NBA SEASON STARTS NOW!!!

[TawnyVonJagger]

Sup, Yeti? How's your ball team playing?

[johnk5150]

I hope we end up with Dallas in the first round. Blazers could take that shit.

The west is going to be awesome regardless. There's only one east conference 1st round matchup that isn't going to be horrible. Atlanta/Orlando. I see the Heat/Bulls/Celtics pummeling whoever they play first.

[grishnak boss]

I see the Heat/Bulls/Celtics pummeling whoever they play first.

WORD.

[LAglamrocker]

Lakers are on fire!

Lakers will win 12 in the playoffs when it matters
Spurs will win 6, and lose 2-4 in 2nd round

[Subhuman Yeti]

Actually they say they are tired of the regular/first season and are only looking towards the playoffs, but I think it's just fucking lazy, fucking shitty unfocused basketball and I now kinda know what it's like to live in every other city where their teams lose all the fucking time, suck ass every year and never ever make the playoffs even as a lucky as fuck 8th fucking seed.

But thankfully the LAKE SHOW will make the playoffs... and hopefully they leave their fucking pathetically lazy basketball, fucking lazy defense and fucking shit eating horrible ball handling in the regular season and play like back to back fucking world champions... But I kinda have my doubts based on their fucking unfocused laziness.



But that's what I have several different strains of absolute best weed on the planet OG Kush for... Great medicine for life's unavoidable fucking stupidity.

[johnk5150]

Talk about a mess of a team. The Celtics dropped to the 3 seed last night.

They need that fatass Shaq to come through big time if they're going to do anything in round 2. Hell they may even need him big time against the Knicks the way they're playing.

[Subhuman Yeti]

It was an important game for the shit eating Celtics but Cock Rivers kept 4 of their starters on the bench looking like fucking idiots.

[Subhuman Yeti]

Kings finale could also be last game in Sacramento


Posted Apr 12 2011 3:04PM - Updated Apr 12 2011 3:40PM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Some will cry.

Others will protest.

There will be signs of support and banners expressing anger. And in the end, no matter the score, everyone will say goodbye.


Maybe for the last time.

The deadline so many fans here have dreaded finally arrives Wednesday night when the Kings host the rival Los Angeles Lakers in what might be the final game in Sacramento. With the Kings mulling a move to Anaheim, "Fan Appreciation Night" suddenly feels like farewell.

"It's going to be a basketball funeral," said Robert Crashner, a Kings season-ticket holder for almost a decade. "Unless a miracle happens, I guess it's going to be over."

The outlook in California's capital city certainly seems gloomy.

Kings fans, most already talking about their team in the past tense, are still organizing for what will surely be an exhausting regular-season finale. Social-networking efforts have sprouted up and a sellout crowd is expected, with everything from a sit-in afterward to a boycott beforehand among the possibilities planned.

Signs reading "Save Our Kings" and billboards across town plastered "It's Not Over" have been the widespread themes thus far, and there will surely be countless posters - maybe even a few cowbells - at the finale.

For most, the Lakers game offers a chance to vent any feelings - frustration, anger, joy, whatever - one last time.

"It's a Hail Mary pass, it's the bottom of the ninth, it's the 15th round, whatever sports analogy you want to use," said Carmichael Dave, a Sacramento sports-talk host who helped form the group "Here We Build," a grass roots initiative aimed at raising funds for a new arena.

"We're going down with a fight."

Hours after the final buzzer sounds, the NBA Board of Governors will begin meeting a continent away in New York to start deciding Sacramento's basketball fate.

Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, who are not expected to attend the season finale, are scheduled to make a pitch to fellow owners to move the franchise to Anaheim next season, and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson - a former NBA All-Star - also will attend the meeting to plead the city's case to keep the franchise.

The Maloofs have until Monday to officially file for permission to relocate, and a vote would likely come within weeks of that request. All that's required is approval by a simple majority of the owners, and no NBA team has ever been denied permission to move in the 27 years under Commissioner David Stern.

The only thing guaranteed for Sacramento is 48 more minutes of professional basketball.

"The not knowing part - it stinks," Kings forward Donte Greene said. "I don't know what I'm going to do if we leave. I know the fans are going to be hurt, and I feel for them."

Only a few years ago this scenario wouldn't have seemed possible.

Sacramento was a thriving NBA franchise that produced sellout streaks of 497 and 354 straight games. The building formerly known as Arco Arena provided one of the most notorious home-court advantages in the league, a place where fans clanked cowbells so loud opposing coaches and players pleaded to have the noisemakers banned.

The Kings won an NBA-best 61 games in the 2001-02 season behind Chris Webber and Vlade Divac, losing to the eventual champion Lakers in the Western Conference finals at home in a decisive Game 7.

"This was a special city when I was here," said Rick Adelman, the coach of those memorable Kings teams. "The fans were incredible. It would be sad to see them leave. It is hard for me to believe there won't be a team in Sacramento."

Sacramento, with budget deficits and heavy job losses during the economic downturn, has turned down initiatives for years to contribute public dollars to replace or upgrade the aging arena. The Kings have steadily declined, and so has fan interest.

So the Maloofs began exploring other options.

Anaheim's Honda Center in Orange County offers high-priced corporate sponsors the Central Valley can't match and an NBA-ready arena with more luxury suites and improved sightlines, perhaps outweighing the downside of competing with the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers in the same market.

Anaheim's City Council already has issued the bonds needed to entice the Kings to move, new federal trademark names - Anaheim Royals, among them - have been requested and about everything else to move the franchise is in motion.

Still, some Kings fans hold out hope that maybe, just maybe, it will all fall apart.

