I know. Premature, right?
The SuperSonics haven’t officially returned to Seattle, though we are $30 million closer as of 12:01 on February 1. Yes. Things could still go wrong. Yes. Defeat could still be snatched from the jaws of victory.
Please allow me, however, to move past this five year battle we’ve been in just long enough to dream about righting another wrong that you might not be aware of.
Did you know that the State of Washington lost TWO professional basketball teams in 2008?
In addition to the Supes, we lost another team with a winning heritage - the Yakima Sun Kings of the Continental Basketball Association.
From 1990 to 2008, the Sun Kings won five CBA titles.
It was on that team that Raja Bell grew from being a tough and athletic defender who could also drive to the hoop into a complete basketball player with a decent jump shot and a bright NBA future.
It was with the Sun Kings that De Paul’s Kevin Holland didn’t develop into an NBA player, but DID develop into a community favorite in the Yakima Valley. To the NBA, he was a power forward who wasn’t quite good enough. To us, he was Special K.
More recently, it was a stint on the Sun Kings that helped Ronny Turiaf move past his open heart surgery and earn his shot at the NBA.
So what happened? Isaiah Thomas happened. Not our beloved “cold blooded” Isaiah, but the “pig headed” Isaiah who was a superstar on the court, but a nightmare in the front office.
To fully understand what Isaiah did to the CBA, go here. http://www.hoopsvibe.com/features/articles/168248-how-isaiah-thomas-killed-the-cba
For those of you like me who have short attention spans, let me sum it up. Thomas bought the entire league for $10 million in 1999. He then proceeded to lower player salaries, miss payrolls, and run the league into the ground until the NBA offered to buy it from him for $11 million.
The pig headed wonder refused and the end result was bankruptcy for a once proud league, which invented the 3-point line in the 1960′s and which was founded two months prior to the NBA.
The league made it out of bankruptcy, but has limped along ever since and didn’t even play a championship game in 2012.
This slow spiral of death for the CBA, combined with poor local ownership in Yakima, led to the Sun Kings going defunct in 2008.
A month after its offer to Thomas was rejected, the NBA announced the formation of the NBDL which, while vultures slowly circled the CBA, thrived and was later rebranded the NBA DL.
I said all that to say this. After we get our Sonics back, would it be too much to ask for me to get my Sun Kings back as part of NBA DL? Just think of it. Hansen could start an affiliate in that league and we could watch future SuperSonics develop.
Realistically, I don’t see it happening again in Yakima due to concerns with our air terminal and our population base, but why not Tri Cities? Spokane? Vancouver? Wouldn’t be called the Sun Kings in those places, but it would be a great asset for basketball fans in our state.
Dare I to dream?
Yeah this is a great idea. I posted an article a while back from SI about the NBA DL and the Boise Stampede. It was interesting to note that many teams are moving to totally ownership rather than affiliation of their DL teams. This has essentially started a trend towards a minor league team so to speak (there are still many shared teams, but it looks like the single team model is the wave of the future for the D league). I originally thought Spokane would be the best option due to the population base and the Spokane arena, but many people said the Tri-Cities would be a good spot. I personally think anywhere on the eastern side of the state is the best option, especially to make a better connection to fans over there (Vancouver could work but most people I know from Vancouver are blazers fans so it would be a little tougher IMHO).
WENATCHEE!!!
Wenatchee would work too I suppose but I just think the other cities have a bigger base to draw from. I guess a D League team may help with the Wenatchee arena finance problems they had.
just for the record, it’s Isiah Thomas.
That’s the pig headed one. He spelled the cold blooded one’s name correctly.
and let’s not forget, the Sun Kings were the last team that Steve Scheffler ever played for.
The Schef!
I don’t see him at the 4th Ave Costco anymore. Must of moved.
his older brother(by many years) briefly played for Portland
http://tinyurl.com/annrudd
The Sonics had an affiliation with the Idaho Stampede before they moved. ID love to see them have one again since I live in Boise. I’d definitely make it to more games.
