Published: 1 years 235 days ago
Sacramento Bee: Four years after the National Basketball Association commissioner announced he'd personally help get an arena built in Sacramento, the league issued a terse e-mail Tuesday saying it's no longer taking an active role in local arena efforts.
The statement came days after the Cal Expo board closed the door on an NBA-backed plan to move the State Fair to the Arco Arena site in Natomas to help finance a new downtown arena.
Johnson said [David] Stern told him Sunday that the NBA still "loves our market." However, officials of both the NBA and the Sacramento Kings said they are not interested in a proposal Johnson floated Friday to consider refurbishing the existing Arco Arena.
Johnson said the NBA is "not interested on their end." Sacramento Kings President of Business Operations Matina Kolokotronis said the same Tuesday in an e-mail to The Bee.
"Refurbishing the current ARCO Arena is not an option," Kolokotronis wrote. "We need a new facility that can compete within the NBA. Our facility is one of the oldest in the league. We will continue to look at alternative arena solutions in Sacramento."
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/29/3064331/cal-expo-rejection-sours-nbas.html#ixzz10tqh3g40
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