California Lawmakers Ask NBA To Block Kings Move
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Four capital-area state lawmakers, including the leader of the state Senate, asked the National Basketball Association on Tuesday to prevent the Sacramento Kings from moving while they work with local officials to replace the team's aging arena.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, pledged to use his clout to make sure his district gets its share of state bond money that could go to build a new performing arts and sports complex.
"There is an exciting momentum building in the civic debate around keeping the Kings in Sacramento," the legislators said in asking the NBA to reject any move for at least a year.
Steinberg, two fellow Democrats and a Republican made the request in letters to NBA Commissioner David Stern and Clayton Bennett, chairman of the NBA's relocation committee.
The Maloof family, which owns the Kings, has until Monday to ask the NBA for permission to move the team to Anaheim. The Anaheim City Council last month approved $75 million in bonds to upgrade Honda Arena to NBA standards and help pay for the Kings' relocation costs.
Spokesmen for the Maloofs and the city of Anaheim said they could not immediately comment.
Steinberg signed the letters with state Assembly members Roger Dickinson and Richard Pan. All three are Democrats from Sacramento. They were joined by Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican from suburban Roseville.
Also Tuesday, a Senate committee advanced a Steinberg bill, SB652, that would require the Kings' owners to repay the $77 million loan they received from the city of Sacramento before they could move the team. The bill now will be considered by the full Senate.
Sen. Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, was the lone opponent of the bill, which passed on a 3-1 committee vote.
Harman said he is concerned about the state government interfering in private negotiations, which he said could violate the state and U.S. constitutions. He also fears the bill could affect future sports teams that need to quickly move to survive. Steinberg's bill is worded to prohibit any professional sports team, not just the Kings, from relocating within California unless the franchise has paid off its existing debt.
The Kings' current home was built in 1988 and is considered insufficient by contemporary standards for a professional basketball team. It sits midway between downtown and Sacramento International Airport, amid strip malls and housing sprawl.
Civic leaders and Mayor Kevin Johnson want a new arena built downtown in an old rail yard that is undergoing an ambitious conversion into a housing and entertainment district.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