Sacramento’s current affiliation is with the Reno Bighorns.
The Stampede are a single-affiliation team now. The Blazers own them.
I’m sure Paul Allen would make room for the new Sonics if that ever happened.
I think the way things are headed that the Sonics would have a single affiliation team as well that would be on the east side. Just makes sense to build up a fan base in an area that is Sonics territory but may need some impetus to return to fandom.
I think Hansen/Ballmer would purchase a new team. The NBA eventually wants the DLeague to be 30 single-affiliation teams. The Sixers were talking about bringing back the Utah Flash to be their team. Not sure what ever happened with that.
I moved to Tri-Cities in 2006 to start up a business. Since that time the Tri-Cities have grown from 205k to 250k. Rated as one of the top 10 cities in the US for families. The Americans (minor league hockey) is HUGE here. The Fever (Arena football) is really well here. The Dust Devils (once Russell Wilson’s team and is a Rockies Class A team) does very well. A DL basketball team would do very well here. These people love their sports . . . indoor or outdoor.
I’m with you T.O. My wife and I move to Tri-cities in ’93. There was a CBA team here, the TC Chinnook. Loved going to watch their practices.
But I was also born and raised in Yakima so a return of the Sun Kings would be nice, too.
Honestly, though I am a Yakima native and have great memories of the Sun Kings, I think Tri Cities is likely the best option. It has a much larger population base than Yakima. It has an airport that teams could arrive at without hopping a puddle jumper out of Seattle or Portland. And yes. It does have a history of good support for minor league franchises.
Spokane would be an ok option, but Tri Cities offers more of a central location in the state. I mentioned Vancouver in the article, but its close proximity to the Portland Trailblazers might make it a no-go.
Wenatchee is a GREAT town, but my guess is that it would have the same problems as Yakima regarding population size and airport, but I might be wrong.
The airport thing is actually a big deal. Visiting CBA teams used to constantly whine about having to change flights at Sea-Tac and endure a bumpy flight over the mountains in a cramped aircraft. I’m guessing that would be a non-starter with David Stern.
Well if you want to go just by airport, might as well build an arena in Moses Lake! Haha!
If we wer JUST going by that, then yes.
Oh, yeah I was totally kidding.
I do agree that Tri Cities would probably be a better place for a new D-League team but is there a place for them to play? Not real familiar with what’s there.
http://www.yourtoyotacenter.com/
I imagine it would be the same place the WHL Tri Cities Americans play. I think it’s called the Toyota Center.
The Toyota Center as others have said would be the place they would play. It is a very nice arena.
I went to see the TC Americans get shellaked by Portland last weekend. TC seats 6k there was an announced crowd of 6,200, go figure. It was prob 80% full. Nice support down there. My first hockey game since I went to a Totems game when I was a tot.
Actually, Yakima counties population is comparable to the tri cities. The income and business factor is where the tri cities edges out yakima IMHO. Also the Sundome isn’t as suited for d league as the toyoto center. Actually neither tri cities nor Spokane are centrally located, Ellensburg is but no population.
Yakima County is huge and the population is spread out throughout the valley, while the population of the Tri-Cities is concentrated predominately in one area. Places like Sunnyside and Grandview in Yakima County are just as close to the Tri-Cities as it is Yakima.
true. bottom line is they have more money than Yakima and are growing faster than Yakima. Yakima is steady as she goes…Tri Cities is an up and coming economy.
Why not Kent? They could play at the ShoWare Center. Or Comcast in Everett.
The Seattle Burbs would definitely be an option.
I think it is too close personally and having it on the east side is a good reward for people being fans from pretty far away. But it would work really well in either of those places.
I agree for the most part. I think putting it in Eastern Washington would be the best bet mainly to help rebuild the Sonics fanbase on this side of the mountains.
