Steve Ballmer sinking faster than the Titanic . . . ?

[sports.yahoo.com]

The fight for the Sacramento Kings is reaching a fever pitch. After the NBA's relocation committee unanimously recommended the Kings stay in Sacramento, the group of Seattle owners led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (along with current Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof) has made efforts to ensure that they end up with the franchise. The Seattle group reportedly has a backup deal in place with the Maloofs to gain a minority stake and eventually move the franchise, in case their existing deal is denied when the Board of Governors votes on it Wednesday. (Never mind that Hansen and Ballmer have proposed so many different plans that it's now unclear exactly what the BOG is voting on.) It appears that Hansen and Ballmer are willing to pursue every possible lead in buying the Kings, and it's unclear what could inspire them to give up their quest.

It appears that those efforts may now be rubbing up against the league's typical standards of comportment and professional respect. As reported by Aaron Bruski for ProBasketballTalk, several league officials are getting tired of Ballmer's manner and methods as he attempts to lock down his purchase of the Kings:

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“Stay Hungry Stay Foolish"
Steve Jobs

"There are only two mantras yum and yuk mine is yum "
Bernard Mickey Wrangle<>Tom Robbins<> "Still Life With Woodpecker"

"There is a fine line between a rut and a groove"
G.D. Kittredge III

"

Ballmer should just buy the league.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

They shouldn't have stolen the Sonics in the first place. Having said that, I hate basketball. It is an incredibly boring sport in my mind. When the scores of both teams are exceeding 100 each and they are tallied in 2-3 point increments it tells me that the sport isn't very challenging. It is essentially an aerobics exhibition with a ball involved. But we need an NBA team in Seattle to get the arena. We need the arena to get a hockey team. The ends justify the means.

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ztirffritz
They shouldn't have stolen the Sonics in the first place. Having said that, I hate basketball. It is an incredibly boring sport in my mind. When the scores of both teams are exceeding 100 each and they are tallied in 2-3 point increments it tells me that the sport isn't very challenging. It is essentially an aerobics exhibition with a ball involved.

Wow! Never played basketball, eh? I suppose you must really hate American football if you don't like multiple points per score?

Hockey has its own peculiarities. Rewarding points for a tie was pretty awful and even worse was the four column standings. The OTL column equals one point is likewise weird. Why not simply rank teams by winning percentage?

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Speedy
Ballmer should just buy the league.

give him time, give him time.

but yeah that article in yahoo is pretty ironic given what happened with the Sonics.

[www.slate.com]

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silvarios
[www.slate.com]

This is valid.

However, the true demons in this escapade is, was and remains the Maloof's. Spoiled, rotten, take their daddy's money and throw it down the drain, sellouts. Also, the NBA suffered quite a bit from the fallout of the Sonics debacle and doesn't want to repeat that in any way shape or form.

Ballmer is just the super-greedy rich guy. There's nothing unusual about him.

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silvarios
[www.slate.com]

that's interesting

I think we're going to get a team back to Seattle, somehow, but the Kings may not be it if they've convinced (bullied?) Sacramento to build a new stadium. And heck it's been a couple of years since Seattle built a kazillion dollar publicly funded sports venue, let's go!

I think Chris Hanson has done an unbeliveable job putting the NBA in a corner.
His offer is extremely high appealing to the owners self interest for higher valuations for thier teams.
At the same time the NBA fears his offer because it is almost all private money.
It breaks the NBA model of extotring money out of govenment to pay for the palaces they think they need.
I also see Chris setting this up so that if the deal is not approved the will be major Anti Trust law suit against the NBA.
Being from Seattle I have my bias but the way the NBA operates now needs to be broken up

It ain't "just" the money. You can't ignore who the Maloof's are and how they're trying to be the tail wagging the dog. The local ownership group is working closely with the NBA. You also have a former NBA All-Star as the Sacramento Mayor. Plus, it's plenty of money for the proven to run a franchise into the ground Maloof's. They're too sneaky for comfort.

Remember, they tried to sneak the team into Anaheim, right next to the Lakers and Clippers trying to force Sacramento to do just what Sacramento has done by financing a stadium. If I were NBA ownership, I would not trust these fools ever.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2013 12:14PM by vision63.

The NBA already has 1 too many Microsoft owners of a team. The trailblazers are a screwed up mess with the owner and management team drafting players with pie in the sky hopes.

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srf1957
The NBA already has 1 too many Microsoft owners of a team. The trailblazers are a screwed up mess with the owner and management team drafting players with pie in the sky hopes.

also one of the strongest fan bases in the NBA, with record setting consecutive sell outs for games.

I hope Sacramento retains their Team and Franchise.
Let Seattle find another way to get a team. Seattle screwed the pooch
when they let the Sonics move to Oklahoma.

