They won purely on taste.
Above From the double-blind award-winning Extra Añejo to the pristine Blanco, each variant represents a three-year pursuit of perfection. The team evaluated over 1,000 custom expressions before finalizing their elite flavor profiles.
Above The exact configuration specified by the "Chief Taste Officer" himself. Wyc and Emilia confirmed that enjoying the expression over one large ice rock with a fresh slice of orange is the signature ritual Michael Jordan taught the group—a method designed to elevate the spirit's complex notes without the harsh burn of traditional serves.
From the double-blind award-winning Extra Añejo to the pristine Blanco, each variant represents a three-year pursuit of perfection. The team evaluated over 1,000 custom expressions before finalizing their elite flavor profiles.
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From 'The Last Dance' to international markets
The brand exploded globally during Covid, fueled significantly by The Last Dance documentary, where Michael Jordan was filmed sipping the tequila. Jeanie remembers the influx of social media messages from fans sharing Cincoro with their families during lockdown. “I couldn’t have been more proud,” she says. Today, Cincoro is a certified global player, available in 27 markets.
The international footprint is growing organically through their elite network. Emilia recently walked into a steakhouse bar in Tokyo — before formal distribution had even begun—and the bartender already knows the bottle because a friend had brought one back. Wyc found forty bottles stocked behind the bar at Michael Jordan’s private golf club, and the duo recently spotted it at the Four Seasons in Athens, Greece.
Read more: Knicks vs Spurs: inside the global appeal of the 2026 NBA Finals
Even their extended investor circle is hands-on. Cincoro’s roster of twenty-three star-powered investor-partners now includes Travis Scott, Serena Williams, Jeter, and Michael Strahan. Just this morning, golf superstar Dustin Johnson texted Emilia from a club in Hong Kong during a LIV Golf tournament weekend, actively working to get the brand placed behind the bar.
We never set out to build a big company. We set out to create the most delicious tequila. That was our North Star.
The championship mindset: rivalry never ends
Above Bridging the fiercest rivalries in sports history through a shared obsession for luxury craftsmanship. This circle of five co-founders commands an unprecedented collective legacy of 42 championship rings. (Photo courtesy of Cincoro)
Bridging the fiercest rivalries in sports history through a shared obsession for luxury craftsmanship. This circle of five co-founders commands an unprecedented collective legacy of 42 championship rings. (Photo courtesy of Cincoro)
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Rivalry, Wyc notes, is like having Mount Everest in your backyard. You grow up looking at it, and at some point, you climb it. The Lakers and Celtics have been each other’s Everest for decades—and running those high-stakes franchises breeds a unique brand of discipline that is deeply useful when building a luxury product.
The NBA Finals are the purest version of that pressure. It is here, in the ultimate series where careers are defined, that the real question gets answered: who, when everything is on the line, finds another level? The group that stood on a hot pavement in 2016 waiting for a table already knew the answer. They’d spent their whole lives finding it.
That fierce competitiveness never really clocks off. As we wrap up our conversation, Jeanie extends an invitation: "If you make it to LA, please let me host you at a Lakers game."
Before the sentence even lands, Wyc cuts in. "Come to Boston first," he says. "See which crowd is louder."
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Pete Laverick is a sports and lifestyle journalist for Tatler Hong Kong. A former professional rugby player, he brings an athlete’s perspective to his coverage of the city’s sports and fitness scene. A committed fitness enthusiast, Pete is always testing something new—from Hyrox to marathons and triathlons—writing with the first-hand insight of someone who has lived at the top level of sport. He also has a standing invitation from Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeannie Buss to watch the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena if he makes it to California.