On the other hand, the Tacoma Rainiers are highly successful while playing in a location that is a quick hop on the free way from Safeco Field.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/greg-jamison-says-pursuit-phoenix-coyotes-isn-t-150335389-nhl.html
Honestly, I don’t see Hansen doing all this without a guarantee from the league this would go through and the SAC “matching offer” stuff was just to sell tickets in SAC this year, prevent fan riots, and set SAC up for a new team down the line. If he did all that stuff without a guarantee, that isn’t a very smart business decision. hopefully he did not, and NBA lawyers have crafted the PSA in consultation with Hansen/Maloofs like some have said here.
Just don’t do like Santa Cruz and just take the parent team’s name. Even though Tri-Cities Sonics does have a nice ring to it, come up with something original.
Tri-Cities Atoms or something like that.
They could play here.
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110419003057/simpsons/images/8/84/Springfieldatoms.jpg
As long as you don’t call em the Richland Bombers and have a mushroom cloud on the back of the lettermen’s jackets…. True story. REALLY RAISES THE WTF FLAG.
You would definitely need a unique name, unless the team were placed in Yakima, which would make the Sun Kings name very appropriate.
the people of Sacramento would probably get irked by having “Kings” in our D-League team name.
I don’t care. They would already be irked and there would be a completely legitimate reason to use the name if the team is in Yakima.
Yakima led the CBA in attendance…and the Sun Dome was STILL over half empty most nights. I went to a number of games. I think the D league wants bigger markets or at least markets w more corporate infrastructure.
I agree rmcd.
While Yakima or Tri Cities are the best options. They can put it in Tacoma for ease of movement. It is the only mgmt decision the Mariners have done right in a long time.
That’s true, but I think number of games has something to do with it. It’s a lot easier to fill the stadium when the city is that big. I just don’t think the Tacoma Dome has the bells and whistles to be as successful as Kent or Everett would be as an west side location.
Toyota Center is more of a basketball arena than the Tacoma Dome. And it would be nice to have the east side represented if possible.
I would give my fake money promise to buy season tickets if it were here in TC!
what about Renton? ShoWare Center?
Nevermind, saw its already been mentioned.
Off topic but I see the Seattle PI website now has a Seattle Sonics blog in it’s Sports section.
I think I’m permanently banned from their forums. Me and a couple other posters on here.
Something just dawned on me. Why would the trustee need to see the agreement between the Maloofs and Hansen? If he’s questioning ROFR, wouldn’t he need the original agreement from 98 when the Maloofs took controlling interest? What does the new sales agreement have to do with ROFR?
I kind if wondered that myself.
Potentially to see if there are particulars that need to be matched? Again, I trust the fact that Mr. Hansen has said that there is nothing to worry about with ROFRcopter (and it appears the NBA probably feels the same way). I think this guy is just trying to stay in the press and make sure that the price of the shares stays as high as possible. So for him anything that could help leverage that high rate should be done.
Precisely.
All is strangely quite on the western front today despite the 30 million becoming official. There is a weird dew in the dawn before the fight starts feeling in the air.
Eye of the hurricane.
I was thinking the same thing. Think there will be any whale sightings today?
I’d put my money on doubtful..knock on wood.
There was a SacTown tweet posted yesterday that indicated he would likely have no major announcements today. For what that’s worth.
Thanks Paul. It’s so weird how last week KJ had 3 press conferences and now this week nothing.
Hopefully that doesn’t mean he’s got something big on the horizon. I think it’s too little too late.
last night on the local news in sac they had about a minute on The Kings and at the end of the segment they said any announcement by the mayor will possibly happen next week. no specific day-of course
people here in sac need to stop calling them whales and just refer to them by the way they look at them—Ron Burkle’s money.
“Potentially to see if there are particulars that need to be matched? Again, I trust the fact that Mr. Hansen has said that there is nothing to worry about with ROFRcopter (and it appears the NBA probably feels the same way).”
There we have it. The Tri City ROFRCopters!!!
Haha, sounds like Scoobie Doo trying to say helicopter. I think there could be a marketing arrangement with Hannah Barbara with this (if they even exist anymore).
How about the Tri-Cities Isotopes and their mascot is Dancin’ Homer?
I bet Albuquerque would probably be upset about this one.
