Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register reports that the Maloofs are very angry at the "cease negotiations" letter the city sent to Anaheim, claiming it was "below the belt" and uncalled for.
Joe Maloof, in his first public comments on the relocation situation, was most upset that the letter seemed to insinuate that the Maloofs might not pay their debt to the city of Sacramento (totalling around $77 million) if they left.
"We've always satisfied our obligations to the City of Sacramento," Maloof said. "We're honest business people and we have never missed a payment. In fact, we're way ahead of schedule. A couple of years ago, we paid somewhere between $9 million and $11 million ahead because we wanted to lower the debt. ...
"We've always paid our financial obligations in the past, we're going to do it in the present and we're going to do it in the future. They have nothing to worry about. They will be paid in full, whatever it takes."
Maloof continued on to say that he believes the letter was an attempt to block a vote by Anaheim city officials to approve $75 million in bonds that would be used to entice the Kings to move to Anaheim, and warned Mayor Kevin Johnson not to interfere with the Maloofs' business interests. He then wondered why all this talk about paying the loan was happening now, when the relocation process was still ongoing and the Kings hadn't even formally filed to move yet.
"We're still the Sacramento Kings - nothing new there," he said.
Kings fans can only hope that this sentiment carries past the relocation deadline.