"When I walk out after the season finale, I have to believe it's not over," Crashner said. "If I didn't, it would be too sad to ever leave.

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/04/12/king ... ef:nbahpt2

whatever sports analogy you want to use

In Sacramento, your team sucks.


In Anaheim their is the possibility of a bright future, but still not as bright as the LAKE SHOW future.

I drive thru Sac a few times a year and always flip off the Arco Arena because it fucking begs for it. I really can't wait to get the fucking hell out of there either and get to where I am going, that is a much better place to be.

It kinda does suck a bit they want to use Royals as a name instead of thinking of something GOOD though.

But Royals is better than the Kings, especially with a cheesy hockey team in the almost immediate area named the Kings.

But... if the Kings win the cup this year I won't hit them up as much.


But the Angels, Dodgers, Ducks and LA Cripples still fucking SUCK.

[Tenacious_Dio]

Lakers will win 12 in the playoffs when it matters

That's a shame, since they'll need 16 wins to get a championship.

[Subhuman Yeti]

Sacramento mayor makes pitch to keep the Kings


Posted Apr 14 2011 1:33PM - Updated Apr 14 2011 7:54PM

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson watched part of the Kings' season finale, then flew overnight across the country to meet with NBA owners.

His goal: Make sure that wasn't the last NBA game in California's state capital.

"We felt very strongly that the Sacramento Kings were worth fighting for. And if anybody thinks that we're going to sit on our hands and roll over and just let somebody leave without putting up a good fight, they'd be gravely mistaken," Johnson said Thursday after a presentation in front of NBA owners.

Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof are considering a move to Anaheim and must file a relocation application with the league by Monday. The league's owners are meeting in New York the next two days, and Johnson followed the Maloof group in speaking to them Thursday.

Johnson said he hopes the Maloofs choose to stay, but if not there was an ownership group headed by Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle that would be interested in purchasing the team from them or buying another team to move to Sacramento.

"We totally acknowledge that it's the Maloofs' decision as business owners to determine if it's in their best interests to go to Anaheim or stay in Sacramento," Johnson said. "I think we presented the alternative in that it makes sense to stay in Sacramento."

The Maloofs already have made one thing clear.

"The Maloofs are not going to sell the team," Kings spokesman Troy Hanson said.

Johnson stressed the viability of the Sacramento market to the owners and reminded them of the Kings' success in the city over the last 26 years. A former NBA All-Star, Johnson compared his adrenaline when he got dressed Thursday to that of a postseason game.

He revealed to the owners more than $7 million in corporate participation that he said was identified in less than a week and reiterated the city's commitment to building a new entertainment complex to replace the Power Balance Pavilion, whether the Kings remained to play in it or not.

"So for anybody that has concern, even in a down market, a down economy, that we as a community can't step up to a higher level in the 2011-12 season, they would be mistaken and we have to demonstrate that," Johnson said before the meeting.

Darius Anderson of the Anderson Burkle Group said Burkle's interest proves that. Johnson said the owners asked and were assured that Burkle's group would not seek to move the team.

"If this new ownership group comes to Sacramento, we will have a winning team. No doubt about it," Anderson said. "Ron knows how to win, he won the Stanley Cup two years ago, and he's made that same commitment going forward."

Johnson said the Kings sold out in 19 of their 26 seasons in Sacramento, adding that "I don't believe the grass is greener in Anaheim than it is in Sacramento."

"Fans mean something. Fans are the texture and the heart and soul of the NBA," Johnson said. "That's No. 1. No. 2, we are a top-20 TV market, so I want to remind and maybe dispel some of the concerns that people have with the Sacramento market. It is a viable market."

But the former Arco Arena is outdated, so the Maloof brothers have begun exploring the move to Southern California. The Honda Center, which hosted the NCAA tournament's West Regional finals, has amenities that Sacramento's building lacks.

The arena situation in Sacramento has long been a concern in the NBA, and Commissioner David Stern has expressed less optimism seemingly each time he's been asked over the last few years. Yet it's the league's owners who will determine if the Maloofs can move, and a majority of them would have to approve the application.

They could also seek to establish a severe relocation fee penalty that could make the Maloofs reconsider.

Sacramento's pitch also included a report from Tim Romani, president and CEO of the ICON group, which is performing a feasibility study for a new arena that he said should be completed by the end of May. However, he did say the financing for the project was not fully determined.

But Burkle led the drive for a new arena in Pittsburgh, and Johnson's team believes he could be the key to saving pro basketball in Sacramento.

"We built a very compelling case to the NBA today," Johnson said.

"Don't let them leave us alone, we know we're pathetic!", Johnson whined, then he just stood there smiling and mouth breathing for a good 30 minutes before he stepped down, mouth still wide open.

[Subhuman Yeti]

Nobody Asked Me, But ...

How is this going to work in Anaheim for the Kings? Or Royals or whomever?


The team about to be known as the former Sacramento Kings has an agreement in place with the city of Anaheim to move there and play at the Honda Center, the current home of the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, starting next season, as part of a deal where the city of Anaheim will provide $75 million to the Kings from the sale of bonds -- $50 million in relocation money and $25 million to improve the Honda Center's facilities, including the locker rooms.

(The city has also reportedly sought to trademark "Anaheim Royals," in apparant homage to the franchise's earlier iterations in Rochester and Cincinnati before being renamed the Kings when it moved to Kansas City.)

The loan -- and it's spelled out as such in the agreement -- is subject to repament in full; the Kings' owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, are on the hook for the full $75 million. (The proposed 103-page deal between Anaheim and the Kings -- referred to as "TeamCo" in the document -- can be found here.)

