NBA: Owners to meet Monday, decide fate of Sacramento Kings following week

An NBA spokesman says the committee of owners reviewing the proposed sale and relocation of the Sacramento Kings will meet on Monday. Commissioner David Stern told a meeting of AP sportswriters on Thursday a final vote would come “on or about” May 13.

The committee of 12 owners will meet via conference call, and then issue their recommendation about the fate of the Kings, league spokesman Mike Bass told The Sacramento Bee

NBA rules mandate the league’s Board of Governors wait seven business days before all the owners cast the deciding vote.

The owners must choose whether to approve the sale of the team by the Maloof family to investor Chris Hansen and relocation to Seattle, or vote down the sale and instead side with a group seeking to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

Hansen and his group, which includes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and members of the Nordstrom family, have a signed agreement with the Maloofs to purchase their 65 percent share of the team for $357 million. The rival Sacramento group, led by Silicon Valley software billionaire Vivek Ranadive, has reportedly matched the offer.

The Maloofs complained in a letter to the NBA last week that the Sacramento offer fell far short and urged the league to approve the sale to Hansen’s group. But Stern told reporters last Friday the two bids are “in the same ballpark.”