Magic CEO Alex Martins said the franchise intends to “submit bids to host the NBA All-Star Game” in ‘19 or in ‘20 when the league “sends out requests for proposals within the next several months.” In Orlando, Josh Robbins noted when the Magic submit their bids for the games, team officials “will work with officials from the city of Orlando and Orange County government.” Martins said, “I like our chances. Our community works really well on these big events, and everybody at the league has said that they were really pleased with the last time that we hosted it” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/21).
KINGS' RANSOM? USA TODAY’s Sam Amick wrote despite the “continued frustration of the team’s minority owners about the way” Kings Majority Owner Vivek Ranadive has “run the franchise since taking over three summers ago, the rules of NBA ownership make it nearly impossible to stage the kind of coup they hope eventually happens.” Yet “after the George Karl saga that left egg on their collective face yet again -- with the firing not taking place, in part, because it might have required the kind of capital (approximately $10 million) that they would have to approve -- their blood is boiling in ways that won’t go away anytime soon” (USATODAY.com, 2/21).
HOLLYWOOD LIGHTS: USA TODAY’s Amick writes by the end of the ’16-17 season, Lakers Exec VP/Business Operations Jeanie Buss will “either be preparing to make major changes to the team’s front office because of another disappointing season, or, should the Lakers pull off a major turnaround, she’ll be celebrating a return to prominence.” Buss said, “I hope that we’re not having this same conversation a year from now.” Amick notes there is “no change to the timeline” that Lakers Exec VP/Basketball Operations Jim Buss first shared in April of ‘14, when he “indicated that he would resign if the team wasn’t contending for a title by next season.” Since then, it has “become clear” that Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak would “likely be part of this equation as well” (USA TODAY, 2/22).