They’re a minor league baseball team, who cares? There are two teams called the Cardinals. Or Giants.
Okay, how about the Tri Cities Excitement?
The “Excitement” sounds like a Lingerie Football League team name.
The Springfield Excitement was the NBA team on the Simpsons. They were the Austin Celtics until they relocated to Springfield.
By all means. I would love some of that name revenue.
+1
I think Wenatchee would be good. Its two hours to every major populace in the state, there are over 100,000 people in the valley, we have a pretty nice arena.
Yes, I’m very biased right now. Soon I’ll be wanting the D-League team to be in Salinas, Ecuador or Buenos Aires, Argentina. lol
Wenatchee is far too remote to make an effective demonstration. No interstate, bad for winter traveling. No offense, I LOVE Wenatchee- but it’s not at all a good location. Plus not as many people as Yakima, Spokane, or Tri-Cities. I’d even vote Moses Lake over Wenatchee.
Happy February 1! THANK YOU CHRIS HANSEN, STEVE BALLMER, NORDSTROMS, and all other the brilliant Seattleites who never forgot the Sonics and helped make this happen. I know it’s not officially over — the $30 million going hard though means nothing jumped out unforeseen to stop the sale.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/01/5157072/sacramento-officials-prepare-to.html
They are preparing to study the preferred arena location of their whale. That’s fantastic.
I think when Chris did that some time last year it only took a month or two and it was panned by its critics as being far too shallow.
I’m sure they can get this done in time to convince Burkle to put an ownership group together before April 19. I’m sure of it.
Just now starting review on multiple locations.
This article says Cook’s 7% is supposed to be auctioned off April 9. I thought it was the 19th, same as the BOG meeting.
That article about Jamison has a small note that is a really good explanation about why this is an uphill battle for Sacramento:
“There were some private indications, however, that Jamison may have lost investment money and investors late in the process perhaps over squabbling for decision making and team management going forward.”
Saying something is done before the details are finalized is a really tricky thing. It would take a tremendous amount of faith to think that a Burkel/Mastrov are going to come together and they and the city are going to work out a new deal on this new site so fast that there is no chance that the egos or details can make it fall apart. Jamison has been working for years. He put his name and the NHL’s on the line and they were not able to hold it all together. Its very tough.
Of the names mentioned so far for a Tri Cities NBA DL team, I think I like ‘Isotopes’ the best (if we can’t have ROFRCopters that is). It would be fun to play off of the Simpsons.
Atoms, Isotopes, Excitement, Meltdowns…
Tri Cities would be good location for a Nuclear Power named club due to the Hanford facility.
Richland High School’s name are the “Bombers”. Not sure that would be a good idea, though, consider the PC atmosphere these days.
The Tri-Cities had a CBA team briefly in the early 90′s called the “Chinook”-a great I-82 rivalry with the Sun Kings!
Yeah, that was a great name (and rivalry). Chinook works because it combines northwest culture with military firepower.
They had a fg mushroom cloud ion the letterman jackets. Seriously?
I went to RHS and had the mushroom cloud on the back of my letterman jacket (it said “Nuke ‘Em” in the middle of the cloud). Interesting place to grow up.
Wow. And we think the North Koreans are brainwashed!
Yahoo headline ..”Star SUFFERS meltdown”…since when does a self inflicted hissy fit denote suffering..Maybe Westbrook was upset he couldn’t pad his stats in a blowout win?
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/russell-westbrook-leaves-thunder-bench-anger-blowout-win-052151162-nba.html
I’m so happy he was never a Sonic. I think he is the most over rated piece of trash in the NBA. I cannot stand that guy.
Yeah he isnt as good as he thinks he is or as some NBA people thinks he is.
Thug…
hes a thug and a prick, especially when he hits a dagger three in your face and does that stupid gun into holster move, but he is the third best PG in the NBA hands down,(Rose,Paul) easy. Lightning quick,hops,great passer and obviously a scorer. Dont forget he wore a Sonic hat when drafted.
Third best?
