salamander":9riftcrj said:
You know you're in trouble when you have to resort to legal arguments and potential lawsuits as your argument for why you are in the driver's seat. The NBA wants the Kings in Sacramento. Do you really think you will beat the NBA? And even if you did win through the courts, embarrassing the NBA wouldn't be a good start for your franchise.
Oh, and your salmon is damn good. I was being serious when I said you should go make more of it instead of wasting your time here.
I'd rather have an ownership group that is threatening to sue if the NBA tries to block an existing sales agreement with a seller who has openly stated he wants to sell to me, than an ownership group waving around an inferior offer they pulled out of thin air while the seller openly says he wants nothing to do with you.
News flash: It doesn't matter what the NBA wants. What does the NBA have to do with the sale of that team? NOTHING. They have zero power over who buys or sells that team other than voting on a conflict of interest.
What matters is what the Maloofs want. They're the ones who ultimately decide who does or doesn't buy the Kings. The NBA knows that, which is why they're trying to block a relocation now, before the sale goes through. It's the only thing the NBA can legally do to try to block a sale. They're hoping two billionaires will tuck tail and run. Generally, that is not how billionaires become billionaires, but you know... that's really all they've got in the quiver.
Being in the driver's seat means you are setting the tone, you are the one in control.
Right now, it is Hansen who is in control. Hansen is the one with a binding sale agreement, in writing, signed by the seller, with payment made in full. All Hansen has to do is kick back and follow through with the purchase. Let the NBA fight it and hang themselves with their own rope.
Sacramento is the third wheel, waving an inferior offer at the media as if that means anything to anyone. Apparently, nobody has bothered to explain to them that without the Maloofs signatures, it means less than the paper it's written on.
The seller (Maloofs) just told your newspaper there was no way they would ever accept an offer from Sacramento and that an arena deal in Sacramento was impossible. Only the NBA is interested in your arena plan, but you need more than that, you need the owner of the Kings to accept it. And both owners (current and upcoming) have both stated they have no interest in the Sacramento arena plan. How is that being in the driver's seat? I must be missing something.
Literally the only thing the NBA can do for Sacramento is force Hansen to stay in the current arena. Meanwhile, Hansen can just sit on the team, force them to play in the existing arena, and wait it out. He can do exactly what Clay Bennett did here if he wanted to be a dick about it. Just trade away the good players, and let them lose. Stop maintaining the arena, and wait it out. Eventually, the NBA will capitulate and let Hansen move wherever he wants because ultimately, what is best for the NBA is to have owners investing in a watchable product, playing in arenas that will generate revenue for the NBA.
Eventually, the NBA will stop caring about how the arena is financed. They'll feel the pain in their wallet and Hansen will have his way. Literally the only people who feel pain over all this mess will be Sacramento. Do I think that's fair? Nope. But that's the fight the NBA has chosen.
So while you claim to be in the driver's seat, I'd see it more as being stuck in the electric chair while the governor and warden fight over when to pull the switch.