Fresh Sacramento Kings news has NBA commissioner David Stern hinting that the Kings could remain in Sacramento. Seattle NBA fans don't want to hear any news like this, especially if it means the city might not be able to get a new team after all. According to a report on Sunday morning (Feb. 17), Stern spoke at a press conference during the All-Star Game festivities and suggested the Kings could possibly be playing in California again next season.
When asked about whether Sacramento has a chance to retain its NBA franchise, Stern stated, "Oh, certainly it's plausible to me, but I don't have a vote. But I expect the owners to have a very open mind on this. And it isn't plausible yet to talk about it until the predicates have been fulfilled." Without going into details about what his statement actually meant, it could certainly give Sacramento NBA fans some hope. At the same time, Seattle fans cannot be too happy that it looks like the commissioner is working against them again.
A group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer already reached an agreement with the Maloof family to buy a 65 percent share of the franchise. The plan is to then move it to Seattle and play in the Key Arena until a new facility can be built. It seems pretty straightforward, but the door was opened by the league and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson will be given permission to present a competing offer by March 1. It's intriguing what this could mean and what the other NBA owners will vote to do.
This Sacramento Kings news definitely proves that there is still hope to save the franchise, even if commissioner David Stern never gave any real specifics. For the resurrection of the Seattle SuperSonics, this looks like yet another bump in the road for Chris Hansen and his group.
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