I feel like OKC would be a better team with the following PGs instead of Westbrook:
Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tony Parker, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Rajon Rondo, Derek Rose, and probably Damian Lillard.
Every single one of those guys can distribute as well or better, and every single one of them is a capable scorer that shoots a higher FG%.
really, see what Westbrooks stats are against those guys. Irving maybe someday, not know. Parker past his prime, take Westbrook, Curry , when hes healthy a nice inconsistent pg whos not nearly as dangerous.Rondo is nice, but Westb much more explosive, attacker, high energy. same with Williams, slow. cant keep up with Westbrook. In fact due to Roses injury and now question mark and C Pauls injured knee and for sure ongoing issue for remainder of his career( same prob as Roy)If I was starting a team today, i would def take Westbrook at PG first.he’ll have a ring in 4 months, God it pains me to write that!!
Russell (What’s an assist?) Westbrook.
Off topic:
I was tweeting back and forth with mccann sports law last night. Now I think he does have some bias because the longer all the legal stuff becomes news then he is being hit far more than usual so he has a reason to be giving a lot of hypotheticals in favor o Sacramento and their play to keep the team.
McCann said when I asked him how long KJ and his whales have to get an arena deal as far along as ours and have a “fair and competitive” bid on the table. He said that he believes that they have 3-4 weeks to have the proposal in place to give th eNBA time to legitimately look at the proposal and properly vet the process. So if they havent had all that settled (which is ALOT especially since they are just doing a feasibility study); if they havent passed the councils and all that plus avoiding major lawsuits against the public portion of the arena bill by March the NBA probably will be too far along to even listen at that point. TICK TICK TICK
McCann is basing everything he’s saying off of the 1991 sales agreement. He has not seen the Hansen/Maloof agreement or even the 1998 agreement from when the Maloofs took over controlling interest.
Probably so but either way he said they have 3-4 weeks to have all their ducks in a row and that is a TALL TASK even with a mayor that is pushing the envelope on this entire process.
It could happen but what is the NBA going to do if it does? I can’t believe they are even entertaining this. Sac had there chance it is time to move on. Hopefully the announcement will be that they filed for relocation.
I wouldn’t say that McCann is biased…but I am a bit confused on why anyone would put stock in his understanding of the inner workings of the NBA. I get that people ask him for questions from a legal perspective, but he isn’t any sort of NBA insider, right?
I thought he worked for NBA.TV now that doesnt mean he has Insider access but he uses the knowledge he has of all the legal proceedings and contracts that the NBA does or all sports do. So he has seen his fair share of sports law. Probably as good as you’ll get without being a party to the NBA legal teams. I just know that he is getting alot of publicity and getting his name out there further off this deal.
BTW Burkle is interested in buying AEG which would give him some pull as being the owner of one the NBA’s biggest vendors
He would then own 1/3 of the Lakers and would not be able to buy the Kings.
Really
AEG owns a third of the Lakers, yes.
Link?
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/01/5158335/possible-kings-investor-burkle.html
http://goo.gl/onkiA
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443995604578004821257551236.html
This work for you?
Although this link says it would not interfere. Not sure how it couldn’t.
From the comments;
In order for Burkle to own both AEG and any part of the Kings, AEG would first have to sell off its interest in the Lakers. That’s just another delay in the process.
http://tinyurl.com/8s488tg
This says that AEG owns part of the Lakers.
Yeah, I am sure that you could sell off the portion of that Lakers rather easily, but I doubt AEG would want to get rid of that if it helps with their sale. Even if they did I assume they would want to sell it off separately. Either way this would basically take Burkle out of the running for a while.
That article was written by Dale Kasler- just disregard it. He is the biggest joke on SacBee. He said a few months ago in an interview with Cook about how little the minority owners have when it comes to relocation of the Kings. Cook said it himself before all this went down, now Kasler is the one screaming ROFR. Kasler is truly terrible at his job
is that true? that would be check mate for hansen
I cant see an actual percentage or anything but it seems that they own interests in the LA Lakers.
