Mayor Kevin Johnson has tried his best to keep the Kings in Sacramento. He's worked hard with the NBA and the Maloofs to come together with an arena plan to ensure the team isn't moving anywhere. However, the Maloofs are trying to renege on their original deal, as they seem to be wiggling their way to try and get the owners to agree to let them leave the city.
The Mayor seems to not be all that happy, and went right on the offensive. Here is the official statement from the Mayor's Office. Thanks for Sean Cunningham of News 10 for gathering this up. Here is a segment of that statement.
First, all parties agreed to a deal in Orlando on February 27th, codified in the term sheet subsequently approved by our City Council. At the time, George Maloof explained the Maloof Family's reason for agreeing to the deal, saying to the
Sacramento Bee that is it a "fair deal…worth taking."
Any representation that a deal was not reached is simply not consistent with the perspective of every other party to the negotiation nor the actual statements of the family.
Second, throughout this process, we have worked closely with the NBA as a valued partner at your request, as documented by the following Kings' public statements that the "NBA take the lead on this" while remaining "in very close contact with the league" and being "apprised of everything that’s going on."
Third, and most critically, under no circumstances will the City make material adjustments to the current terms of the deal. Put simply, we have done our part.
We are 100% committed to moving forward under the framework laid out in the term sheet.
And there should be no expectation in tomorrow’s conversation that this deal is subject to further negotiation.
It looks like Johnson is trying to corner the Maloofs into a hole. If the Maloofs continue down this path, they risk alienating not just the city of Sacramento but also the NBA owners to their cause. The city seems to be acting in good faith the entire way, and they're making the owners of the Kings not look too good in this situation.
This situation is about to get really real.
To talk about the letter from KJ to the Maloofs with fellow Kings fans, head on over to Sactown Royalty.
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