Attorney J. Bruce Miller, who has been hired by the
city of Louisville to attract an NBA franchise, said
yesterday he has made "substantial" progress with an unnamed
team about relocating to the city, according to Eric Berger
of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The team "has asked Louisville to
present a specific arena proposal within six weeks," and
according to Miller's timeline, the unnamed team owner
"wants to decide by early May on whether to move." Harris
County-Houston Sports Authority Chair Billy Burge said that
the team Miller is referring to is "probably" the Rockets.
Rockets COO George Postolos declined comment yesterday,
"except to say again that the team would continue to respond
to other cities' offers." Berger writes that Baltimore, St.
Louis and New Orleans are believed to be "among potential
suitors for the Rockets." Louisville's "main drawback would
appear to be its small media market size," as it ranks 48th
in the U.S. Meanwhile, Houston Mayor Bob Lanier said that
he believes there is a 75% "chance the Rockets and WNBA
Comets will leave because another city can offer" Rockets
Owner Les Alexander a better arena deal than the one
rejected by Harris County voters last November. Miller said
that although Louisville officials have not approved a
specific plan, they would "likely be willing to pay the
entire cost of a downtown arena" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/10).
Louisville Mayor Dave Armstrong: "I want to be a contender
for [any] franchise, but any plan to get it must be a
coordinated effort" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 2/10).
WHEN LES MEANS MORE: In Houston, Dale Robertson writes
that the city must "turn our undivided attention to finding
a way to make the Rockets smile. ... This is no time to
build a Berlin Wall between [Alexander] and us, no matter
how many bricks he has laid himself -- or our strong
suspicions that he would actually prefer to relocate the
Rockets after 2003" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/10).
