NBA BOG Rejects Sale Of Kings To Hansen Group, Team Relocation

The NBA BOG yesterday in a 22-8 vote rejected the potential move of the Kings to Seattle and the $625M sale of the team to Chris Hansen's group. NBA Commissioner David Stern said that he "hoped to convince the Kings' current owners, the Maloof family, to enter into a sales agreement within the next 48 hours" with the group led by Vivek Ranadive, which intends to keep the team in Sacramento (NBA.com, 5/15).

Stern said that there were "no promises made to the Seattle group about a team in the future." But he and NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver "indicated expansion could be an option later, seeming to soften their previous stance that adding teams was not in the cards." Silver said that the league "might take a more serious look at expansion after its current national TV contracts expire" following the '15-16 season (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/16).