Perhaps Burkle is only looking to contribute to the Kings new arena, and not the team itself? Perhaps the ownership of the Kings would be left up to Mastrov in that scenario.
Mastrov doesn’t have the capital.
Ellison?
I would think it would benefit Ellison if he just stayed on the sidelines since he wants a team in San Jose rather than Sacramento. If or when the Kings leave then that might make it easier for him to get a team to San Jose.
Even with a mad scramble over the next 3-4 weeks, why on earth would the NBA get behind a plan that was rushed into the process just to be considered? Hansen has methodically, systematically taken each step in the process to make sure everything falls into place when the time is right. The NBA has helped him get to this point, make no mistake about that, they aren’t going to turn their backs on Hansen & Ballmer for a hail mary pass by KJ & Sacramento. It’s up to them to convince the NBA that they still deserve a team, after losing this one.
Like I said it doesnt give a percentage but here ya go for a read on AEG’s ownership stuff and the sale.
http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/nfl/post/_/id/857/potential-aeg-sale-raises-questions
http://tinyurl.com/cc5u2af
This says 30%, but not sure if that is the company or the individual.
LA Times btw.
Putting a D league team in EWA would be huge if Hansen is really looking to create a true RSN. Expand the geographic presence
I like the idea of having a D league team in eastern Washington, I think it makes more sense than Everett.
Funny, this new must have just hit? I can’t find anyone talking about it on Sac forums yet.
This does seem pose a conflict of interest IMO, one guy can’t have interest in two teams in the same league…I don’t think that’s ever been done before.
They’ve gotten to the part where since AEG is hooked up with so many teams, that surely Burkle taking interest in that entity is a good thing. They haven’t reached the part where their white knight adds a bunch of things to his to-do list that now go above “acquire Kings”.
its on sac bee and they assume ho would just sell laker share….just another something that takes time and another sign thats good for us
I think Burkle is getting ready to team up with someone in Los Angeles to bring the NFL there — that partner referenced in the article has been linked with bringing the NFL to Los Angeles. That was my first reaction when I read that because I think in the past, AEG had been part of the approval for an NFL stadium by the City of Los Angeles.
http://tinyurl.com/ce2rr9g
Required listening to all Seahawks fans:
“Jim Harbaugh Style”
Man that cracks me up every time.
I think it is Ryan Lillis on Elise right now (I think that is who it is). Says he is hesitating to put odds on this because no one knows what the NBA is thinking. Umm….that is a cop out. He does say Seattle has the advantage. But he says on this Johnson is 2-0 so don’t count him out. Basically nothing new in this so far. She basically laughed him off.
yea i wouldn’t take anything Lillis says seriously.
As if this deal has any relation to KJ’s past efforts.
Umm, it is a cop out, why doesn’t one want to accept the fact that the league helped orchestrate this sale to Hansen? Hansen wanted in, Stern wanted to right a wrong, the NBA wanted the Maloof’s out, this was the easiest way to accomplish the goals of both parties. The NBA survived a far worse black eye letting the Sonics move to OKC. They will survive losing the Sacramento market, even if it’s only temporarily.
I don’t take Lillis serious either. To me now this isn’t belittling Sac’s efforts but it very much looks like they have A LOT of stuff to get sorted out in an extremely short amount of time. If its true Burkle is trying to buy AEG then he may indeed not be a “whale” that KJ can count on.
Ugh. One of the weakest arguments is that KJ is 2-0 in situations like this. Neither were on the level of what’s going on with the Kings coming to Seattle. The teams been sold, sources have said the relocation vote is a formality. KJ didn’t save the Kings from moving to Anaheim, Buss and the NBA did, because they didn’t want another team down there. And Virginia Beach? Is it not obvious that was either leverage to get more money out of a buyer, or, an honest but hopeless last ditch effort for the Maloofs to keep the team? There is no h0pe.
exactly
D league teams travel commercially and it is already a brutal endeavor putting a bunch of 6-3 to 7ft guys in coach. Having to make an extra connection to Pasco via Salt Lake etc would be costly and even more brutal. Spokane is the only possibility for Eastern WA unless the team is willing to privately charter Horizon shuttles $$
Im 6’1 and I hate Horizon, I fly them all the time for work cant imagine anyone taller than me on those…..and Horizon’s Q400′s are better than most other commuters.