"TeamCo's obligation to pay the VCAP payments shall survive the termination of this agreement and/or the VCAP financing agreement," Section 8.5 (c) spells out in ominous detail. The Anaheim City Council is set to vote on the proposal Tuesday.

The loan comes from the management company that runs Honda Center, which would be responsible for repaying the city, but is clearly coming out of the pocket of Henry Samueli, the majority owner of the Ducks, the primary tenant in Honda Center.

Samueli bought the Ducks from Disney six years ago with the idea of luring an NBA team to Anaheim as well; the corporate giant's ownership of the Ducks and control of what was then called the Pond were not nearly as attractive to prospective NBA teams as the lay of the land now in Anaheim, which is close to the Inland Empire, home to 5 million or so folks in Orange County and the surrounding area.


Among the highlights of the document:

• The deal runs through 2026, but the Kings can extend it five additional seasons by notifying Anaheim up to one year before the end of the agreement.

• The Kings have an escape clause after 10 years in Anaheim, but would have to pay the city $20 million, plus an additional $30 million if they play within 125 miles of Anaheim before 2026 (which sounds like it was put in place to prevent any move in the future to San Diego, two hours south).

• The Kings will get 92.5 percent of ticket sales money, with Samueli getting the other 7.5 percent. They will split parking revenue and concessions 50-50 with Samueli.

• The Kings would get a third of any new revenue generated if Samueli does a new naming rights deal with someone other than Honda, which is currently paying Samueli $60 million in a 15-year naming rights deal that begin in 2006.

• The management company will get most of the money from the sale of 1,715 Club Seats, 84 luxury suites and 40 so-called "Terrace Suites" that will be in the basketball configuration at Honda Center. The Maloofs would get a slice, too.

But for all the potential of Anaheim for the Maloofs, there are at least seven serious potential pitfalls to their making a successful go of it in Anaheim:

1) The Kings, at the moment, stink. It would be hard enough competing for discretionary income in southern California against Kobe and Bad Blake if you had a good team. But Sacramento, even after a season-high three-game win streak, is 20-52, ahead only of Toronto, Washington, Cleveland and Minnesota. The Kings have a couple of intriguing pieces in Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, and they probably have the best role players of any of the really bad squads.

But it hasn't come together yet, and in the murderous West, there's no guarantee it ever will. Meanwhie, the Lakers are full speed ahead behind Kobe, and the Clippers have become a road draw as well, having sold out almost all of their home games since All-Star Weekend.


2) Big Local Footprints. The sports empire of multi-billionaire Philip Anschutz, who built Staples Center and the adjacent L.A. Live complex, and who owns several Major League Soccer teams as well as parts of the Lakers and the NHL's L.A. Kings, is accelerating. Anschutz already has a $700 million naming rights deal with Farmers' Insurance for a football stadium that hasn't yet been built, next to Staples in downtown L.A., that is expected to ultimately lure an NFL team back to Los Angeles.

Anschutz isn't going to sit idly by and let a fifth of his Lakers audience -- it's estimated 20 percent of Lakers and Clippers fans make the drive from Orange County -- get away without a fierce fight.

And Arte Moreno, who owns Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels, went to court to get his team recognized as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to gain a foothold in the L.A. area. He has made the Angels into one of baseball's biggest-grossing teams and would be both neighbor of and competitor with a new team in town.

3) NBA NIMBYism. The acronym "NIMBY" is a well-known political/civic term standing for "not in my back yard." It means that while people tend to like the idea of, say, more jails, no one wants to see a jail built down the street from their house. Similarily, while NBA owners are loath to get in the way of their brethren when they see a better deal in another city -- I can't remember a relocation application being turned down in the last 30 years -- owners are also sensitive to the idea that the lucrative L.A. market could be hurt by the insertion of a third team 30 miles from Staples, where the Lakers and Clippers play.

4) A Fantastic Finders' Fee. An NBA team executive put it to me this way this weekend: The Grizzlies had to pay a $30 million relocation fee to their fellow NBA teams when they moved to Memphis, a small market. The Hornets had to pay $30 million when they moved from Charlotte to New Orleans, a small market. The Sonics had to pay $30 million when they moved from Seattle to much smaller Oklahoma City.

What could owners ask for this time when the Kings move from very small Sacramento to very large Los Angeles -- and, in the process, weaken one of the league's best markets (see No. 3)? It might be much more than $30 million. Which might explain what the Maloofs will do with much of that $50 million loan from Samueli. Which won't leave them a lot of scratch to pay down some of their other debts.

5) The Boob Tube. The Kings may have caught a break with the Lakers' new deal with Time Warner, reportedly for up to $3 billion over the next 20 years, on two TW channels, one Spanish language. That could open up a programming window on Fox Sports West, which currently broadcasts Lakers and Clippers games on cable. But the Lakers' new deal doesn't kick in until 2012, which would leave the Kings scrambling to get on the air next year.

But two longtime former executives said Sunday that they couldn't believe that David Stern would green-light any move unless the moving team had a local TV deal in hand. The Kings will have to hit a home run with their new local TV plan; the current one in Sacramento is one of the least lucrative in the league. As late as 2002, the Kings were getting less than $1 million in rights fees for their local cable TV package, former team president John Thomas told the

6) Renting versus owning. The proposed deal essentially makes the Kings a tenant in Honda Center. They'll make more money renting in Anaheim than owning in Sac, but they'll have to advertise for Ducks games, and there's no language indicating the Ducks will have to do them same for them. The Kings won't get the lion's share of the luxury suite and club seat money. They will get the less-desirable days for home games compared with the Ducks (I don't think it's presumptuous to assume the Kings won't max out on TNT Thursdays a ton next season, one of their assigned "regular" nights for home games).

