Owners Vote Against Kings Relocation to Seattle

It looks like the Kings are staying in Sacramento... for now.

The NBA Owners voted down the proposed relocation to Seattle by a vote of 22-8. This vote coming after the relocation committee's unanimous recommendation against Kings proposed move. The Maloof family, who owns the team, has been talking to an investment group lead by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen which would've relocated the team to Seattle. That deal now seems doomed by this recent vote.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said at a news conference "It is my expectation that we'll be able to make a deal with the Maloofs and the Ranadive group to transfer title of the team in Sacramento," latter adding "It's not a certainty, but we're going to work [toward] that result."

It seems that Maloofs are stuck in ownership purgatory. They found an ownership group that they wanted to sell to but the NBA owners shot down the one thing needed to make that deal go through. And while their back up plan might include selling a minority stake of the team to the Hansen group, I'd bet that the the NBA Owners would reject that sale knowing the group's intentions.

As for the Ranadive group, the Maloofs don't seem to want to sell to them right now despite the fact that the group has managed to match the original bid put up by the Hansen group of $525 million. Now of course the Hansen group raised their bid significantly to a total of $625 million, but the Ranadive group has shown they are serious about buying the team. Unless the Maloofs can be persuaded, it seems that they are stuck with the Kings until they find a buyer they like and also wants to keep the team in Sacramento.

P.S. While I admit that I was mostly rooting for the Kings to stay in Sacramento, I can't help but feel sympathetic to Seattle. They lost the SuperSonics in 2008 and now have failed to attract a replacement team with the Kings. I get that you feel like you just got sucker punched by league a 2nd time. But understand this; you've got the Mariners, the Seahawks, and even the Sounders to fall back on. What else does Sacramento have?

Besides, I bet you'll get another chance with a different team unsatisfied with their current location real soon.

Derrick Rose's Non-Injury Status

More for kicks than seriousness.

Derrick Rose has been out of the Basketball spotlight since April 28 but has been in the 'gossip mill' for quite a while. A lot of it started when Derrick's brother and manager Reggie Rose criticized the Chicago Bulls for not making any improvements to hasten his brother's return. A few days ago, we found out that Derrick Rose's doctor cleared him to play but that he wouldn't come back until he's confident he dunk off his left foot. Now we hear from Derrick Rose saying he needs his confidence back and also...

"I really don't know [about a return this season]," Rose said. "I'm just like you all where I'm waiting till that day where I feel normal.

"Until then I would just wait. I haven't had any pressure from the organization and no one else to push me to go out there and play. My teammates have been doing great with just playing hard for me. They're still out there playing hard, fighting, so that's a good sign and we're winning games, so I'm not worried about anything right now." (Courtesy of ESPNChicago.com)

Okay, if Derrick Rose is cleared medically to play, why isn't David Stern fining Chicago a** off for not starting a star player? Don't the fine people of Sacramento deserve to see ONE star player at least once in their lives? (Bulls next game reference)

Seriously, the responsible thing to do is to rest and make sure you can play the way you're used to. The Bulls are not winning any titles this year and anytime beyond this season until they get another star player anyway. Might as well just sit back and make sure you're healthy enough to play. Heck, I'd wait until another star player came to Chicago. Then again, I would be waiting an awful longtime for that one to happen.

I do feel a bit sorry for the Bulls teammates though. While Rose shouldn't care about analysts, fans, and amateur bloggers not named me, he should care about what his teammates think of him. I'm sure they're fine with him getting back in the groove right now but that tune could change later come playoff time.

P.S. Then again, it's the NBA. "All for one while one screws them all."

Ain't No Rest For The Spurs

Apparently you can get fined for resting players... AT ALL!!!!

The Spurs were near the end of a 6 game road trip dating back to last Wednesday and were about to play their 4th game in five days last night in Miami. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich decided to not wear out his stars on an early season road trip and sent Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Danny Green ( I don't know) back to San Antonio so they can rest for a Saturday home game against the Grizzlies. The Heat would win a close game105-100 leaving me to wonder how good the Heat are so early in the season.

David Stern didn't like the fact that Popovich and the Spurs did this instead of playing their stars and losing to the Miami Heat (like a good boy). So Stern has fined them $250,000 for not playing their stars Thursday night in Miami. In a statement made by Stern he said: "The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case. The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans."

Or in other words: "IT'S NOT YOUR BREAK YET SO F**K YOU!!!"

While I understand that the NBA is about advertising the players rather than the team, it's still a team sport and players need to rest. If Popovich thinks that resting his guys an extra day to win help win a conference game rather than a non-conference game against the Heat, then he should be able to do that. These are older players for the most part and making sure they are not cumulatively worn out for the postseason is a big concern for a team like the Spurs. Plus, I heard that Popovich has done this before without any punishment so it seems even more peculiar that there is a fine.

David Stern is just mad that the Spurs rested stars during a nationally televised game. If this was just local markets, he wouldn't do a thing. But this was a nationally televised game featuring stars from both Miami and San Antonio and Stern is mad that San Antonio decided to not go with the program.

NBA Changes for Good and $

Some minor changes are coming to the NBA with some involving adding to instant replay. One of them is now officials can check on all flagrant fouls calls in a game. A bit more was added to checking a defender's position around a basket on a charge or blocking foul but only in the final two minutes and in OT. Also Goaltending calls can be reviewed in the late stages of the game. The other thing that came out was the approval by the league to sell small advertising patches on NBA uniforms. This will be implemented starting in the 2013-14 season and the league is hoping to add $100 million dollars in revenue through this method.

I do applaud the expansion of instant replay in the NBA. I do not watch it as much as I should but I can imagine that this helps the game by eliminating more of the human element. That's a good thing in my book. However, I don't like the advertising patches idea. If you follow this blog you know that I follow soccer or futbol and just love the sport but the one thing that I find regrettable is the fact that the teams can put advertising right smack in the chest area of the uniforms. Heck, it seems even worse in Ligue 1. I'll admit that I have grown accustomed to it but I rather that the four big sports in the US don't start heading down this avenue.

It's one thing for Adidas or Nike to show their logo on the uniforms they make for the league. It's just clutter to add anything else.