Archives › Aaron Bruski
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Steve Ballmer “on a rampage,” playing Russian Roulette with Seattle’s NBA future
May 14, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT
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It has been said throughout the Sacramento Kings saga that the presence of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Seattle’s ownership team has been a big plus as they seek to buy and relocate the team. Worth $15 billion according to Forbes and ranked No. 51 on its billionaire list, he and Chris Hansen were called…
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While Sacramento’s fight to keep their Kings could extend all the way to the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting on April 18-19, this week will prove pivotal as both Sacramento and Seattle are set to give their best pitch to the BOG’s joint committees tasked with reviewing the matter today in New York. League insiders…
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Comparing markets, attendance and ownership in Sacramento and Seattle
Mar 9, 2013, 9:00 PM EDT
We’ve discussed the issues that will determine whether or not the Sacramento Kings stay in California’s capitol or go to Seattle, including the impact of public subsidy support in both cities, the race between the two cities for an arena deal, and what lawsuits pending in Seattle mean to the process. Next we take a…
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Future of NBA arena subsidies, market comparisons to decide Kings’ fate
Mar 4, 2013, 11:37 PM EDT
As Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has been advertising for the past month, we did indeed get confirmation of the identity of his ‘whales’ at his State of the City address on Thursday. Reiterating parts of his four-part plan that included bringing together a local ownership group, finding big equity investors (whales), putting together a downtown…
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Lawsuits in Seattle give Sacramento head start in race to approve an arena
Feb 22, 2013, 4:08 PM EDT
The question of which city, Sacramento or Seattle, is ahead in the race to bring the NBA a brand new arena attached to a shiny new public subsidy is unclear at this time, but sources with intimate knowledge of the situation tell PBT that so long as Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson delivers on his promises…
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History of public subsidy support could be key issue in Sacramento Kings’ future
Feb 20, 2013, 3:11 PM EDT
It’s no secret that public funds for arenas make the NBA world go round. Seattle lost their Sonics because politicians did not want to play ball, right or wrong, and to top matters off they openly admonished David Stern and the NBA during the critical days and months that determined the Sonics’ fate. The past…
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David Stern sets the stage for final leg of the Sacramento Kings saga
Feb 19, 2013, 5:44 PM EDT
There is a lot to understand when it comes to the potential sale of Sacramento Kings. As NBA commissioner David Stern laid out Saturday, the 29 owners deciding the Kings’ future home face a complex story involving a great ownership group in Seattle and a compelling story out of Sacramento. Seattle’s ownership group already has…
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Kings ownership documents reveal major potential stumbling blocks for Seattle
Feb 4, 2013, 11:43 PM EDT
CORRECTION: February 8, 2013 An earlier version of this post incorrectly referred to a May 2003 document as an addendum to the Kings’ 1992 ownership agreement. The May 2003 document is self-described as a proposal, which, if approved, would constitute a basis for an amendment of the Kings’ partnership agreement. The version of the May…
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Sources: “Mega-Whales” Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov in serious talks with Sacramento
Jan 22, 2013, 11:50 PM EDT
There aren’t a lot of people willing to give Sacramento much of a fighting chance to hold on to the Kings, but they’re not going down without a big money fight. Sources familiar with the situation tell ProBasketballTalk that “mega whales” Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov are in serious talks with the city of Sacramento…
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Breaking: Deal between Maloof family, Seattle’s Chris Hansen for Kings struck, to be announced
Jan 20, 2013, 10:26 PM EDT
While Sacramento will get a final shot to convince NBA owners that this is not something they want to approve, sources have told ProBasketballTalk that Seattle’s Chris Hansen is ready to announce a tentative agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings in the coming days. Following this come reports other teams have been notified of a…
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Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson lays out framework for Kings to stay put
Jan 15, 2013, 3:03 PM EDT
With reports swirling that the Kings’ move to Seattle is a mere formality at this point, the story on the ground in Sacramento is much, much different. In the end, this story comes down to three things: 1. Can Seattle’s Chris Hansen close a deal with the Maloofs to buy the Kings? (According to reports,…
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Sacramento coordinating effort to sell out new owners’ arena before they own it
Jan 14, 2013, 11:15 AM EDT
Remember hearing the stories about Kings fans and concerned Sacramento citizens trying to raise money for an arena when the Maloofs first announced their intention to move to Anaheim? If not, go check out the award-winning documentary Small Market, Big Heart and soak up the story of the many different grassroots efforts that popped up…
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It has been a whirlwind of a week for Kings fans and the Sacramento Kings relocation story in general. We reported first in this saga that ‘Kings to Seattle’ was not a done deal, as sources close to negotiations told us there were many hurdles for the deal to clear, and that Sacramento had multiple,…
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George Maloof says deal to sell the Kings to Seattle “not close.” If you choose to believe him.