Sacramento needs their own Team very much.

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“Stay Hungry Stay Foolish"
Steve Jobs

"There are only two mantras yum and yuk mine is yum "
Bernard Mickey Wrangle<>Tom Robbins<> "Still Life With Woodpecker"

"There is a fine line between a rut and a groove"
G.D. Kittredge III

"

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haikuman
I hope Sacramento retains their Team and Franchise.
Let Seattle find another way to get a team. Seattle screwed the pooch
when they let the Sonics move to Oklahoma.

Sacramento needs their own Team very much.

I agree. Losing the Sonics hurt the real fans there quite a bit. Seattle is a basketball/football town big time. They let that guy come in and punk them out of their team.

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silvarios

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ztirffritz
They shouldn't have stolen the Sonics in the first place. Having said that, I hate basketball. It is an incredibly boring sport in my mind. When the scores of both teams are exceeding 100 each and they are tallied in 2-3 point increments it tells me that the sport isn't very challenging. It is essentially an aerobics exhibition with a ball involved.

Wow! Never played basketball, eh? I suppose you must really hate American football if you don't like multiple points per score?

Hockey has its own peculiarities. Rewarding points for a tie was pretty awful and even worse was the four column standings. The OTL column equals one point is likewise weird. Why not simply rank teams by winning percentage?

I tried to play basketball. It wasn't for me, but I'll admit that it is far more fun to play than to watch professionals play. Don't get me wrong. I'm amazed that the NBA players can run up and down the court all night long and sink shots repeatedly with success rates that are staggering. My problem is that they do run up and down the court all night and the do sink shots repeatedly. Raise the hoop, make the hoop a smaller diameter, make the court the size of a football field, fill the ball with concrete...anything to make it more challenging. Clearly the pro level players are good. They're too good. Watching high school basketball is more exciting because it is still a challenge for them. The NHL has its quirks for sure. I won't disagree, but in my opinion, it is far more exciting to watch pros play hockey than to watch pros play basketball. Oh, and I find football incredibly boring to watch too. It's too slow.

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If you want to delve more deeply into this Hanson-Ballmer/Maloof/Sacramento/NBA/David Stern fiasco, this is a good rundown.
[seattletimes.com]


The Maloofs and Hansen have come up with a sly backup plan that traps the NBA. It's not yet a game-changer in terms of the outcome, but it guarantees that there is no easy way out for Stern. In fact, it now seems far less messy to let the Kings go to Seattle.

Whatever the NBA owners decide this week in Dallas during their board of governors meeting, it will have to set a bad precedent. Leaving Sacramento means the NBA would renege on the implied promise that cities keep their teams if they're willing to pay for it. Staying in Sacramento means that NBA owners would ignore a member of its Rich Guy Club and insinuate themselves in a manner that they have tried to avoid in the past.

And staying in Sacramento could mean the greatest fiasco of this entire mess: The first squatting ownership group since Clay Bennett. If allowed, the Maloofs and Hansen would just wait around for the Sacramento deal to fall apart and then apply for relocation again. And if not allowed, it could be grounds for a lawsuit. It's a worst-case scenario for the NBA.

I don't care what happens to the kings as long as Sacramento doesn't have to pay a dime for an arena. I'm really tired to sleazy business guys extorting money from municipalities to help them do what they can damn well do by themselves.

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hal
I don't care what happens to the kings as long as Sacramento doesn't have to pay a dime for an arena. I'm really tired to sleazy business guys extorting money from municipalities to help them do what they can damn well do by themselves.

And this is why they should go to Seattle. The owners want to sell. A group in Seattle wants to buy. The group in Seattle has privately funded the construction of the arena. It is a business transaction.

The quickest, simplest, and cleanest solution is to allow an expansion team to be created. Not sure why the NBA is against that.

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hal
I don't care what happens to the kings as long as Sacramento doesn't have to pay a dime for an arena. I'm really tired to sleazy business guys extorting money from municipalities to help them do what they can damn well do by themselves.

You haven't been paying attention to what's going down in your back yard as you type. Sac has already played it's financial hand. There's a new opposition group that has filed a lawsuit to stop it just today (or yesterday).

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Lemon Drop
If you want to delve more deeply into this Hanson-Ballmer/Maloof/Sacramento/NBA/David Stern fiasco, this is a good rundown.
[seattletimes.com]


The Maloofs and Hansen have come up with a sly backup plan that traps the NBA. It's not yet a game-changer in terms of the outcome, but it guarantees that there is no easy way out for Stern. In fact, it now seems far less messy to let the Kings go to Seattle.

Whatever the NBA owners decide this week in Dallas during their board of governors meeting, it will have to set a bad precedent. Leaving Sacramento means the NBA would renege on the implied promise that cities keep their teams if they're willing to pay for it. Staying in Sacramento means that NBA owners would ignore a member of its Rich Guy Club and insinuate themselves in a manner that they have tried to avoid in the past.

