court date for hawks tuesday

[ducks]

TLANTA — A power struggle among the Atlanta Hawks' owners heads to court next week, overshadowing attempts in the offseason to improve the team with the fewest wins in the league last season.

Owner Steve Belkin of Boston has obtained a restraining order preventing other co-owners from removing him as the team's league governor.

As the league governor of the Atlanta Spirit LLC group, which also owns the NHL Atlanta Thrashers and operating rights to Philips Arena, Belkin must sign off on the Hawks' trades. His refusal to approve the sign-and-trade deal for guard Joe Johnson of the Phoenix Suns prompted the rift.

The restraining order obtained Thursday prevents the other owners from following through with plans to vote out Belkin. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston.

"There was no other option but to seek legal protection," Belkin said.

Belkin stressed in a statement to The Associated Press yesterday that he did not object to the five-year contract offer for Johnson valued at about $70 million, including about $20 million for the first year of the deal, making Johnson the Hawks' highest-paid player.

Instead, Belkin said he consistently told other owners he did not approve of the offer to the Suns — two first-round picks, second-year guard Boris Diaw and a $4.9 million trade exception.

Belkin released yesterday's statement in an apparent effort to answer criticism that his objection to the trade came late in the negotiations with the Suns or was unexpected by the other owners or Atlanta general manager Billy Knight.

Bernie Mullin, Atlanta Spirit LLC chief executive officer, said the deal with the Suns can't be completed until the dispute is settled with the owners.

Michael Gearon Jr. and fellow owner Bruce Levenson said they were confident the deal happen. "I think we'll work through it," Gearon said.




Belkin, Gearon and Levenson had to meet with commissioner David Stern and a league committee in April to discuss the discord among the partners.

[samikeyp]

Does anyone else have the feeling that the Hawks could screw up a wet dream?

[Kori Ellis]

Belkin puts payroll ahead of product, GM charges
By TIM TUCKER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> Published on: 08/09/05

http://ajc.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Hawks+owners+take+battle+to+court&expire=&urlID=15086909&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ajc.com%2Fhawks%2Fcontent%2Fs ports%2Fhawks%2F0805%2F09hawks.html&partnerID=555

Boston — As the Atlanta Hawks' feuding and far-flung owners convened here for today's battle in court, general manager Billy Knight lashed out at part owner Steve Belkin.

Breaking his silence on the issue, Knight said Monday that Belkin's opposition to a pending trade for Phoenix Suns guard Joe Johnson is "a ploy" to hold the team's payroll to "a bare minimum." Knight added: "If he is saying anything different from that, he is not telling the truth."

In an indication of the ever-escalating conflict within the Hawks organization, the general manager told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "I really don't have anything to say to the guy. There's no reason for us to engage in conversations, no matter how this plays out. He's not someone I can trust."

Knight said he planned to be in the courtroom today when a Boston judge considers Belkin's request for a preliminary injunction to stop his co-owners from removing him as the Hawks' NBA governor — the position he has used to block the trade Knight and the other owners want to make.

It figures to be a surreal sight: the nine-man ownership group dueling in court, Belkin against the other eight, just 16 months after they sat on a stage in Philips Arena, all smiles, and officially took over the Hawks and hockey Thrashers from Time Warner.

Today might well be the low point for a basketball franchise long mired in losses and one fans hoped was on the rebound after the team began rebuilding with younger players.

Belkin, who is based in Boston, got a temporary restraining order last week that prohibited his removal at least until today's hearing.

"I'm very disappointed" that it has come to this, Belkin said over the weekend. He declined to be interviewed Monday but issued a statement: "Our ownership issues have nothing to do with the financial impact of this proposed contract and everything to do with making certain that we retain basketball assets – first-round draft picks – that are an important component of building a team around Joe Johnson."

Today "is a critical day for the future of the franchise," said part owner Michael Gearon Sr.

If the court denies the injunction and lifts the restraining order, Belkin's partners intend to install a new governor and complete the trade that would send Boris Diaw and two first-round draft picks to Phoenix for Johnson, a restricted free agent who would sign a five-year, $70 million contract to play for Atlanta.

If the injunction is granted, Belkin apparently would retain authority to stop the trade.

The issue of money as Belkin's motive was raised over the weekend by Gearon Sr., who suggested in an interview with the Journal-Constitution that Belkin wanted to operate the franchise "on the cheap."

Belkin denied the charge, saying he was prepared to pay Johnson the $70 million but did not want to give up two first-round picks to get him.

