SACRAMENTO, California: A group led by software magnate Vivek Ranadive of India has purchased the NBA's Sacramento Kings and will keep the team in the California capital, the city's mayor confirmed on Friday.
Mayor Kevin Johnson, himself a former NBA player, announced that a deal had been signed to keep the club in Sacramento — a contract that includes a new 18,500-seat downtown arena as part of the lure to prevent a move to Seattle.
"It's about jobs and it's about revitalizing downtown," Johnson said of the deal and the planned new $447 million venue. "It's about civic pride. It's about not letting somebody take something that isn't theirs."
The Maloof family had made a deal to sell the club to a group that would have moved it to Seattle, but league owners voted 22-8 to reject that deal on Wednesday, setting the stage for the sale to Ranadive's group for a record sum.
Reports by the Sacramento Bee, USA Today and NBA telecasters Turner Sports and ESPN said the group would buy 65 percent controlling interest in the Kings for a record NBA club valuation of $535 million.
That would mean Ranadive's group would spend $347 million for the Kings in a a deal expected to be officially announced next week by the NBA.
"It's going to be exciting," Ranadive told USA Today. "We're going to build a global brand with the Kings. We're going to give the fans the product they deserve. There's a lot of work to be done."
Ranadive becomes the first NBA owner of Indian heritage at a time when the league has made moves to try and grow interest in basketball among the 1.2 billion people in cricket-loving India.
"I am a huge fan," Ranadive said. "I'm going to be there at all the games, be there to support the team in every way."
As part of the deal, Ranadive must sell his minority interest in the NBA's Golden State Warriors. Seattle once had an NBA club, the SuperSonics, but the team was relocated to Oklahoma City and renamed the Thunder in 2008.
Sacramento supporters have been loyal to the Kings despite seven seasons in a row without reaching the playoffs.
The Kings' new ownership will have some decisions to make quickly. The NBA Draft of unclaimed talent is June 27 and free agency begins in July and there is little hope of a quick turnaround.
"I've learned a lot, but there's a lot more to learn and it's going to be a process," Ranadive said. "It's not going to be an overnight miracle there, so it's going to take some work."
Pacers not talking about changes, Hill's status
Meantime, the Indiana Pacers don't know whether George Hill will play Saturday night in Game 6 against New York.
It's not something they can worry about.
Instead, coach Frank Vogel is tweaking lineups and making adjustments just in case Hill can't pass his concussion tests before tip-off, and the Knicks are preparing as if Indiana will have its starting point guard back in the lineup.
NBA rules require players to feel symptom-free at rest and symptom-free when they are under exertion, too, before a team doctor can determine that the player is ready to return from a head injury.
With Hill, the Pacers took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Without him Thursday night, the Knicks kept their playoff hopes alive with an 85-75 win at Madison Square Garden.
