NBA Relocation Committee To Recommend Hornets Move To Bayou
 The NBA's relocation committee will recommend the Hornets "be allowed to move" to New Orleans, according to sources of Rick Bonnell in a front-page piece in the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, who notes the official vote is expected later this month. NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said, "Based on what we've seen in New Orleans, unless there's some real surprises, it looks like there's a great deal of support there. It looks like it's going that way." Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory: "We anticipated this decision because we refuse to subsidize the operating losses of an ownership group that can't afford this business. We drew the line in the sand, and I'm very comfortable with where we drew the line." Meanwhile, Granik said that it would be at least two years before the NBA "would consider locating a replacement team in Charlotte." Granik: "I don't think in our minds we're saying we're leaving Charlotte for all time. ... We know that Charlotte's a good market. If at some point Charlotte is really committed to building a new arena and committed to a reasonable business arrangement with a tenant, it might be time to have discussions." But McCrory said, "We have to have a commitment from the NBA, not vice versa. If they're interested in Charlotte in the long-term, we'll be glad to listen to their proposal. In my mind, the NBA lost Charlotte" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/1). More Granik: "We're not thrilled about having teams move, but sometimes you just have circumstances that make it unavoidable" (WBTV-CBS, 4/30). Meanwhile, Granik said of SMI Chair Bruton Smith's ongoing statements about buying the Magic and moving them to Charlotte: "[Magic President] Bob Vander Weide has told me the same thing that he told everybody else — that they're not selling the team anytime in the near future" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/1). Granik, on a new arena in Orlando: "I have a lot of confidence in the DeVos family, and if we can be helpful to him and Orlando, we'd do it in a minute" (FLORIDA TODAY, 5/1).
 | Russ Granik | WHY WAIT? While Granik said that the NBA is in "an uncomfortable position" of making a relocation recommendation while the Hornets are still in the playoffs, the NBA "can't delay the recommendation further." Granik added, "We will have to live with the impact one way or the other, we can't hold up the report just waiting to see what happens on the court. I don't think that would be fair to anybody. So we're going [to] have to go forward and see what happens" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 5/1).
REALITY CHECK: In Charlotte, Tom Sorensen writes, "I know NBA officials have all but been saying [a move will happen] for months. Yet to hear the words and see the face of the man that delivers them has much more impact" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/1). The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Bill King writes, "Owners hate issues like this one, because it forces them to weigh self-interest against collective good. You won't find any of them who think leaving Charlotte for New Orleans is best for the NBA. But neither do they want to stand in the way of a fellow owner's desires, for fear that someone may one day stand in the way of theirs. And they don't want to see [Hornets co-Owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge] in court" (SBJ, 4/29). Meanwhile, LA Gov. Mike Foster yesterday signed a bill to spend more than $10M improving New Orleans Arena for the Hornets and $6.75M to build an indoor practice facility for the Saints (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 5/1).
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