7) It's SoCal. As a longtime team executive in the area put it Saturday, "It still comes down to, 'Are we going to go see basketball, or are we going to go to the beach?' "

The Lakers ae fairly bulletproof when it comes to competition for the sports dollar, though Bryant can't play forever. The Clippers, though, will likely point to how everything is trending up with Griffin's arrival -- increased sales across the board, in ticket sales and corporate deals, improved local television ratings. And they'll talk up the potential of Griffin to be the linchpin to a financial renaissance in years to come -- and how all of that could be damaged if the Kings set up shop nearby -- when the Kings talk to the NBA's Board of Governors on April 14 and 15 in anticipation of the April 18 deadline the team has to officially file for relocation.

It's not likely there will be enough votes to stop the move. But a lot of owners are going to have some hard thinking to do.

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/d ... index.html

[LAglamrocker]

well if you count the practice 1st round, then 16

no team this year and next will beat Lakers in a 7 game series, just cant happen

a 3rd team in LA = 2 more home games for Lakers, that 46 for season

at Clippers are home games, at Royals another 2

i like this 3rd team

[Subhuman Yeti]

a 3rd team in LA

You and that fucking total dumbass who bought the Angels are shit for brains fucking idiots.

[Subhuman Yeti]

Kings, CBA hot topics at Board of Governors meeting


By Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
Posted Apr 15 2011 5:35PM

NEW YORK -- For NBA fans in Sacramento and Anaheim, time is passing almost agonizingly slow: The league Friday extended until May 2 the deadline for Kings owners Gavin and Joe Maloof to file paperwork for the relocation of their franchise to Orange County, the second such extension granted in the emotional California hoops issue.

For fans of 29 other teams, though, and more generally those across the nation and around the globe, time is hurtling forward toward the June expiration of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement with the National Basketball Players Association. The Board of Governors authorized the owners' negotiating committee to make a new proposal to the union in the next couple of weeks. It will be the NBA's first counter-proposal, after the first two official versions (one from each side) were offered up in the first half of 2010.

Hurry up and wait. Wait and hurry up. Time is funny that way, as plodding or as break-neck as the situation requires or the deadline demands. Think about how different April 15 felt this year compared to most, thanks to the quirk in the IRS rulebook that pushed things back by three days this spring.

"It doesn't take that long [to get an agreement]," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said to a small group of reporters after a media briefing on the Board's two-day session. "Certainly, there is plenty of time -- roughly 75 days before the conclusion of this deal -- to strike a [new] deal. The question is, will there be movement by the parties between now and then?"

The players, Silver said, continue to seek 57 percent of the league's basketball-related income as their guaranteed share of compensation. The NBA maintains that percentage is too high, given increased operating costs aside from labor, and has led to a failing system in which only eight of 30 teams will be profitable in 2010-11. Combined losses are projected to be about $300 million.

"Once we pay the players 57 cents on every dollar, we are left with 43 cents. The system assumes it costs us less than 43 cents to generate every dollar. And it doesn't."

The two sides have approximately 2 ½ more months after having only a few small-group sessions in the two months that have passed since All-Star Weekend.

Giving more time to the Kings and their proposed move out of Sacramento situation was a decision, NBA commissioner David Stern said, driven by the relocation committee's desire to fully understand details of the arena lease and other issues in Anaheim. Also, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson made a Thursday presentation to the Board touting additional money that could be generated to keep the franchise in the community. But the biggest obstacle remains the Kings' arena.

"In light of the history in Sacramento, that's usually an eye-roller," Stern said. "But it was a good presentation. ... So it was just felt that ... we should delve a little bit more to understand what its ramifications are."

The commissioner did not share with the media the opinions or concerns of board members from California or elsewhere who might question a third NBA team, with the Lakers and the Clippers, in the region. "But my own sense is that [the relocation committee's] conclusion would likely be that it can support it," he said.

Stern said that the emergence of Ronald Burkle, a supermarket tycoon, as a potential buyer who would keep the Kings where they are -- or bring a replacement team to town -- was not a "high priority" for the league. The Maloofs have said the team is not for sale, despite the mayor's introduction of the Berkle option in some 11th-hour drama.

"I know Mr. Burkle," Stern said. "He's an owner in the NHL [Pittsburgh Penguins]. His name has been involved in discussions for other franchises, and we know his good reputation in our industry. [But] the sale of the team, or, indeed, the relocation of another team to Sacramento, those are not high agenda items."

While the waiting in Sacramento might be excruciating and some folks in Anaheim might even prefer to know rather than wait two more weeks, the pressure to hit one deadline of NBA business might be lessened by the inability to hit another.

That is, if the league and the union cannot reach a new labor agreement in time to avoid a lockout -- followed by the loss of summer league, the postponement of training camps and eventually the cancellation of some games -- there isn't exactly a rush to get the Anaheim Royals up and running as a newly located franchise.

Meanwhile, the sale of the Detroit Pistons by owner Karen Davidson to investment banker Tom Gores will be closed sooner than the scheduled June 30. In fact, it will be done by the end of May, Stern said, because "June is ... a lot of decisions have to be made."

In other words, the possibility of a lockout makes NBA business as usual anything but, well, usual at the moment.

"The labor uncertainty is beginning to have an impact on our business," Silver said. "As we are in discussions with sponsors and other partners about relationships about next year, we can't assure them that we're going to have games. As you might imagine, they begin to pull back some of their spending on the NBA. So from a financial standpoint, it's having a real impact already.

