In Sacramento: The Kings are not dead.
Long live the Kings?
That is in large part up to the NBA. Relocation of the team to Anaheim looked like a slam dunk. But someone must have thrown up a brick, because rather than rubber-stamping the transfer request from the team's owners, the Maloof family, the league is sending a delegation to Sacto on Thursday to vet Mayor Kevin Johnson's attempt at a buzzer-beater of a deal to keep the Kings in town.
Now that that metaphor's been tortured to the point where Amnesty International has expressed concern, let's go to the audiotape...
Yesterday I talked to Sacramento Bee columnist Ailene Voisin about the situation. Aside from cluing us in on the latest developments, she also talked about what's behind the team's attempted relocation, asserting that the Maloofs' finances and not the team's fiscal health is the main issue. We also discussed attempts by former Kings' star Chris Webber to and billionaire Ron Burkle to buy the team, the tempting loan offer by Anaheim Ducks' owner Henry Samueli, and the team's decline in recent years.
Finally, we talked about the importance of the Kings to the city's identity and to its fans.
Ailene Voisin on the latest developments
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On the specifics of the Anaheim deal
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On the decline of the team in recent years
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On the Maloofs' financial situation
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On the Maloofs' disinclination to sell
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On the importance of the team to Sacramentans
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On Chris Webber's desire to put together a deal to buy the team
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