An influential NBA owner says the league's relocation committee voted to keep the Kings in Sacramento because the city did "all it should to keep the team."
Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, in a candid exchange with a Seattle fan on Twitter, said the committee's pivotal April 29 vote boiled down to Sacramento's credentials as an NBA city. The committee, including Arison, voted 7-0 to block the proposed relocation of the Kings to Seattle.
Arison made his comments on a May 4 private exchange with a Seattle fan. The dialogue was posted early today on the website of Seattle radio station KJR.
A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Bee that the tweets were Arison's.
The committee vote sets up a meeting next Wednesday in Dallas of the NBA board of governors. The board, consisting of all team owners, is expected to vote on the team's location and future ownership. The Maloof family made a deal to sell its controlling interest in the Kings to Seattle investors, but a group of investors has submitted a counter-offer to keep the team in Sacramento.
Arison wrote that the main issue before the relocation committee was whether "sac has done all it should to keep the team. The answer is yes." He said Seattle wouldn't have lost the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City in 2008 if the city's elected officials had responded the way Sacramento has to the potential loss of the Kings. The City Council has tentatively approved a deal for a new $448 million arena, including a $258 million public subsidy.
Arison said Seattle could try and lure another team but added that "expansion will be considered after the next TV negotiations."
Call The Bee's Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066. Follow him on Twitter @dakasler.
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