The Man Advantage... Basketball and Loathing in Sacramento (or Seattle)

With the playoffs upon us in both the NBA and NHL (almost), it’s easy to overlook one of the best ongoing story lines in professional sports right now.

Thought to be a done deal a few months ago, the Maloofs still haven’t made a call on the sale of the NBA’s Kings, leaving many sitting on the edge of their seats. Two major groups have come forward: Chris Hansen’s Seattle group and a pro-Sacramento group lead by Golden State Vice Chairman Vivek Ranadive and Mark Mastrov. Soon, the NBA Board of Governors will announce their decision on the bids. While David Stern believes both bids are on similar footing, the Maloof family and most insight gives an edge to the Seattle group, which increased their bid to $550 million, with the Maloofs receiving $357 million. In the same Sacramento Bee article, they report the Sacramento group offered only a $15 million deposit, which is only half of what Hansen’s group has offered.

John Lombardo of SBJ investigates the strengths of each group. Sacramento is the current host, has a host of local support, and was formerly a model franchise for the league, but the group came together rather hastily and seems far less organized. In the other corner, Seattle seems to have far d

eeper pockets than the Sacramento-based group, but is leveraged more heavily than the Sacramento bid and needs to improve KeyArena or build a new facility to host the team. Seattle is also a larger city with more Fortune 500 companies, leading them to be more of a financial asset to league revenue sharing than Sacramento.

While the NBA Board of Governors can decline the Seattle-based group’s bid, they cannot force the Maloofs to accept the currently unsatisfactory bid from the Ranadive-Mastrov group. Furthermore, Seattle already has “a binding purchase agreement to purchase the controlling interest in the team” Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reported.

Here’s hoping Hansen and the Seattle group make it work. While we’re waiting, here’s a Top Ten list of Shawn Kemp dunks. Enjoy!

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Ryan Pratt is a junior Sport Management major at Drexel University.  Ryan has past experience as manager for the Drexel men’s basketball team, Communications Assistant for University of Penn Athletics, and Administration Associate for the American Association for Cancer Research.  Currently, Ryan serves as President of the Drexel Interfraternity Council and Advisor to the Board of Directors for Lambda Chi Alpha.  Follow Ryan @LXAPratt.

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