The sale of the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle-based group is imminent, which will cost Sacramento their NBA franchise. The move is beginning to raise a lot of questions, especially when you considered a key point in the previous NBA lockout was basketball related income that players gave a large percentage of to the owners.
Owners claimed they weren’t making enough profit, so the basketball related income was expected to boost profits. However, their cry for help is now under fire.
If owners are not making any money, why would Chris Hansen shell out $525 million for 65 percent of the Kings franchise? Just a year ago the Kings were valued as a $300 million franchise and the 23rd-most valuable franchise in the league. Something doesn’t add up here and people are beginning to notice.
NBA superstar LeBron James took to his Twitter account after news of the sale began to surface and he shared the same questions that many of us have.
So the Kings getting sold for 525M!! And the owners ain't making no money huh? What the hell we have a lookout for. Get the hell out of here
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 21, 2013
#lockout! My bad. U know what I meant
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 21, 2013
And from what I hear the 525M isn't even the whole % of the team! Smh. One thing is I can't hate on their hustle though. Crazy
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 21, 2013
The skepticism on NBA profits has to be there after a sale of this nature, but we will never understand what exactly goes on behind the scenes. One thing is for sure, the NBA is the only league with fixed salaries for their top stars so perhaps James’ frustration comes from the fact that he is guaranteed less money than a guy like Joe Johnson rather than his displeasure with the deal Kings owners received.