"All of us on the inside understand [Belkin's position] is a ploy," Knight said Monday. "It has nothing to do with the trade itself. It has nothing to do with the terms of the trade. He has told me a number of times, in meetings and in private, that he would like to keep the payroll at the bare minimum — not sign free agents.

"That's why he's against this deal, and that's why he's proposed these things that won't possibly get the deal done," Knight continued. "The way he's proposing doing it is something another team wouldn't be interested in doing. It's all a ploy by him to make it look like he wants to sign people.

"For him to say this is about the picks — that's ridiculous. ? The reasons he's using — all of us in the know know he's fabricating them."

Belkin said over the weekend that "it's not correct" that he advocated a $32 million Hawks payroll before his partners set a $48 million budget, as Gearon contended.

Knight said the lower figure sought by Belkin was correct.

Belkin has said he made clear his opposition to the trade well before Knight completed negotiations with the Suns.

"He expressed reservations — his normal thing of not wanting to do it," Knight said. "But everyone else wanted to do it, so I did it. And it's not any different from a lot of things that have gone on with our [ownership], where he's against something and diametrically opposed to everyone else, because he has his own agenda."

"If he wants to be the GM of the team, he should go and be the GM of the team. Otherwise, that's what I'm doing. I just happen to think Joe Johnson is the No. 1 free agent in the market.

"He is a big-time player who wants to come to Atlanta," Knight said. "That's a powerful message when he wants to play with us. For someone to try to waylay that and get in the way of that — to me it's unforgivable."

Knight said he wouldn't attempt to make further trades under the current situation. "There would be no sense in doing it, because you never know what [Belkin] is going to do," the general manager said. "I don't want to go through all of that again."

Said Belkin in his Monday statement: "I consistently have supported making a contract offer to Joe Johnson under the terms proposed by Billy Knight. ... Like with [this] situation, every contract proposal that has been brought in front of the [owners] ... has received my endorsement."

The partnership agreement gives Belkin a five-year term as the Hawks' governor and states that he can be removed only if he casts an NBA vote or takes a legally binding action against the wishes of the majority of the group. At dispute in this battle, among other things, is whether refusal to approve a trade constitutes a legally binding action.

NBA rules require the team governor's endorsement on trades before they can be completed.

Belkin holds a 30 percent ownership stake in Atlanta Spirit LLC, which owns the Hawks and Thrashers, while a group of Washington investors — principally Bruce Levenson and Ed Peskowitz — own 40 percent and a group of Atlantans — led by Michael Gearon Jr. and Rutherford Seydel — own 30 percent.

[ObiwanGinobili]

children children children

[Kori Ellis]

Associated Press


BOSTON -- A judge here stepped into the feud between owners of the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, blocking the other members of the ownership group from removing Boston businessman Steve Belkin as managing partner.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel granted Belkin's request for a temporary injunction, saying a contract signed by all the owners last year prevents the group from voting him out.

It was unclear whether the other owners would scrap plans for a Tuesday vote to replace Belkin, who owns 30 percent of the franchise, with co-owner Michael Gearon Jr.

Belkin is part of the nine-member Atlanta Spirit LLC group, which also owns the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers and the operating rights to Philips Arena.

The dispute stems from Belkin's refusal to approve a sign-and-trade deal for the Hawks to acquire guard Joe Johnson from the Phoenix Suns. As the team's NBA governor, Belkin must sign off on all trades.

The ruling, which extends indefinitely a temporary restraining order obtained by Belkin last week, can be appealed to a higher court. The judge said Belkin's refusal to sign on to the Johnson deal was not grounds for his removal under the contract.

"It is hardly apparent on the present record that the deal for Johnson, however talented he may be ... is in the economic best interest of the franchise," the judge wrote. "Sometimes the cost is just too great."

The five-year contract the Hawks offered Johnson -- worth about $70 million, including $20 million for the first year -- would have made him the team's highest-paid player. Atlanta would also give Phoenix two first-round picks, second-year guard Boris Diaw and a $4.9 million trade exception.

"Steve Belkin simply thinks that's too much to pay for Joe Johnson," Belkin's lawyer, John Fabiano, told the judge.

The feud between the owners has overshadowed attempts in the offseason to improve the team with the fewest wins in the NBA last season.

Attorney James W. Quinn, who represents the other owners, compared the Joe Johnson deal to the Celtics' acquisition of Hall of Famer Larry Bird, which led to three NBA titles for Boston in the 1980s.