Jan 10, 2013, 4:24 PM EDT
There are plenty of people that are writing off the Kings’ future in Sacramento, but sources in Sacramento close to the situation have told PBT consistently that California’s capitol city will have the opportunity to make an offer to keep the team. Whether or not that ultimately happens remains to be seen, but for now…
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The ongoing joke about the Maloofs in league circles is that they can get the girl’s phone number, but they can’t close the deal. After Adrian Wojnarowski’s report that the Maloofs are close to finalizing a $500 million deal with Seattle billionaire Chris Hansen, closing a deal shouldn’t be a problem this time, but there…
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George Maloof’s Virginia Beach arena ploy falls apart, Seattle rumors heat up
Jan 9, 2013, 9:10 AM EDT
We never took the Maloofs or Virginia Beach seriously in their talks to move the Sacramento Kings to the eastern seaboard, and predictably the talks officially fell apart when Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms declared the deal dead for now on Tuesday. There were a million reasons that deal was a farce – a sad…
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Kings players want Isaiah Thomas to start; don’t know what they’re running on offense
Dec 19, 2012, 10:17 PM EDT
If you’ve caught yourself watching a Sacramento Kings game lately and thought to yourself, ‘this can’t get any worse’ only to see it get much, much worse – you’re not the only one. As it turns out, the Kings players themselves are having a real hard time understanding the train wreck they’re a part of…
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NBA owners forced to choose between Maloofs and Sacramento in remake of Major League
Dec 5, 2012, 7:55 AM EDT
Every good story needs a villain, but the NBA probably doesn’t want to remake the movie Major League in order to sell its product. Indeed, George Maloof and his brothers have done their best Rachel Phelps impression, complete with bottom-four payrolls over the past four seasons and little-to-no improvement to the franchise whatsoever. In the…
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How much would you pay for the right to advertise with a basketball team that refuses to guarantee where it will be a year from now? If you’re mattress maker Sleep Train and hamburger purveyor Carl’s Jr., the answer is nothing. Those are the reports coming out of Sacramento from the well-connected Carmichael Dave, who…
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Will Seattle billionaire Chris Hansen drastically overpay for the Sacramento Kings?
Sep 11, 2012, 5:26 PM EDT
News of billionaire Chris Hansen striking a deal with the Seattle City Council hit the wire late Monday night, as the sides have agreed to a framework on an arena deal that moves them a few smaller hurdles away from becoming an NBA-ready city (courtesy of Chris Daniels of King 5 in Seattle). In a…
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Comcast-Spectacor hasn’t spoken with Kings at all, arena project barely off the ground
Aug 28, 2012, 6:53 PM EDT
Unless there is more to come in the next few days, the Virginia Beach arena press conference didn’t do much to sway the overwhelming opinion that the Sacramento Kings are nowhere near moving there. There were no Maloof appearances, but president of Comcast-Spectacor Peter Luukko spoke to the Virginia Beach city council in support of…
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In depth: Stern fires shot across the bow at the Maloofs, who continue to threaten the NBA’s billion dollar arena subsidy
Jun 13, 2012, 2:56 PM EDT
A meticulous planner, everything David Stern says is run through a filter of lawyerly instinct and an ever-present awareness of his surroundings. So when David Aldridge asked him if the NBA would support the Maloofs in their desire to move the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim on Tuesday – don’t think for a second that he…
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Have the Maloofs threatened the NBA’s billion dollar arena subsidy industry?
May 17, 2012, 5:48 PM EDT
What do Faye Vincent, George Steinbrenner, and David Stern have in common? They’re each relevant characters in the relocation saga of the Maloof family, owners of the Sacramento Kings, who are increasingly becoming a liability for the NBA. That’s because Chris Lehane, executive director of arena group Think Big Sacramento and big-time political consultant to…
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Documentary released profiling grassroots effort to keep Kings in Sacramento
May 16, 2012, 11:47 AM EDT
I called it ‘watching your own funeral,’ but instead of a eulogy there was Fan Appreciation Night. Instead of a pall-bearer, there stood Kobe Bryant. You could’ve written the story of Sacramento’s fight to keep their team with a scalpel, but in this open-heart surgery there would be no anesthetic. The Lakers were in town,…
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Maloofs send ex-FBI agent to snoop on local Sacramento businesses
May 14, 2012, 10:21 AM EDT
During last year’s playoffs, the Maloof family sent an attorney to an Orange County Register reporter’s home to collect evidence. The evidence in question was audio of Phil Jackson comparing the embattled family to unpopular former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. While the Maloofs may have wanted observers to believe they were merely protecting their image,…
