AKTVFilipino tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan and MVP Sports Foundation executive director Chot Reyes will be meeting with NBA commissioner David Stern to discuss a potential deal for th>The Sacramento Kings, a highly-placed source told InterAKTV on Thursday.
Pangilinan, who bankrolls Talk ‘N Text and Meralco in the PBA and serves as president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, has been linked to the Kings in the past. Rumors of his interest in the NBA franchise began in April last year, when the team was facing questions about its future in Sacramento. The Maloof family, however, denied interest in selling the franchise.
In March, the city announced that it had come to an agreement with the Kings owners and the NBA on a tentative deal that would provide for the construction on a new arena for the squad. In April, however, the Maloofs announced that it was backing out of the deal, before Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson announced that talks with the Kings owner were over, citing “irreconcilable” differences.
“The differences are too far apart. They could not be really overcome. We felt that this fair deal was something everyone was willing to agree to. But the economics for them was difficult,” Johnson told USA Today last month.
“Our differences are irreconcilable. We worked really hard. We did everything we said we would do and it still wasn’t enough.”
Stern expressed disappointment in the Maloof family’s decision to back out of the deal.
“(The downtown proposal) would not have required any upfront payment by the Kings’ ownership,” he told the Sacramento Bee.
“It was all the city ($255 million), AEG ($58 million) and the NBA (loan of $67 million plus a $7 million gift). Both loan and subsidy. All the parties stretched as far as they could.”
Business leaders based in Sacramento have asked the NBA to “strongly” encourage the Maloof family to sell the team, accusing the owners of negotiating in bad faith. NBA by-laws contain a provision to force owners to sell if it is in the “best interest of the league,” which potentially opens the door for a buyer.
Pangilinan has steadily fostered NBA ties over the past year. He was the man mainly responsible for the SMART Ultimate All Star Weekend, which brough NBA stars Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, and Chris Paul, among others, to the Philippines for a series of exhibition games during the lockout. Reyes, who coaches Talk ‘N Text and is set to take over the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national program, was the main point person for the negotiations of the Ultimate All-Star event and a key reason for its success.
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