Prospective buyers lining up to purchase Hawks, NBA says team won't move
Not that there wouldn't have been intense interest anyway, but it certainly seems fortuitous for the outgoing Atlanta Hawks ownership groups that the team happens to be playing its best basketball in more than 20 years.
The Hawks are not yet officially on the market but a 100 percent sale of the franchise has been approved, so while the Eastern Conference leaders chug along at a 62-win pace, prospective buyers are lining up with pitches in hand.
Those who have expressed a level of interest, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, include:
Jason Levian, the former Memphis Grizzlies CEO, who was fired by the organization back in May. He is also a co-owner of the MLS franchise D.C. United.
Steve Kaplan, a Los Angeles-based investor who has reportedly made attempts to buy MLB's San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers in recent years.
Sheldon Adelson, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, a casino and resort operating company based in Nevada.
Bryan Colangelo, the former president and general manager of the Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors. He was named the NBA's Executive of the Year in both 2005 and 2007.
Add those names to a list that has, at various points, included prospective ownership groups involving Chris Webber, Dikembe Mutombo, Dominique Wilkins and entertainment lawyer Doug Davis.
To further complicate things, Grantland editor-in-chief Bill Simmons reported Tuesday that Sodo arena investor Chris Hansen and Legendary Films CEO Thomas Tull are planning their own separate bids for the Hawks, each with hope of relocating the team to Seattle.
Given that current Hawks ownership and Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed have made clear their intentions to keep the franchise in Atlanta and that the NBA rejected Hansen's bid last May to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle, jilted fans in the Pacific Northwest should probably approach that report with a healthy dash of skepticism.
NBA spokseman Mike Bass said as much on Wednesday, telling the Journal-Constitution that the team will not move to another market.