Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to Seattle: 'Not our team. No way'
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Mayor Kevin Johnson says Sacramento is back in the ballgame after announcing that two investors want to buy the NBA's Kings and build a downtown arena to stop the proposed move of city's only major league sports team to Seattle.
Mark Mastrov, founder of 24 Hour Fitness, will submit a bid for the team to the NBA on Friday, Johnson said in a speech Thursday night. Mastrov was among the final bidders for the Golden State Warriors before Joe Lacob and Peter Guber bought the team for an NBA-record $450 million in 2010.
"I've been assured by the commissioner of the NBA that we will be given full consideration," said Johnson, Sacramento's two-term mayor and a former NBA All-Star.
It had been rumored for weeks that Mastrov would partner with Ron Burkle, the billionaire co-owner of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins, to buy the team. Instead Johnson said that Burkle will lead the effort to build a new downtown arena that he also hopes will lure back to Sacramento another WNBA franchise.
The city is hoping to revitalize downtown with an arena at the Downtown Plaza shopping mall owned by JMA Ventures, whose officers have said they are eager to participate.
Johnson has been scrambling to organize local ownership for the Kings after the Maloof family announced in January that it had an agreement to sell their 65 percent stake for $341 million to a group led by Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer and hedge fund manager Chris Hansen.
To show local support for the Kings Johnson also lined up 20 local investors who each committed $1 million. They hope to buy the 7 percent share of the team now under control of a federal bankruptcy court.
One of those investors is former Sacramento Kings star Mitch Richmond, who was a 2013 Basketball Hall of Fame finalist.
"He will undoubtedly bring credibility to our efforts," Johnson said.
The NBA Board of Governors will make a decision on the sale by mid-April.
"With all due respect to Seattle I do hope they get a team someday, but let me be perfectly clear it is not going to be this team," Johnson said. "Not our team. No way."
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AP Sports writer Antonio Gonzalez contributed to this report from San Francisco.
Mark Mastrov, founder of 24 Hour Fitness, will submit a bid for the team to the NBA on Friday, Johnson said in a speech Thursday night. Mastrov was among the final bidders for the Golden State Warriors before Joe Lacob and Peter Guber bought the team for an NBA-record $450 million in 2010.
"I've been assured by the commissioner of the NBA that we will be given full consideration," said Johnson, Sacramento's two-term mayor and a former NBA All-Star.
It had been rumored for weeks that Mastrov would partner with Ron Burkle, the billionaire co-owner of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins, to buy the team. Instead Johnson said that Burkle will lead the effort to build a new downtown arena that he also hopes will lure back to Sacramento another WNBA franchise.
The city is hoping to revitalize downtown with an arena at the Downtown Plaza shopping mall owned by JMA Ventures, whose officers have said they are eager to participate.
Johnson has been scrambling to organize local ownership for the Kings after the Maloof family announced in January that it had an agreement to sell their 65 percent stake for $341 million to a group led by Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer and hedge fund manager Chris Hansen.
To show local support for the Kings Johnson also lined up 20 local investors who each committed $1 million. They hope to buy the 7 percent share of the team now under control of a federal bankruptcy court.
One of those investors is former Sacramento Kings star Mitch Richmond, who was a 2013 Basketball Hall of Fame finalist.
"He will undoubtedly bring credibility to our efforts," Johnson said.
The NBA Board of Governors will make a decision on the sale by mid-April.
"With all due respect to Seattle I do hope they get a team someday, but let me be perfectly clear it is not going to be this team," Johnson said. "Not our team. No way."
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AP Sports writer Antonio Gonzalez contributed to this report from San Francisco.
With the NBA coming back and plans for an NHL team .And no real out of pocket expense. It's  a win/win for the city. A new sports arena near the two that are in place now, will be awesome! I have NEVER followed the NBA or NHL . With the exception of watching the Bulls on WGN while  I lived in Georgia. And have only really followed hockey twice . The 1980 Olympics. And the 1994 Stanley cup. I am already planning on going to my first NBA game next season And eagerly await a  chance to go to an NHL hockey game!Â
All I have to say is ...AHHA... this is going to be so funny to watch... I don't like basketball and don't like the idea of bringing back another team after the Sonics left! ... looks like my hopes for the whole deal to get tanked are that much closer to reality... So go California GO!
This is a private business so I wonder why the government has their nose in it anyway. On top of that this should have never become a bidding war anyway. If the owner has obviously agreed to sell the team to the curent interests they should live up to their part of the bargain.
