It's official: the Sacramento Kings are headed to Seattle and will be re-christened as the Supersonics. The sale of the Kings to a Seattle-based ownership group was finalized Tuesday, and the NBA's relocation committee is expected to overwhelmingly ratify the franchise's move to Seattle for the 2013-14 season, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. A formal announcement of the sale and move is expected later this week.
The new ownership group, led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, will buy a 65 percent stake in the Kings franchise valued at $525 million and will file for relocation to Seattle by the March 1 deadline, Yahoo! Sports reported. Once back in Seattle, the Supersonics will play two seasons in its old home, the Key Arena before moving into a brand new $500 million area in downtown Seattle in 2015, sources said to Yahoo! Sports.
The new Seattle owners have confirmed the team will once again be flying the Supersonics name and colors.
Sources speaking to Yahoo! Sports said the relocation committee has been briefed numerous times on the sale process to Hansen and Ballmer, and wholly support the team's move to Seattle for next season. The relocation committee is "chaired by Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, and includes the likes of Washington's Ted Leonsis, Minnesota's Glen Taylor, Utah's Greg Miller, Miami's Mickey Arison, Indiana's Herb Simon and San Antonio's Peter Holt," noted Yahoo! Sports.
The ownership group is supported by the NBA's Board of Governors, who want a basketball team back in the Seattle market, and will approve the sale at the next league meeting.
NBA commissioner David Stern worked hard for several years to find a way to keep the Kings in Sacramento, but the league was determined to move the franchise, pushing owners, the Maloof family, to sell their 53 percent stake in the franchise because they badly wanted them out of the league as owners, sources told Yahoo! Sports. The new ownership group bought the Maloofs' shares, plus a 12 percent share from minority owner Bob Hernreich.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson issued a statement Sunday night vowing to fight the sale of the team, but his words are likely to fall on deaf ears. The Maloofs reportedly reached an agreement in principle to sell the franchise over the weekend of Jan.4-6, sources told Yahoo! Sports.
News of the sale marks the end of 27 years of basketball in Sacramento, where the Kings played since relocating from Kansas City. In the team's best years, the Kings featured star players like Mitch Richmond, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and more recently, DeMarcus Cousins.
Seattle will once again have its Supersonics, after having the team torn away from the city, and relocated to Oklahoma City, in 2008. Home to one NBA Championship in 1979, the Supersonics have featured such greats as Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, the duo that took Seattle to the 1996 NBA Finals.
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