And staying in Sacramento could mean the greatest fiasco of this entire mess: The first squatting ownership group since Clay Bennett. If allowed, the Maloofs and Hansen would just wait around for the Sacramento deal to fall apart and then apply for relocation again. And if not allowed, it could be grounds for a lawsuit. It's a worst-case scenario for the NBA.

If I'm channeling Stern correctly, there is "no way" they can give in to the Maloofs. The league takes a hit either way, but to capitulate at this point would make the retiring Stern and his successor Silver look extremely weak. The ownership group committee reaffirmed their opposition to the Seattle investors a few days ago. So we'll see how it plays out.

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ztirffritz

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hal
I don't care what happens to the kings as long as Sacramento doesn't have to pay a dime for an arena. I'm really tired to sleazy business guys extorting money from municipalities to help them do what they can damn well do by themselves.

And this is why they should go to Seattle. The owners want to sell. A group in Seattle wants to buy. The group in Seattle has privately funded the construction of the arena. It is a business transaction.

The quickest, simplest, and cleanest solution is to allow an expansion team to be created. Not sure why the NBA is against that.

You're completely ignoring the multiple-sides of this equation. Ownership is opposed to expansion because their isn't enough talent to man the existing teams let alone more of them. That could change though.

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vision63
You're completely ignoring the multiple-sides of this equation. Ownership is opposed to expansion because their isn't enough talent to man the existing teams let alone more of them. That could change though.

In my opinion, diluting the talent would actually improve the game and the league. See my comments above about making basketball more difficult. This would accomplish much the same thing. Instead of making it more difficult for a bunch of REALLY good players, you'd just have comparatively fewer really good players per team. You'd have lower scores, but the scores would mean more.

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ztirffritz

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vision63
You're completely ignoring the multiple-sides of this equation. Ownership is opposed to expansion because their isn't enough talent to man the existing teams let alone more of them. That could change though.

In my opinion, diluting the talent would actually improve the game and the league. See my comments above about making basketball more difficult. This would accomplish much the same thing. Instead of making it more difficult for a bunch of REALLY good players, you'd just have comparatively fewer really good players per team. You'd have lower scores, but the scores would mean more.

Your basketball assessment is too rooted in not being a fan (which is cool) or trying to understand the game on that level. I can't really take you seriously regarding how "easy" the game is. Easy means anybody can do it (hell, I'd be a pro then). If that were the case then we could "more easily" justify expansion. Their skill level should be seen as the phenomenon that it is and not dismissed as something frivolously simple. It's like saying that Usain Bolt and his peers need to run uphill to add to the challenge.

Basketball is sweeping the planet in popularity because of the competitive level of it's athletes and the massive entertainment value it provides.

For the record, I'm not saying that I could play NBA level basketball or that it is easy. Those guys are extremely good at what they do. What I am saying is that if the ENTIRE league is that good there is clearly plenty of talent to go around, or else they need to raise the bar. There are approximately 450 players in the NBA. So let's say that of those 450, 4 or 5 are the 'Usain Bolt' star-level of players (Jordan, LeBron, Bird, etc.). Adding an additional 30 journeymen players to the league to create 2 new teams would have negligible impact on the overall talent pool. Each team might take on 1 or 2 players that they otherwise might have passed on. But it would add more than $1billion in value to the league overall, assuming that each new franchise was valued at about $500million (roughly average what the Sacramento group and Hansen's group are offering for the Kings). I'm just saying that in the NBA's current position, they're screwed no matter what they do. But if they just decide to allow an expansion team to form in a city that always wanted their team, but had it stolen from them, then they come out smelling like roses.

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This JUST in:

NBA owners reject Sacramento Kings move to Seattle

DALLAS (AP) — NBA owners voted Wednesday to reject the Sacramento Kings' proposed move to Seattle, the latest in a long line of cities that have tried to land the franchise.
The vote followed a recommendation made last month by the NBA's relocation committee and may have finally brought an end to an emotional saga that has dragged on for nearly three years.
A group led by investor Chris Hansen has a deal to buy the team. Hansen hoped to move the franchise to Seattle and rename it the SuperSonics. The original Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and were renamed the Thunder.
Commissioner David Stern said the league will spend the next 24 to 48 hours talking to the Maloofs, the team's owners, about working out a deal with a competing ownership group in Sacramento.