@Jatok It's not a bidding war.  There is a deal on the table that requires approval.  If the league blocks the sale and relocation then the Maloof's are back to negotiating a sale with whoever they wish, they are not required to sell the team.
Seems to me that up until/if the league blocks the sale and relocation these other parties should stay out of it. This deal is on the table and for the mayor to be putting his statements out there is totally out of line. Plus the fact that this is a private owned business and to me the government has no business being involved.
This is looking more and more like a shakedown of Sacramento, with Seattle being used as leverage. This team is not coming here.Â
Sacramento doesn't have a firm deal to build the area, Hansen does. If the NBA Board of Governors tanks this, then they have an obvious bias against Seattle!
AH! No basketball for Seattle best F'n news all day!
Warms my heart to see all of the vultures on here.
Well, I'm not a basketball fan myself, but I would like to see the NBA return to town. Nevertheless, I hope that Sacramento has some luck with their last efforts. I'd hate to see another city with a fully supported and functioning team get hosed like we did.Â
And here's a question: Doesn't the NBA already own a team, the NO Hornets, outright??? If so, why the hell are we stealing another city's team?
Damn David Stern anyway, the monkey-buggering hypocrite.
Forget about the NBA and the Kings, bring us the NHL!!!
ummmm..... the contract between Chris Hanson's group and the Maloofs has been signed and the downpayment made.  Sorry Sacramento, we feel your pain, but too little, too late.Â
@The WA Mama The NBA Board of Governors can block the deal. And it's likely that they will.Â
@The WA Mama And it's not even a choice, the only decision that is on the table is the purchase and relocation package from Hanson, it's a yes or no vote by the owners.Â
Good,  maybe this story will go away now. Â
Should be a easy choice for the NBA, a team that a city and fans really want to stay in Sacramento verses a city and fans that never lifted a finger to save, sounds kinds like a no brainer if your on the NBA relocation committee..Â
@Windowseat Easy choice for the NBA owners, multi-billion dollar ownership group, new arena, and large market or stay in Sacramento and continue to deal with the Maloofs.
@oledawg @Windowseat If the NBA blocks the deal to Seattle, the Maloofs still have to sell their share.Â
@lakeview @oledawg @Windowseat Are you sure, I read that the NBA can block the proposed sale with Hansen but cannot force the Maloofs to sell to a local group.
@Windowseat Revisionist history is so entertaining. It was politics that lost the Sonics. The fans were at their mercy. And that piece of garbage Howard Schultz betrayed his city for the almighty dollar.
Moron. He sounds like that Bagdad Bob guy that Saddam had for a P.R. man. "We will drive the Seattle infidels into the sea."Â It's all just huff and puff. The team's already been sold. The Maloofs have a 30 million dollar deposit. They are not allowed to negotiate another deal. Johnson is just politicking. He want to keep his job. He wants to look like he tried. Unlike NIckels, who committed political suicide.Â
Stern is just allowing KJ to save face. This is already a done deal. The NBA is all about MONEY, and Seattle is better business, and will bring them TONS of money.
@zombie1210 How exactly is Seattle "better business"? We had a team and couldnt keep them. Why will we bring them tons of money now versus 4-years ago? What has changed?
@thatsjarrod2 @zombie1210 No, we had an owner who wanted to unload the team and made no provision to keep the team here. Clay Bennett planned to move the team all along and nothing the fans could do would stop that!Â
@lgconservative @thatsjarrod2 @zombie1210 That is true & even if the city &/or state agreed to build a new arena, Bennett would figure a way to make sure it wasn't built (i.e. all the seats need to be leather)
I do not understand why he didn't work so hard a few years ago when the Kings up for sale and Sacremento couldn't work out a deal for a new stadium. Why didn't these investors come forward then?
sorry, Sacramento
@britlady Sorry to you britlady but why didnt WE work so hard a few years ago to keep our own team?!
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@TruthinAdverts " I should be re-elected based on how hard it tried to keep the Kings in The Big Tomato."......Like any politician, he's just doing what he thinks will help himself in the long run.
I've never been to a Sonics game. It was a luxury growing up my family couldn't afford. I could go see the Seahawks and Mariners, but the Sonics outpriced our budget. I hope the arena will be big enough that, after all the fuss, I can actually afford the ticket to watch them play!
@kockatoo Seahawks tickets were cheaper than Sonics tickets at one time? Seahawks have way less home games than Sonics do so it makes sense they would cost more and this was my experience. I took my family to Mariners and Sonics games but we were never able to afford a family outing to watch the Seahawks play.