Pasco actually has quite a few direct flights in and out.
a “few” is the key word..Denver, Las Vegas, Reno, and a couple other minor cities. Bottom line, travel in the D league has got to be brutal.
Yea one of the main things about minor league teams that people do not factor in is Travel how it would be diffcult to get a team for the Tri-cities to maine and back again
If you want to run a successful business into the ground, Isiah Thomas is your guy to have on speed dial.
The Burkle/Mastrov endgame is all about putting Sac in front of the line for the next available team. It has no bearing on the impending sale. Ellison is also a non-factor.
Sac’s ONLY chance that I can see is hoping one of the arena lawsuits might drag the approval process out another 12-18 weeks, in which time they MIGHT be able to cram through something they have not yet been able to do in the last two years. IMO the arena lawsuits have no chance of changing the final outcome, all they can do is delay it. The I-91 sideshow is for Times board ignoramuses and bought and paid for bumper sticker sloganeers like Van Dyk and his ilk.
And Van Dyk actually has said this meets I-91, so if I were a judge I would just read that and throw it out right away.
@ChrisDaniels5: RT @kcrabienick: Source close to #NBAKings talks says no #whales announcement expected today, future timeline unclear.
We hear this yesterday but looks like the “announcement likely next week” has changed to “future timeline unclear”
Burkle getting cold feet?
This is just Chris Daniels propaganda. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
(sarcasm)
Yeah, I am sure that will come up…best part is he retweets most of the stuff about the kings, yet people still go on his twitter and lambaste him.
Exactly! I never understood how Chris Daniels gets blasted by Sac fans for retweeting Sac Town media tweets.
Yeah I never got that either and I also don’t get how some Sac fans call him “Hansen’s mouthpiece” when CD retweets a lot of Sac media’s own tweets.
I’m not too surprised by that.
James hit the nail on the head! Before Hansen/ Ballmer even call the Maloofs to inquire about buying the Kings they call Stern, or Stern probably called them. Burkle/Mastrov are just setting themselves up to be next in line and I still wonder if they are 100% committed.
I really think if they were 100% committed to saving the current Kings we would have heard by now, they are probably trying to get a level of commitment to set them up for the future Kings. Rushing this is going to cost them much more money.
The new DL team should be called the Tri-Cities Marine-Mammal Blubberers. A can of lard would make a nice logo? Possibly work in spam somehow.
They could always use this song at halftime ;)
http://bit.ly/9ibeIy
Spot on, Matey!
Cheers!
For those who are not brainwashed yet, and don’t mind feeling a little queasy, I bring you The Richland Bombers:
http://www.google.com/search?q=richland+bombers&hl=en&safe=off&client=tablet-android-asus-nexus&tbo=d&rlz=1Y3NDUG_enUS496US496&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=HR4MUf2LK-HxiwLj9IDwCw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=600&bih=904
Smh.
Here is one particularly sickening example:
http://tinyurl.com/bzut99y
“PROUD OF THE CLOUD”
OMFG.
Richland’s history is really very amazing. It would be a good trip for people to take if you can get a tour of the B-Reactor that made the fuel for the Nagasaki bomb. It is very interesting. A huge part of the 20th Century.
I’d probably have 2 buy a gieger counter. Yes, I am that paranoid, justified or no.
Lived in this area most of my life except for the years I traveled all the time and in Seattle. I don’t glow. No one glows around here either. Nuke power is cheap as well. Lots of medical research goes on out at the Site.
I think for Burkle to put his name on this as being 100% committed, the arena process has to be almost 100% complete. What I mean is that the site HE wants the arena at has to be agreed upon, & all the variables have to be in place. Kind of like how Hanson dealt with the arena deal up here, which took, what, like 8 to 12 months total??
