AP: 6eab25a9-7752-4ffe-8486-8c85a5e5832e
Sacramento Kings fan Robert Robbins holds a poster of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson before the Kings NBA basketball game. Johnson has been spearheading efforts to keep the team from being sold to a group from Seattle who plan to move the team to that city. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
There are more signs deep-pocketed investors are getting behind Sacramento's efforts to stop the sale of the Sacramento Kings to Chris Hansen, after fitness magnate Mark Mastrov met Monday with local business leaders and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Mastrov, the founder of 24 Hour Fitness, gathered Monday with the business leaders who each committed $1 million to help buy the team, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Mastrov is reportedly in serious talks with billionaire Ron Burkle to partner on a bid to buy the Kings and build a new downtown arena to keep the team from moving to Seattle.

Burkle, co-owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, met last week with NBA Commissioner David Stern in New York, numerous sources said. He also reportedly met with Johnson.

Mastrov reportedly lost out in a 2010 bid to buy the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said last week he expects to introduce several major equity partners to lead the effort to purchase the Kings from the Maloof family. The NBA has promised he can present a counter-offer at the league's Board of Governors meeting in April.

NBA insider Kevin Pelton with ESPN tells the Luke Burbank Show anyone who thinks they know what's going to happen is simply guessing, because the league owners can ultimately do whatever they want.

"It's fundamentally the right of sports leagues, they've they've maintained they've been able to approve or turn down offers for other teams within the league." In other words, even if Hansen has an exclusive deal with the Maloofs, the owners can veto it.

Pelton says it's an essentially unprecedented situation, and predicting an outcome is impossible because although the league has been historically reluctant to block a sale unless finances are an issue, it's also reluctant to have franchises move (excluding Seattle, where the city refused to fund a new arena.)

Ultimately, Pelton says he wouldn't be surprised to see the matter end up in court, with Hansen potentially suing Sacramento for interfering with a legally binding contract.

Follow Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter

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Comments (11)


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  • Jarhead0228 wrote...
    Lawsuit?
    January 28, 2013 1:43 pm
    I am not an attorney or legal scholar but, if Hansen was compelled to sue the city of Sacramento for interference in a private sales transaction, would he not have to name the NBA in the suit as well? There would have to be a nexus to the NBA since they allowed the counter offer! I don't see anyone, including Hansen/Ballmer, suing the very entity(club) they are so desperately trying to get into. Unless they feel that the purchase of the Kings is their only hope. It appears that Hansen may have been overly confident that the NBA would rubber stamp a sale ridding the league of the Maloofs, who have been an embarrassment to the NBA for years!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • clevesside wrote...
    I fear the new owner of the Kings.....
    January 28, 2013 4:19 pm
    .... when the dust settles, will be a law firm or at worse, a ward of the court. Truly. Welcome to 21st century professional sports.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Brian Oblivion wrote...
    It's too bad...
    January 28, 2013 4:35 pm
    Seattle didn't have Kevin Johnson as mayor when the Sonics were here, instead of that doofus.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Breaking News :
    January 28, 2013 5:03 pm
    the Supersonics return home Tomorrow on the team 787 plane at midnight. A friend of a friend told my friend this. I will be at Boeing field to greet them home!!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    Please Stay in Sacramento
    January 28, 2013 9:48 pm
    Stealing a Team from another City is still Stealing. No honor among thiefs.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ktrenhed wrote...
    What is your definition of...
    January 28, 2013 10:44 pm
    Stealing? Last time I checked, it isn't stealing if you pay for it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lessmith50 wrote...
    Newton
    January 29, 2013 7:36 am
    What a moron dumb a55 brain dead comment. NOBODY IS STEALING ANYTHING DIPSTICK! They are going to PURCHASE the team. Do you know what purchase means. Evidently not! Let me explain like your a dumba55 3yr old. First moron you pay for the product (team). Do i need to explain what Pay means? Evidently so since you use stealing. Paying someone is when you have an item to sell and I give you MONEY for it. That is paying for something. Stealing taking something from someone that does not belong to you. DO YOU GOT THAT? OR DO I NEED TO WRITE THIS IN COLOR CRAYON FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND! Stealing what a dumb a55 comment from a dumb a55 commentator.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Sean wrote...
    Not to mention...
    January 29, 2013 7:31 am
    paying about THREE TIMES what the Maloofs originally paid for it. Stealing? Yeah, right. There's no arena deal down there, which is a requirement of the NBA (ask Sonics fans about THAT) and if the owner chooses to sell, the owner chooses to sell. Quit the whining. There are lots of injustices in the world and especially in big business. If no one has stepped up and the Kings move, Sacramento has no one to blame but themselves; it's a choice they made.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    Kind of funny
    January 29, 2013 7:51 am
    that Stern is allowing Sacramento all this extra time to find another owner yet they did nothing when it came to the Sonics. I think Hansen has out positioned Stern and Sacramento on this deal. If things don't go his way the lawsuits will make a mess of the NBA (not that it needs any help).
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Jarhead0228 wrote...
    Actually need to get your facts straight...........
    January 29, 2013 8:37 am
    as I understand it the city had/has an arena deal, that was negotiated by Stern and the NBA, but the Maloofs are too broke to afford it. Even though the league was going to loan them the money. The city of Sacramento was/is going to spend about 250 million to fund the arena. This was more than the worthless former Seattle mayor and other government officials were going to do for Schultz and Bennett. Lastly I don't think the NBA would be doing all this if they didn't care if the Kings moved, their doing it because they did everything they could to keep the team and the Maloofs embarrassed the league. How did Hansen out position them? He threw out a $ amount he thought no one would turn down and touch. He was right on half of that anyway. I do agree it is not stealing on Hansen's part he is just doing business! But the Maloofs appear to be the, as you used above, "dumb a55."
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sled_dawg wrote...
    (excluding Seattle, where the city refused to fund a new arena.)
    January 29, 2013 9:45 pm
    Malarky! The Balmer group worked out a renovation deal with the mayor and it was part of their last ditch offer.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }






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