"This transaction -- the Joe Johnson transaction -- is one that is critical to the future of the Atlanta Hawks," he said.

Johnson, a five-year veteran who has played for Boston and Phoenix, averaged 17.1 points per game for the Suns last season.

The team's vice president for basketball, former NBA star Dominique Wilkins, said after the hearing that he found it "unbelievable" that Belkin would try to block the trade.

"As a basketball player, we know this game, and this deal makes sense to us, plain and simple," he said.

General Manager Billy Knight also attended Tuesday's hearing. When Belkin approached him in court, Knight refused to shake his hand.

"This is what everybody wants -- what our city wants, what our franchise wants, what our fans want," Wilkins said. "I think it's what our fans have been waiting for."

The team's Washington-based owners, including Bruce Levenson and Ed Peskowitz, own 40 percent of the Hawks, while Atlanta-based owners, including Gearon and Rutherford Seydel, own 30 percent.

[Kori Ellis]

So if Belkin keeps blocking the trade (like the judge has now said he can) what will happen to Joe Johnson?

[picnroll]

Does the NBA board of governors or Stern have any authority to deal with ownerhsip disputes or actions, force the removal of owners etc? Anything in the NBA bylaws?

[timvp]

Damn it.

Belkin is messing everything up. If the Suns lose JJohnson, they aren't a championship contender. If they keep him, they will be.

[Extra Stout]

So when do the Hawks go bankrupt and move back to St. Louis?

[spur219]

Just in. The trade is off.

[BillsCarnage]

So if Belkin keeps blocking the trade (like the judge has now said he can) what will happen to Joe Johnson?

Belkin has put up the cock-block on the other owners with the judges help. The trade is off, and will likely be off unless the Suns want to bend over a little more. The ruling will probably be appealed.

But right now JoJo is a Sun and will be until this is settled. He can sign the offer sheet, but the Suns will match and Marion will be traded. The damage control wheels are spinning like crazy now on both sides.

[Kori Ellis]

But right now JoJo is a Sun and will be until this is settled. He can sign the offer sheet, but the Suns will match and Marion will be traded.

So all along if the Suns would have matched on Johnson, they would have traded Marion??

[BillsCarnage]

So all along if the Suns would have matched on Johnson, they would have traded Marion??

Yup, Marion is the odd man out, unfortunately. They will not go over the Lux tax threashold. Nash and Amare won't be traded. I'd rather have Marion than JoJo.

[picnroll]

Marion has been the weak link that disappointed in both the '03 and '05 Suns playoff losses to the Spurs. Well Q did suck too in '05.

[50 cent]

Ok, just thinking out loud here.

I agree with Belkin that giving up 2 1st Rd picks, Boris Diaw, and a trade exception is too much for somebody you could probably just sign to an offer sheet and get without giving up anything. I think the Suns have been bluffing the whole time about matching a max contract for JJ. He is a good player, but he is no superstar. Personally, I think the Hawks are overpaying a lot to get him, but, well they're the Hawks so it is somewhat understandable.

Since JJ told PHX management that he does not want to stay in PHX, it seems as though there is absolutely no way that they would match a max offer from ATL. Why did the ATL GM decide to negotiate when there was likely no need to do so?

It seems like the real loser will be JJ because he most likely won't get as large of a deal if this S&T falls through.

I also find it interesting that the ATL GM is dissing his boss (owner) in the media. Real smart there chief regardless of whether or not the others in the ownership group are on his side.

[picnroll]

So if the Spurs tried to trade Rasho to the Hawks for a hotdog vendor is Belkin going to stand in the way?

[Ocotillo]

Billy Knight leaving Atlanta countdown is underway.......

[BillsCarnage]

I agree with Belkin that giving up 2 1st Rd picks, Boris Diaw, and a trade exception is too much for somebody you could probably just sign to an offer sheet and get without giving up anything. I think the Suns have been bluffing the whole time about matching a max contract for JJ.

The Suns will match the offer. Sarver went on record last week saying they will match the offer. They will not lose JoJo without compensation. Maybe NO will jump in and work out a deal.

[50 cent]

The Suns will match the offer. Sarver went on record last week saying they will match the offer. They will not lose JoJo without compensation. Maybe NO will jump in and work out a deal.
Of course Sarver says that - any owner would to try to prevent another team from signing a player they covet to an offer sheet at a price they don't want to pay. He also probably does the chicken dance via videoconference to the Hawks brass because they won't sign him to an offer sheet. :lol