Read more: [www.sfgate.com]

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ztirffritz
For the record, I'm not saying that I could play NBA level basketball or that it is easy. Those guys are extremely good at what they do. What I am saying is that if the ENTIRE league is that good there is clearly plenty of talent to go around, or else they need to raise the bar. There are approximately 450 players in the NBA. So let's say that of those 450, 4 or 5 are the 'Usain Bolt' star-level of players (Jordan, LeBron, Bird, etc.). Adding an additional 30 journeymen players to the league to create 2 new teams would have negligible impact on the overall talent pool. Each team might take on 1 or 2 players that they otherwise might have passed on. But it would add more than $1billion in value to the league overall, assuming that each new franchise was valued at about $500million (roughly average what the Sacramento group and Hansen's group are offering for the Kings). I'm just saying that in the NBA's current position, they're screwed no matter what they do. But if they just decide to allow an expansion team to form in a city that always wanted their team, but had it stolen from them, then they come out smelling like roses.

I see what you think, but in reality, fans expect the highest level of talent. Nothing watered down and expansion just dilutes talent in the league. Same with MLB, NHL and the NFL.

I think the league is fine with rejecting the Maloof's prospective move. The league took a beating authorizing the move from Seattle and continues too. Google "Zombie Sonics." Real Seattle fans would have loved to have had Durant, Westbrook and Harden to root for. Would have absolutely loved it.

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vision63
This JUST in:

NBA owners reject Sacramento Kings move to Seattle

DALLAS (AP) — NBA owners voted Wednesday to reject the Sacramento Kings' proposed move to Seattle, the latest in a long line of cities that have tried to land the franchise.
The vote followed a recommendation made last month by the NBA's relocation committee and may have finally brought an end to an emotional saga that has dragged on for nearly three years.
A group led by investor Chris Hansen has a deal to buy the team. Hansen hoped to move the franchise to Seattle and rename it the SuperSonics. The original Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and were renamed the Thunder.
Commissioner David Stern said the league will spend the next 24 to 48 hours talking to the Maloofs, the team's owners, about working out a deal with a competing ownership group in Sacramento.

AWESOME ~!~!~!~

Read more: [www.sfgate.com]

---

“Stay Hungry Stay Foolish"
Steve Jobs

"There are only two mantras yum and yuk mine is yum "
Bernard Mickey Wrangle<>Tom Robbins<> "Still Life With Woodpecker"

"There is a fine line between a rut and a groove"
G.D. Kittredge III

"

This *(:>*

After a messy, drawn-out saga involving several potential moves, the long-term future of the Sacramento Kings looks near a resolution. As first reported by Sam Amick of USA Today and announced shortly thereafter by NBA commissioner David Stern and his successor Adam Silver in a press conference, the NBA's Board of Governors has voted not to authorize Joe and Gavin Maloof's pending sale of the Kings to a Seattle-based ownership group headed by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Initial reports state that the final vote came in 22-8 in favor of keeping the Kings in Sacramento.

While the Sacto-averse Maloofs have expressed little interest of selling the team to a local owner, it's expected that the Kings will stay in the city they've called home since 1985. In the press conference, Stern said that he believes the Maloofs will start talks with the local ownership group headed by tech entrepreneur and current Golden State Warriors minority owner Vivek Ranadive and organized by Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. It's possible that the Maloofs were simply posturing in their earlier statements, as they've done several times throughout this process, or perhaps they were promised new perks to make the sale to Ranadvie and Co. more acceptable.

[sports.yahoo.com]

---

“Stay Hungry Stay Foolish"
Steve Jobs

"There are only two mantras yum and yuk mine is yum "
Bernard Mickey Wrangle<>Tom Robbins<> "Still Life With Woodpecker"

"There is a fine line between a rut and a groove"
G.D. Kittredge III

"






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2013 06:30PM by haikuman.

I don't think this is really over.
Hanson has a back up offer to buy 20% from The Maloofs if the sale was not approved. The only option I see for Sacramento is upping their offer or the NBA covering the difference for the Maloofs.

I don't know _ I think Stern used this to put the squeeze on the taxpayers of Sacramento and he succeeded.

Seattle may have to wait for an expansion team - 4-5 years out.

I'm sure the squeeze is part of the equation. I think the Maloofs are desperate for cash. It only makes sense to try to get as much as you can. I don't think they can afford to sit on the team for too long. I give the Lion's share of praise for retaining the Kings in Sac to the mayor and former NBA All Star, Kevin Johnson (KJ). Just like on the court, he took it straight to the hoop. Stern knows that he still has to make up to Seattle fans.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2013 08:17PM by vision63.

[www.capradio.org]

here's the transcript of Stern's presser today.

no love lost between him and Seattle b'ball fans, on the way out he said something like "I have to go watch some basketball in OK City."

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Lemon Drop
[www.capradio.org]

here's the transcript of Stern's presser today.

no love lost between him and Seattle b'ball fans, on the way out he said something like "I have to go watch some basketball in OK City."

Bidness. Think of how rich you'd be if you would only be open to screwing people over in order to make money.