Maloofs being pressured to sell Kings to Seattle group | The Point Forward - SI.com
David Stern announced on Thursday that he would step down as NBA commissioner on Feb. 1, 2014, giving himself 15 months to wrap up loose ends. Could that process involve killing two birds with one stone?
The NBAs most troublesome ownership group, the Maloof family, who owns the Kings, recently backed out of an agreement on a new arena with the city of Sacramento after it was dissuaded from pursuing a relocation effort to Anaheim. Meanwhile, the city of Seattle and interested third-parties are in the process of building a new arena with the specific purpose of housing an NBA team that would replace the SuperSonics, who departed to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder in 2008.
The theoretical dots arent that hard to connect: match a troubled franchise with new ownership and a basketball-starved market and reduce two problems (the Maloofs and the NBAs tattered reputation in Seattle) into one (outrage in Sacramento).
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports Friday that the NBA is indeed leaning on the Maloofs to sell their franchise so that it could be relocated to Seattle.
Between now and his departure, Stern is determined to get a franchise back into Seattle, league sources said, and has become a strong ally of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmers group to bring back the NBA there. Ballmers group has been trying to get the Maloof family to sell the Sacramento Kings, so that the franchise can eventually play in a new arena in Seattle.
From the league office, pressure on the Maloofs to sell has been growing, sources said just as hopes for a new Sacramento arena have been fading. Seattle Sonics fans will never forgive Stern for his complicit role in Clay Bennetts deception to move that franchise to Oklahoma City, but make no mistake: Stern desperately wants to return the NBA to one of its great markets and wants it for his own measure of vindication before he leaves office.
As one source involved in the process said, Stern has enough time to get a team back to Seattle, but hell let Silver deal with the crowd [booing] on opening night.
During his annual preseason conference call on Thursday, Stern offered Kings fans no assurances, merely lip service.
There are many people who appreciate the fact that Sacramento was, is, and can be a first class NBA city, he said. It is true that it needs a new building. We have our differences of opinions with all of our owners, and in this case with the Maloofs on some of the issues that have gone down here. But my advice to Sacramento is to continue the enormous support that you have shown for the team, and well see what the next steps turn out to be.
Back in February, Stern, the Maloofs and the city of Sacramento, represented by Mayor Kevin Johnson, announced a tentative agreement to finance a new stadium. That deal fell apart by April, though, and Stern appeared to wash his hands of the matter during a press conference at the 2012 NBA Finals in June, saying he wouldnt speculate about the future of the Kings other than the fact that a move to Anaheim wouldnt be approved by the NBAs Board of Governors.
If there was a vote, there would be no support for a move, but I believe the ownership says they are planning to stay there. And on other situations I might hazard a guess for a prognostication. On this one, Im out of the business for now.
On Thursday, Stern was asked if he had any regrets about his 28-year tenure as commissioner.
It sounds like a Frank Sinatra song, Regrets, I have a few, Stern joked, before avoiding the question.
But in a 2011 interview on an ESPN.com podcast, Stern mentioned the SuperSonics departure from Seattle as one of his regrets, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
My regrets are that we didnt do a werent able to do a better job of getting a building moved along so that we could have kept a team there.
I have regrets about both Vancouver and Seattle, Stern said. I think [Seattle is] a very prime city for an NBA franchise.
But our goal here is to keep all of our teams where they are, Stern said, but recognizing that that hasnt been a goal that we have successfully achieved in the past.
Where does this all leave us? For now, no closer to a resolution on the Kings future. This much is clear: Kings fans are backed into a corner, yet again, through no fault of their own. Someone at the league office owes them some clearer, deeper advice.
David Stern announced on Thursday that he would step down as NBA commissioner on Feb. 1, 2014, giving himself 15 months to wrap up loose ends. Could that process involve killing two birds with one stone?
The NBAs most troublesome ownership group, the Maloof family, who owns the Kings, recently backed out of an agreement on a new arena with the city of Sacramento after it was dissuaded from pursuing a relocation effort to Anaheim. Meanwhile, the city of Seattle and interested third-parties are in the process of building a new arena with the specific purpose of housing an NBA team that would replace the SuperSonics, who departed to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder in 2008.
The theoretical dots arent that hard to connect: match a troubled franchise with new ownership and a basketball-starved market and reduce two problems (the Maloofs and the NBAs tattered reputation in Seattle) into one (outrage in Sacramento).
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports Friday that the NBA is indeed leaning on the Maloofs to sell their franchise so that it could be relocated to Seattle.
Between now and his departure, Stern is determined to get a franchise back into Seattle, league sources said, and has become a strong ally of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmers group to bring back the NBA there. Ballmers group has been trying to get the Maloof family to sell the Sacramento Kings, so that the franchise can eventually play in a new arena in Seattle.
From the league office, pressure on the Maloofs to sell has been growing, sources said just as hopes for a new Sacramento arena have been fading. Seattle Sonics fans will never forgive Stern for his complicit role in Clay Bennetts deception to move that franchise to Oklahoma City, but make no mistake: Stern desperately wants to return the NBA to one of its great markets and wants it for his own measure of vindication before he leaves office.
As one source involved in the process said, Stern has enough time to get a team back to Seattle, but hell let Silver deal with the crowd [booing] on opening night.
During his annual preseason conference call on Thursday, Stern offered Kings fans no assurances, merely lip service.
There are many people who appreciate the fact that Sacramento was, is, and can be a first class NBA city, he said. It is true that it needs a new building. We have our differences of opinions with all of our owners, and in this case with the Maloofs on some of the issues that have gone down here. But my advice to Sacramento is to continue the enormous support that you have shown for the team, and well see what the next steps turn out to be.
Back in February, Stern, the Maloofs and the city of Sacramento, represented by Mayor Kevin Johnson, announced a tentative agreement to finance a new stadium. That deal fell apart by April, though, and Stern appeared to wash his hands of the matter during a press conference at the 2012 NBA Finals in June, saying he wouldnt speculate about the future of the Kings other than the fact that a move to Anaheim wouldnt be approved by the NBAs Board of Governors.
If there was a vote, there would be no support for a move, but I believe the ownership says they are planning to stay there. And on other situations I might hazard a guess for a prognostication. On this one, Im out of the business for now.
On Thursday, Stern was asked if he had any regrets about his 28-year tenure as commissioner.
It sounds like a Frank Sinatra song, Regrets, I have a few, Stern joked, before avoiding the question.
But in a 2011 interview on an ESPN.com podcast, Stern mentioned the SuperSonics departure from Seattle as one of his regrets, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
My regrets are that we didnt do a werent able to do a better job of getting a building moved along so that we could have kept a team there.
I have regrets about both Vancouver and Seattle, Stern said. I think [Seattle is] a very prime city for an NBA franchise.
But our goal here is to keep all of our teams where they are, Stern said, but recognizing that that hasnt been a goal that we have successfully achieved in the past.
Where does this all leave us? For now, no closer to a resolution on the Kings future. This much is clear: Kings fans are backed into a corner, yet again, through no fault of their own. Someone at the league office owes them some clearer, deeper advice.
Im sick of the damn cheap magoofs they gonna waste my guys talent
in '03
Hopefully when seattle does get a team back, Clay Bennett gives the banners and shyt back...i doubt it.