"Also uncertainty in any business creates anxiety. Not just among the players but among all of our employees. We have thousands of people who work with the teams. We recognize there's thousands of people who will be impacted at NBA arenas and other ancillary businesses in our cities. So it's bad for business."

How bad? Said Stern, noting that the NBA's fiscal year runs till Sept. 30: "If we don't have a new deal in place by the expiration of this one, that will have a negative impact on our numbers and the $300 million or thereabouts loss will be larger, in my estimation."

In a sense, then, they're all Kings fans, suffering for all the waiting.

Other topics from the Board of Governors and general league business included:

• The extra time needed to complete the Pistons sale was due to Gores' diligence and negotiating, Stern said, rather than any snags. "Beyond that, he's really gung-ho to make this thing into a winner and a community asset," the commissioner said. "And he's got huge Detroit connections and he's really very enthusiastic, So he's all in, and the owners appreciated that."

• Silver said the NFL labor lockout is of interest to the NBA, but doesn't have any immediate implications. "Some of the legal issues are similar, some are different," he said. "We also talk about it with our union on a regular basis. They're watching it closely as well. We both realize, one way or another, it will have an impact on us."

Stern noted one possible difference: "You will be unlikely to hear unauthorized statements from NBA owners or team personnel about collective bargaining, because that does tend to enflame rather than smooth."

• The New Orleans Hornets, currerntly being operated by the league, will complete the season on budget, Stern said. Talks continue with local authorities and businesses to bolster that team's position in the city. "We are pleased with the preliminary results," Stern said.

• The board also heard reports on officiating and the ongoing efforts to "tighten up" games by making them shorter, Stern said. One discussion focused on a reduction in the number of timeouts.

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/04/15/gove ... ef:nbahpt2

[aceshigh]

Bosh looks like he's scared shitless.

[grishnak boss]

It was an important game for the shit eating Celtics but Cock Rivers kept 4 of their starters on the bench looking like fucking idiots.

THEY DON'T NEED A LOT OF HELP WITH THAT

[GreazyCapri]

The Magic suck so bad, I turned the game off in the 4th quarter to watch a fuckin ballerina movie with Natalie Portman.
The fucking Hawks? Really?

Dwight Howard: 46 points and 19 boards. Rest of team: FUCKING NOTHING.
When Dwight goes to LA, I'm going with him.

Die Otis Smith, DIE!

[Space Bear]

I've listened to an entire week of Orlando sports radio telling me how the Magic were going to trample the Hawks. Oops.

I'm sure Dwight will look great in a Lakers jersey.

[Subhuman Yeti]

Portland's McMillan fined for comments about officiating


Posted Apr 18 2011 4:34PM

NEW YORK, April 18, 2011 -- Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan has been fined $35,000 for public comments about the officiating, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

McMillan made his comments following Portland's 89-81 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on April 16.

Not a fan of Nate, but REPLAYS DON'T LIE, NBA... YOU FUCKING BIASED IDIOTS!!

[johnk5150]

I've listened to an entire week of Orlando sports radio telling me how the Magic were going to trample the Hawks. Oops.

I'm sure Dwight will look great in a Lakers jersey.

I'll give you Noah for him to come to Chicago.

[GreazyCapri]

I've listened to an entire week of Orlando sports radio telling me how the Magic were going to trample the Hawks. Oops.

I'm sure Dwight will look great in a Lakers jersey.

I'll give you Noah for him to come to Chicago.

Better him than what we got for Shaq; Nothing.

[makaveli]

I've listened to an entire week of Orlando sports radio telling me how the Magic were going to trample the Hawks. Oops.

I'm sure Dwight will look great in a Lakers jersey.

I'll give you Noah for him to come to Chicago.

Goddamn I hate that fucking Noah. Your Bulls are lucky to leave home 2-0. Not surprising considering our go to guy down the stretch is fucking Danny Granger. Goddamn I hate that dude. Pacers are in trouble if Collison can't go for game 3. Otherwise I could see this series going at least 6.

[johnk5150]

I've listened to an entire week of Orlando sports radio telling me how the Magic were going to trample the Hawks. Oops.

I'm sure Dwight will look great in a Lakers jersey.

I'll give you Noah for him to come to Chicago.

Goddamn I hate that fucking Noah. Your Bulls are lucky to leave home 2-0. Not surprising considering our go to guy down the stretch is fucking Danny Granger. Goddamn I hate that dude. Pacers are in trouble if Collison can't go for game 3. Otherwise I could see this series going at least 6.

The Pacers right now are better than whoever would face the Bulls in the next round.

Noah is the kind of guy that everyone hates when he isn't on your team. Like Reggie Miller.

[Space Bear]

I've listened to an entire week of Orlando sports radio telling me how the Magic were going to trample the Hawks. Oops.

I'm sure Dwight will look great in a Lakers jersey.

I'll give you Noah for him to come to Chicago.

Better him than what we got for Shaq; Nothing.

With the history of this franchise, even if they know for certain that Dwight will leave at the end of next season, I wouldn't be surprised if they stick their heads in the sand and hope they can somehow keep him. They're too fucking dense to get something out of him in a trade.

[Subhuman Yeti]

Sacramento making renewed case for keeping Kings


Posted Apr 19 2011 4:26PM - Updated Apr 19 2011 7:18PM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Business and political leaders in Sacramento have another chance to persuade the NBA that the Kings should stay in town, and they'll put a full-court press on league officials this week.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star, said Tuesday that the city had feared the Kings' move to Anaheim might be a done deal. But he said at least some of the NBA owners at last week's league meetings appeared impressed when the city presented $7 million in commitments for new advertising, ticket purchases and other financial support from local businesses and other backers.

