As of right now – Tuesday afternoon – the Kings still belong to Sacramento despite investor Chris Hansen's push to buy the NBA franchise from the Maloof family. There is, however, a new development in the ongoing sports saga.
Sacramento Mayor and former NBA star Kevin Johnson told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he has approval from NBA Commissioner David Stern to present a counteroffer to the league from investors who want to keep the team in Sacramento.
Johnson, speaking at a State of Downtown breakfast, gave a six week timetable on the counteroffer, calling it a "six-week sprint" to put a proposal together. The league's deadline for teams to apply for relocation is March 1.
The Associated Press said neither the Kings nor the NBA have a comment.
Yahoo Sports reported Monday that the NBA held a conference call last week with the league's relocation committee to talk about the Kings possibly relocating to Seattle. The source detailed the proposal, saying Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would buy 65 percent of the team valued at $525 million. The remaining 35 percent would remain with minority owners.
A report on NBA.com said a deal was just about done, but Hansen wanted to wait until the Seattle Seahawks had their playoff situation settled before making anything official.
