Just a few days ago, National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern announced the Kings' owners are in discussions to move the team to Anaheim.
Mayor Kevin Johnson says plans for a new sports and entertainment complex will continue even if the Kings leave Sacramento.
"It's bigger than the Maloofs, it's bigger than the Kings," Johnson said. "It's about what we want in Sacramento."
Johnson says he understands the Maloofs' decision to shop for
new markets. The team has been losing between ten and twenty
million dollars a year for the last three years. And without
a new arena, Sacramento doesn't have much leverage to keep the team
here.
"I want to be unequivocal in this . . . we want the
Sacramento Kings to be in Sacramento, we want to do everything we
can to make that happen, but we cannot control that decision at
this point in time," he said. "That's a decision they can
make."
Johnson says a new arena will give Sacramento the power to
attract another team if the Kings do leave.
March first is the deadline to file a request to move the
team.