Does NBA Commissioner David Stern really love Sacramento?
As the sale of the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle investment group moves rapidly ahead, let us speculate on the role played by NBA Commissioner David Stern.
The impression in Sacramento, fostered by the Bee and other local media, is that Stern really, really loves Sacramento and has been doing his utmost to thwart those villainous Maloofs from moving the Kings to Seattle, Anaheim, Virginia Beach or outer space. Stern really appreciates Sacramento’s loyal fans and respects Mayor Kevin Johnson’s hard work to build a downtown arena at public expense. The commish is on our side.
The Bee has given Stern uncritical, fawning coverage in its news stories and columns for a long time. Just yesterday, a Bee story said that Johnson, who is trying to round up investors to counter the Seattle’s group’s rumored $525 million offer for the Kings, “appears to have the support of … Stern.”
Stern, who is stepping down from his post next year, has given Johnson permission to speak this spring to the NBA’s board of governors, the story said, and Stern has gotten entertainment giant AEG to declare that it remains committed to the downtown arena project.
Meanwhile in Seattle, a columnist for the Seattle Times wrote several months ago that Stern was preparing to make amends for allowing the SuperSonics to skip out in 2008. Said columnist Jerry Brewer:
“Stern, one of Seattle’s greatest sports enemies, is primed to be an ally at the end of his Sonics-depriving tenure as the NBA commissioner. The Sonics’ mess is one of the greatest fiascos sullying his legacy. And that’s why Seattle, which hates Stern the most, is primed to benefit from his desire to exit on more positive terms.”
Last October, Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski said this:
Between now and his departure, Stern is determined to get a franchise back into Seattle, league sources said. He has become a strong ally of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s group to bring back the NBA there. Ballmer’s 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 Bennett’s 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 I noted last April, Stern plays ball for the NBA owners. The Columbia law school graduate has increased league revenue 30-fold since 1984 and overseen the relocation of five teams. I doubt he’s left his heart in Sacramento or feels guilty about messing over Seattle. But he’s good at making local media think he’s on the side of the hometown while he works his magic on the NBA’s bottom line.
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NOTE TO “GP FAN” ABOVE: U MISSED ONE STOP…THE ROCHESTER,NY ROYALS MOVED TO CINCI,OH (ROYALS) WITH OSCAR ROBERTSON…THEN TO KC
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For the sake of argument!
If the Sacramento group does outbid
The Seattle group,
The Sacramento group would be over
paying for that market in Sacramento,
It just does not make any sense for any
Owner to spend that much dollars, and not
get as much in return,
Now that is going back to square one.
I hope KJ realizes his selling point MUST work to convince the NBA owners there is MORE profit to be gained in $acramento vs moving to Seattle. Trying to play to sympathies and tugging on the owners’ collective heart strings with nostalgia and highlighting old “Sixth Man” awards will do nothing but leave Kings fans sad and lonely without an NBA franchise to call their own…
“You need u$ a$ much a$ we need you, and here’$ why…”
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Let me see money wins every time !!!!!!!!!
Dead last in attendance right now says way more than sellouts a long time ago!
Stern is a coward and a liar… This guy does not give a rip about your fans…We (Seattle)wanted a team , just not Sacramento’s team….Why not an expansion franchise when both cities want and DESERVE teams DEARLY??? Because the LIAR wants these cities to compete against one another….Or should I say he wants to EXTORT these cities of dollars that could go to schools and services…. Sorry Kings fans ,this is sad
Stern is a snake who speakes from both sides of his mouth and would sell his own mother if he or the NBA could profit from it.
Its not a history thing guys. That’s doesn’t fly with the NBA. Seattle had an NBA championship. Been to the NBA finals 3 times. Rebuilt the arena in 1994. Its all about the bottom line. Who will be the best steward for the NBA, bring in the most money. If you have the $$$, and a plan that is not “pie in the sky”, then the NBA will listen.
The NBA is going to listen to Kevin Johnson. They owe it to him, and the City of Sacramento. But don’t get fooled into thinking that just because the NBA will listen, that it means that it will work out for Sacramento.
And if you want to talk about history, remember this: The Kings went from Syracuse to Kansas City to Sacramento. If you bring up the “history” thing, then you have to bring up all the history, not just what works for your side.
I do feel sorry for Kings fans. But don’t blame Seattle. Blame the NBA process. Blame the Maloofs.
Stern has repeatedly said for years that the NBA cannot remain in Sacramento with the old ARCO/Sleep Train Arena. Sacramento has failed to build a new Arena. It does not matter that they tried. I expect Stern will not do anything to stop the move and the BOG owners will financialy benefit by a sale of the Kings based on a $525 million total value. Everyone’s ship rises with the lowly Kings going for that amount.
Well I sure hope 19 sellout seasons prove Sacramento’s bottom line value!
didn’t do much for the 41 seasons that seattle logged. Not about the fans, it is about the owners.