The railyards arena is off the table if Burkle is going to be involved which isn’t good for SacTown.
Right…he doesn’t have the wherewithal to buy the team and build the arena…
Remember, Burkle is a businessman much like Hanson is. He wants to make $$ not lose it!!
ahhh, sweet memories. when i started teaching, it was at michigan state university. i once drove all the way to grand rapids just to catch a hoops game. ‘hoops’ was the name of the cba team, if i recall. still have the souvenir. . .
wait a minute. why does the above sound like something i should say to a roomful of fellow addicts? perhaps that what this board really is: “my name is charliesonic and i am a (seattle)basketballaholic. . .”
now, living and working where i do, i’d be stoked for the d-league to move into central penna. to think what i used to imagine my life would be like!!!
I think it would flow better as “My name is charliesonic, I’m a SuperSonaholic.”
+1
supersonaholic — i love that, b-dawg!!!!!
This also provides a logical answer to the oft-asked, “Well, if there wasn’t a chance, why would Stern and Burkle have met FOR TWO WHOLE HOURS?!?”
Burkle: You know, commissioner, I would be interested in the Kings at the right price.
Stern: Well, they’ve already been sold. But given your business history, maybe you’d be more well served examining the arena operations side of our business.
Burkle: Tell me more…
I like the Tri-City Roadrunners. Don’t care if it fits our area. It’s probably being used already I suppose.
One thing has me thinking about this rumor of Burkle buying AEG…AEG currently operates arenas for 8 (I believe) NBA teams. I’m wondering if Burkle is trying to not only save the Kings with the counter offer, but also try to convince the owners who partner with AEG to vote against relocation.
Seems a bit far fetched, but it did make me wonder…
That seems really far fetched jenn.
I’m not that sure what to make about Burkle supposedly trying to buy AEG.
Of course the NBA has partnered with them and they operate a solid amount of arenas but I’m not sure if that’s more helpful than it hurts.
They also operate KeyArena and couldn’t they be part of the future Seattle Arena as well?
That could be a conflict of interests right there.
Also, KJ not being able to name his big investors for the second week in a row does not look all that great.
The only “news” so far out of SAC are that one of their bankrupt minority owners might try to buy them more time(ROFR etc.), that Mastrov had solid ideas(KJ’s comments) and that they seem to study the possible site of a new arena.
I meant the bankrupt minority owner and not one of their
Good point about AEG running the Key Silvio. I knew that, but that fact just sorta left my mind! That does pose a major conflict of interest.
It feels like folks on both sides are holding their breath since the 30 mil deadline passed and no official word from either side
Yes, it is way too quiet! I don’t know what I was expecting, I knew Chris would be quiet. Guess I’m more surprised at Sac more than anything. It appears they haven’t really addressed the fact that the $30M was deposited today.
Maloof’s got theirs in $100 bills and have been busy counting them all day. SHHH!!!!!
I’m not sure what they would say about it.
I’ve prefaced so many posts with this, but I’ll do it again: I do not want to disparage or belittle Sac’s efforts or fans….
but the idea that they had local buyers on the ready is clearly false, so who were the Maloofs supposed to sell to locally? And fair or not, that’s why we’ve got a pretty commanding lead. We had a proactive ownership group, they had some names that the mayor could call. I know some take the silence as foreboding, but really, any day of no news is increasingly worse news for Sac. KJ doesn’t need to hold a press conference everyday for no reason, but they need to start hitting points that deserve a press conference sooner than later.
New thread is up.
How about Bellingham for a D League team? Has a great airport, decent population, plus 45 minutes from Vancouver BC.
Bellingham could work
Used to have the Baby M’s. Always well supported. Remember watching Griffey, Edgar, “Hound Dog” Presley and others back in the day. I think D-League would go over good
As some one from bellingham Maybe but the issue is we do not have a very large population only around 80,000 int he city the county has a lot of people but they do not just drive to town to see sports games but I think the biggest problem is where are they going to play Bellinghams issue is it has no major indoor arenas in the city that could host a D-league team