On Tuesday, the tribe that operates Thunder Valley Casino northeast of Sacramento agreed to commit an additional $1 million to back the Kings in Sacramento, bringing the total to at least $8 million. None of that money would go toward the multi-million dollar cost of building a new arena, the repeated sticking point in years of efforts to keep the team happy in Sacramento.

"The fact that we're here and we bought two more weeks, that is a big, big deal," Johnson said at a City Hall news conference, his first since returning from the meetings in New York City. "We get a chance to put our best foot forward."

Commissioner David Stern said last week that the league wanted to "do a little bit more fact-finding" and the NBA granted the Kings' owners another extension until May 2 to file paperwork requesting a relocation. The original deadline passed April 18.

The NBA will send two representatives to Sacramento on Thursday, including relocation committee chairman Clay Bennett, chairman of the ownership group for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The franchise was the Seattle SuperSonics until 2008, when Bennett relocated the team amid calls for a new arena.

Besides giving the Maloof family, which owns a controlling interest in the Kings, more time to formally request league approval for a move, the extension also gives Sacramento more time to make its case to keep the Kings and show how it could build a new arena the team wants.

Local backers want both the Kings and the Maloofs to stay in Sacramento, Johnson said. Failing that, they'd like to keep the team with new owners, or attract a different NBA franchise. The emergence of supermarket tycoon Ron Burkle as an interested buyer for the team created a buzz last week, but Johnson said he may not be a factor in the discussion if the city can make the case that Sacramento is a viable market for the Maloofs and the Kings. The Maloofs have insisted they won't sell the team.

To make their case to the NBA, Johnson said, local backers will stress the strength of the fan base, the fact that Sacramento is in a top 20 media market with no other pro sports team, and the new surge of support from businesses.

While a full financial and feasibility analysis of a sports and entertainment complex in Sacramento won't be complete by May 2, Johnson said he hopes to present some preliminary data on alternatives and revenue streams to the NBA by that date.

Johnson kept beating the drum for the local effort Tuesday. His visit to the tribal council of the United Auburn Indian Community won a commitment of $1 million, said Doug Elmets, spokesman for the tribe and Thunder Valley. The tribe, he said, "sees value not only in keeping the Kings in Sacramento, but in being part of the business community commitment that Kevin Johnson is seeking." The tribe already pays for a luxury box at Power Balance Pavilion, and expects the $1 million would largely go for advertising and sponsorships, Elmets said.

The mayor also was working out the details for a meeting Wednesday with political leaders around the Sacramento area to present a broad regional appeal to the NBA.

The mayor declined to identify what businesses were involved in the $7 million in new commitments of support, but said he hopes to disclose them after they've been discussed with the league.

Johnson said he didn't know much about an effort to collect signatures in Anaheim to force a public vote on $75 million in financing for a Kings deal, not expected until June 2012. "I'd be dishonest if I didn't say I was glad that was going on" because it may buy Sacramento more time, he said.

Rob Stutzman, a Sacramento political consultant who is organizing the signature drive, said the effort is in its final stages and could be wrapped up by the end of the week. The signature drive has been backed by many small contributors, he said, and has not worked with the Burkle group. Among the backers and organizers of the Committee to Save the Kings are former city councilman Robbie Waters, real estate investor Ethan Conrad and steel company executive Steve Ayers.


http://www.nba.com/2011/news/04/19/king ... ef:nbahpt2

[Subhuman Yeti]

The fucking stupid local news is now saying the KINGS are not moving to Anaheim, but NBA.com still says this shit...

Kings co-owners still deciding Kings' future location


Posted Apr 22 2011 8:12PM - Updated Apr 22 2011 11:17PM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The future of the Sacramento Kings is headed to another overtime.
Click here

Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said Friday that his family is still deciding whether to move the franchise to Anaheim, and he confirmed that NBA officials will be in Sacramento again next week to further research the city's viability.

Maloof told The Associated Press he's "as anxious as anybody" to find out if Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson can deliver on his promises for more sponsorship support and finally finance a plan for a new arena. He denied reports the team has already made a decision.

"There's been no decision made," Maloof said. "As far as we're concerned, we're still looking at our options."

The Kings have until May 2 to request permission to relocate, and a majority vote by owners is needed to approve any move. While Johnson has become increasingly optimistic that the team will remain in Sacramento next season, Maloof said the team still wants to know more information about the region's proposals.

Part of that started to filter out this week.

Johnson ended two days of meetings in Sacramento with NBA relocation committee chairman and Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett and league counsel Harvey Benjamin. Johnson's desperate pitch to league owners a week earlier in New York was enough for NBA Commissioner David Stern to send out the "fact-finding team," and the mayor's proposals when they arrived swayed the league to dispatch more representatives next week.

The Kings released a statement that the franchise will wait for the committee's findings before making a decision. In the end, the Maloofs could still choose to put a vote before owners.

"I don't know that Kevin Johnson's meeting in New York swayed the NBA one way or another, but I think that the NBA next week is going to go into Sacramento to verify a lot of the promises Kevin Johnson made to the board," Maloof said. "There were various sponsorship promises and a promise to show the board, once and for all, how a new arena not only will be planned, but financed."

For a league that usually rubber-stamps relocation requests, Sacramento certainly seems to have done all it can to fight back.

Johnson presented more than $9.2 million in commitments for new advertising, ticket purchases and other financial support from regional businesses and other backers. He said that would help the Kings next season and allow the city more time to complete a plan to build - and finance - a new arena, which the cash-strapped city has refused to contribute public dollars toward for years.