@kockatoo That's strange. Sonics had 100's of tickets for $10.00 each in the upper bowl.Â
Crime. Education. Transportation and infrastructure. Efficient ops to minimize taxes. Homelessness. Unemployment. Polluation. Traffic. Parks.
All could be a focus for a mayor's time and attention. Or...or...he could focus on a basketball team. Things must be good in Sac-town that he can obsess on this.
The problem with the guy in the photo is it is not "Our Team".
Professional Sports teams are owned by private individuals on a for profit basis. Don't let yourself get fooled into ever believing any differently. The only "Our Team" in the US is the Green Bay Packers.
Privately owned. Private profits...though they are pretty good at somehow conning people into socializing their Capital Asset Costs.
They can keep their team. I don't want them.
Hahaha--thats pretty funny Balmer and Hansen vs. Mitch Richmond --I didn't know they were gonna settle it on the court. Wonder who the NBA wants to win??? thats all that really matters....
If they pull it off, good for them. Something our city couldn't do 5 years ago.Â
@Hachee_Bungwhy Couldn't agree more. Shame our mayor wouldn't fight for the team in the same manner that Johnson has.
Mike
@MikeCoomer @Hachee_Bungwhy Do you think the outcome will be any different, I don't.
@MikeCoomer @oledawg The problem is that I don't know if the folks in Sacramento have time to check all the boxes. That is a lot to get accomplished before the deadline.
@oledawg If the minority owners can prove they have right to first refusal, exercise that right and purchase a controlling interest in the team, secure funding and property for a new arena, and complete the same impact studies that are required of the proposed Sodo loacation then yes, I think it will be different than when the Sonics left. Â
1) You have a mayor in Kevin Johnson who has fought this with every tool at his disposal since the move became a possibility.
2) Unlike Seattle, you have a "local ownership group" in Sacramento that appears to be stepping up to purchase the team.
3) Also unlike Seattle, the city appears willing to pledge public funds in the construction of a new facility for the team if it is purchased by the local ownership group.
Given those three facts, and given the NBA's stated criteria for allowing a team to relocate I don't see how or why they would approve a move if Sacramento can in fact pull this together. Unless, that is, you believe that David Stern is a lying, cheating, back stabbing, SOB that would sell his own mother to benefit the NBA and its owners.
Mike
why do people care about an organization, the nba, that only looks out for millionaires and does not give a rats behind about fans and regular people. Here is an organization on one hand tells sacramento "we love your city" then on the other takes money from another city (seattle) and says "we love your city" then moves their team to the middle of nowhere (OK City) for money. Now they are going to do the same to Sacramento ? Why why would you do business with these people ? David Stern has to be the worst commisioner of a sports league ever, and well you all know about Clay Bennett. Nuff said. oh and watch some of the games lately what they are hoping you dont notice are all the Empty seats.  The leagues business model is built on a death spiral.
@sportbuff01 In case you had't noticed, the NBA is back on the upswing. Profits are up. Ticket sales are up. Moving a team to a larger market with a state of the art facility is good business, and is doesn't dilute the talent pool like expansion would.
@zombie1210 Right , back on the upswing, ok i picked a couple of games at random lets see, pistons at wizards , capacity 20,173 attendance 14,298, raptors at cavaliers , capacity 20,562, attendance 13,368. And this is pretty much reflected around the league on any given night. Back on the upswing LOL. You funny guy.  Â
Well, right on! Let's keep the Kings in Sacramento where they belong. We need a brand new team that's going to keep Key Arena 1/3 full for the next fifteen years.
I'm not a big NBA/NHL fan at all. But I do think it's good business to have teams here.  Until the NBA figures this out it's all rhetoric and posturing. I'm guessing the NBA would think Seattle would be a better deal for the NBA.
Bigger market, more TV revenues.
Either be done with it or put it to bed. I'm tired of hearing about it.
Sacramento you can keep them, we'll say no thanks to trusting the NBA again.
I like how Sacramento thinks that it was completely their team to begin with, not like it was ever in Rochester, Cincinnati or Kansas City...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Kings
Wake me when it's April 18th. Â Until then, it's all just a bunch of noise.
Let me guess how this plays out. Minority owners buy the team, but financing for a new arena falls through, so the team is back to square one.
Or it could be just dragging this thing out as far as they can to beat the deadline for moving the team. Who knows.
If the buyers and arena builders are here now, why weren't they here before the Maloofs sold to Hanson?
@Release The Cracken The minority owners do not have a purchase agreement, so they aren't buying anything right now.  The only thing that stops this are the owners, who will vote on the purchase agreement/relocation, it's the only play on the table right now.