Duo makes bid to buy Kings

**Riddler** · 04-15-2011

NEW YORK – Armed with an electrifying proposal from two wealthy California power brokers, Sacramento made a bid Thursday to keep the NBA in the city.
Southern California supermarket tycoon Ronald Burkle, in partnership with well-connected Sacramento lobbyist and developer Darius Anderson, emerged as last-minute potential saviors of the NBA in Sacramento. The duo said they would lead a group that could purchase the Kings – or buy another team for the city should the Kings move to Anaheim.
Burkle's dramatic emergence turned the saga of the Kings completely upside down. Anderson, accompanied by Mayor Kevin Johnson and arena developer Tim Romani, essentially presented Burkle's credentials to the NBA board of governors. The board on Thursday began two days of meetings in New York's exclusive St. Regis Hotel to deal with the Kings' future and other matters.
A co-owner of hockey's Pittsburgh Penguins, the multibillionaire Burkle already has been rebuffed by the Maloofs on buying the team, Anderson said.
The family has vowed to hold onto the Kings and insisted Thursday that the team isn't for sale – to Burkle or anyone else.
"It does not matter – they are not going to sell the team," said Kings spokesman Troy Hanson when asked about the Burkle plan.
But with his wealth, connections and successful track record in hockey, Burkle's mere presence could persuade NBA owners to block the Kings' move to Anaheim – and effectively force the Maloofs to sell the team to him, said Lloyd Greif, a Los Angeles investment banker who is not involved in the deal but has known Burkle for years.
"There's a white knight here," Greif said.
Anderson insisted "it's not about trying to move the Maloofs out." But, he said, "We're presenting an alternative in case the (move to Anaheim) gets turned down, in case they opt to sell. And it also shows the owners that there is viable support in Sacramento."
If the Maloofs don't sell and the Kings move to Anaheim, Burkle has a backup plan. Anderson said Burkle is exploring three or four other NBA franchises as possible candidates for purchase and relocation to Sacramento. They include the New Orleans Hornets, a financially troubled franchise literally taken over by the league last year, he said.
Any decision on the Kings' future – or a replacement franchise for Sacramento – is likely several months away.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/15/355...#ixzz1JWYk7ku1