Once the meetings were finished, Johnson even rode with Bennett to the airport and said the league's relocation committee chairman - who moved the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City three years ago - was impressed with Sacramento's latest presentation.

"They just said to us we delivered on what we were supposed to do," Johnson said, adding that he hasn't heard from the NBA or the Maloofs on a final decision. "It's not a done deal yet. I've heard a lot of rumors. But I don't think we're at a point by any means that we can declare victory."

The league has no plans to send a similar investigative team to Anaheim.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank confirmed officials will be back in Sacramento next week to continue studying Sacramento's proposals. The league offered no further comment on the meetings other than to say: "Clay Bennett had informative meetings with the mayor, elected officials and business leaders and will be reporting back to the Relocation Committee next week."

Sacramento rolled out a purple carpet for the NBA while they could.

The business community encouraged fans with all kinds of specials for patrons wearing purple. Everything from margaritas and sangrias to ice cream and popcorn were dyed purple and there were a slew of signs downtown and around the state Capitol asking the NBA for support.

"Stand up for Our Town. Our Fans. Our City," one poster read.

It was hard to walk anywhere around Sacramento and not see Kings colors the past two days. A few dozen Sacramento supporters even rallied with signs outside NBA headquarters in New York, part of social-networking effort that took shape with even those no longer in Sacramento.

"I'm wearing purple cause we (are) trying to keep the Kings in Sacramento!" former Kings star and TNT analyst Chris Webber wrote on his Twitter page.

There's also an effort led by a Sacramento political consultant to thwart a $75 million financing plan that Anaheim's City Council approved to lure the Kings to the Honda Center. In a letter to Benjamin, Sacramento political strategist Rob Stutzman said he will turn in more than 11,000 signatures to Anaheim officials Monday that supports a referendum to reverse the financing package, possibly forcing a public vote that wouldn't take place until June 2012.

The Maloofs maintain they have no issue with the efforts by Johnson or Sacramento. They also don't believe their relationship in Sacramento is strained to the point they couldn't return.

"I think the Sacramento fans appreciate the Maloof efforts over the past several years," Maloof said. "We've spent several million dollars and hundreds of man hours in trying to find a solution for a new arena in Sacramento. It's not like we were there one, two, three, or even four years.

"We've tried and tried again, in conjunction with city leaders and politicians and city leaders. I think the fans will definitely welcome us back because we've been fair. The question I always ask fans is, 'What would you do?' We've been honest."

Nba.com

If the KINGS owners fucking wank and stay in Suckramento...

Fuck you clowns, have it your way and stay losers.

Anaheim is really hoping a GOOD team wants to move to a far better city.


I think it would be cool to have an NBA team locally though, either with the Ducks in the same arena or without them... because really, hockey is fucking stupid.


I'll still be a LAKE SHOW fan either way... so FUCK YOU YA STUPIDLY INDECISIVE MALOOF CUNTS!

You both deserve Sacramento and that fucking piece of mouth-breathing shit, Kevin Johnson.

"I'm wearing purple cause the LAKERS are presently playing playoff road games, like duh, don't ya know?!?!" former Kings star and TNT anal stooge Chris Webber wrote on his Twitter page.

Great unbiased reporting there, but at least you are supporting the LAKE SHOW, ya fucking mumbling ASSHOLE.

[GreazyCapri]

RIP Magic.

[Space Bear]

RIP Magic.

Oh, have faith. I'm totally sure they can reel off three straight wins with the way they've been playing. You just wait and see.

I have to go take my pills now.

[LAglamrocker]

Spursmania almost dead!, ha, ha

[Subhuman Yeti]

One of the reasons David the fucking schmuck Stern thinks the KINGS shouldn't move to the nearly 20 year old Anaheim Arena.... no escalators.

He's the round ball pontiff most high, with highest pointy head miles up his own stupid fucking ass, fucking asshole NBA commissioner....

Why don't they just carry the fucking stupid mentally diminutive pharaoh up and down the stairs when Anaheim is unfortunately graced with his totally annoying totally biased dumb assed stupid assed fucking assed presence?

Dribbles

My, my, my, what a ... mess.

Those words, uttered by Lt. Sam Gerard upon seeing a trainwreck in the movie remake of The Fugitive, are applicable this morning to describe the train wreck that has become the Maloof family's intention of moving the Kings from Sacramento to Anaheim next season.

What almost always is a rubber-stamp operation, with the league officially blessing what one of its owners desperately wants -- a new payday in a new city -- has become anything but with the Kings. And there are so many questions that have come up in the last week, with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson working his city for what he says is more than $10 million in local commitments for season tickets and suites if the Kings return to town next season, it's hard to see a quick resolution in any direction by the May 2 deadline the league has given the Maloofs to apply for relocation.

Even though the team and the city of Anaheim have an agreement in place in which Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli will loan the Kings $75 million in fees to handle relocation costs, the NBA was not overwhelmed with the city's plans to refurbish Honda Center to NBA specifications when the Maloofs made their pitch to the league's relocation committee during the Board of Governors meeting earlier this month. And the league extended its deadline for the Maloofs to officially file for relocation to May 2 -- the second extension the franchise has received.

A source with knowledge of the Maloof Family's thinking said Sunday that the Maloofs have not yet made a final decision on whether to officially apply, despite a story in the L.A. Times on Friday that quoted a source as saying the Kings were expected to remain in Sacramento for at least one more year. The source I spoke with Sunday said the Maloofs are willing to look at the details of Johnson's plans. But there is great skepticism within the family that Johnson has suddenly unearthed major financial commitments after the Maloofs have tried, unsuccessfully, to get a new arena deal in Sacramento for the last 13 years -- the last four coming with the league's own hand-picked man, John Moag, running point.

But there are still huge questions. Such as:

1) Who are the businesses that Johnson has lined up, and how much has each committed? Johnson won't answer either question. There is a big difference between one or two businesses writing big checks and 20 to 30 companies writing little ones. And even if the $10 million is a firm commitment -- and this is in no way belittling the effort Johnson and his administration have put into shaking the trees -- that's a drop in the bucket if the Kings are to stay in Sacramento past next season. That amount, the source said, is not going to sway the Maloofs from their contention that Sacramento is not a viable long-term solution. It's probably about $390 million short.

2) What does the NBA really think of Honda Center? Commissioner David Stern said in his press conferences after the league's Board of Governors meeting earlier this month that the league wanted to look more at the improvements that Samueli has promised he'll make to Honda Center to bring it up to NBA specifications. That includes major improvements to the locker rooms for both referees and teams, media facilities, restaurants and clubs and necessary escalators that have to be installed ("Things that we would want in a new building," Stern said, "and in this case, this is a building that's getting to be 20 years old.") and the construction of a practice facility. Some teams aren't sure that even if the greater Los Angeles market can support three teams, that the Honda Center can produce the kinds of revenues needed for the Kings to make it.

One team executive last week, who spoke on condition of anonymity, compared the Kings to the Nets, a team also playing in the shadow of a major market that began hemorraging money -- as much as $10 million in 2008-09, according to sources -- playing its last couple of seasons in an old building, the unlamented Izod Center. If New Jersey couldn't make a go of it under such circumstances, the official asked last week, why would anyone think the Kings will be successful in the Honda Center?

The Maloofs, though, remain convinced Honda Center will be good enough.

3) What is Clay Bennett doing here? The new chair of the league's Relocation Committee, Thunder owner Clay Bennett was met with ridicule by many fans -- especially those who remain in Seattle, who remember how Bennett bought, then moved, the Sonics to Oklahoma City. When Stern was asked about that in the presser, he said that Bennett's presence might be a positive. "Maybe Sacramento will think the same thing that you do, although I don't; that he favors movement," Stern said. Bennett went to Sacramento last week and is expected to return this week to look over Johnson's plans.

Is Bennett a honest broker, or is he, as the Maloofs suspect, looking to polish up his repuation, which took a severe hit after a lawsuit filed to keep the Sonics in Seattle unearthed a series of e-mails that suggested Bennett and his ownership group had no intention of ever trying to remain in Seattle, despite their claims that they would make an honest effort to get a new building there. Does Bennett want to be the "white knight" in Sacramento, coming in at the 11th hour to broker a deal to save Sacramento?

4) But do the Maloofs have any sway in this anymore? As SI.com's Sam Amick has ably reported over the past few days, Bennett's arrival on the scene from the league coincides with the company that was supposed to work with Bennett to build a new arena in Seattle -- the ICON Venue Group. The Sacramento City Council picked ICON in February over three other groups to create a financial feasibility study for a new arena to replace the Kings' current arena, Power Balance Pavilion (the former ARCO Arena). ICON just happened to renovate the Oklahoma City Arena, which houses the Thunder, and build Bennett a new practice facility for his new team.

ICON is also the arena builder for billionaire Phillip Anschutz, who owns Staples Center, and part of the Lakers, and most of Major League Soccer. ICON has helped build arenas around the world for Anschutz, including the O2 Arena in London as well as Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium and the Pepsi Center in Denver. Anschutz's reach, through his behemoth Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), knows no limits.

The Lakers vehemently oppose the relocation of the Kings to Anaheim, which will cut into their business. For one, sources estimate about 20 percent of the Lakers' season ticket holder base is in Orange County, where the Kings would play. For two, as Amick first reported, the Lakers' new 20-year, $5 billion television deal with Time Warner -- which, in full disclosure, owns the company for which I work, TNT -- would be reduced by 10 percent, $500 million, if the Kings move to the L.A. area.

This is where other owners come into play. With revenue sharing a hot-button item among owners, it is more than logical to believe that teams looking to dip into the Laker trough wouldn't much like a nine-figure reduction in the biggest local TV deal in league history. It's equally logical to believe that those owners wouldn't mind if the Kings never moved to Anaheim. Whether they stayed in Sacramento in a new ICON-built arena there (and who knows if the political climate is any better now in the state capitol than it was in 2006, when local voters rejected by 4-1 a referendum that would have imposed a sales tax increase that would have paid for a new building?) or moved somewhere else, they wouldn't be in L.A., and the other 28 owners would get their share of a bigger deal.

Is this a good time to mention that the NBA-ready Sprint Center, built in Kansas City in 2007, is, as mentioned on the arena's home page, "a unique public/private partnership between the city of Kansas City and AEG"?

5) Why put Sacramento through all this? The city put up a brave front in the final days before the team's last home game. There were the sad tributes and montages and photo galleries of the team's 25-year run in town. But most people had made their peace with the idea that the team was leaving, and while it was sad, there wasn't a lot that could be done about it. Now, there is a glimmer of hope that something can be done. But would it be a real, soluble solution, or just a one-year stay of execution?

They're good people in Sacramento. They don't deserve to be toyed with. Either stay in Sacramento, with a new arena, or go to Anaheim. But don't keep making them believe a miracle is possible if it isn't.


http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/d ... ef:nbahpt1

The NBA, necessary fucking escalators