According to an Arizona Republic columnist, Phoenix Suns franchisee Robert Sarver, pushing for public subsidies for a $230 million renovation plan for Talking Stick Resort Arena, has threatened to move the team to Seattle or Las Vegas if the city balks.
How about the Suns stay in Phoenix and Robert Sarver leaves?
We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The city, it turns out, might balk. One swing vote on the city council has delayed the decision, and a mayoral run-off later this spring is expected to result in an anti-subsidy official taking control.
We’re seeing a couple of things weave together here.
The first and most important is Sarver is awful. He has turned a proud franchise into a wasteland by meddling, by failing to invest, by being erratic. He arguably became the NBA’s worst franchisee (non-Dolan edition) in a functional sense when the Maloofs sold the Kings.
The second thing is that, again, Sarver is awful. That leads him to say things like “I’m going to move the team if you don’t give my billion-dollar business $230 million” out loud at a critical juncture for getting the public to buy into the subsidy plan. People don’t like being threatened. People don’t like being held hostage by incompetent rich people. It’s not really a good time for that, Bob.
The third thing is that the appetite for hefty public subsidies for private sports construction projects has waned. Milwaukee may very well have gotten the last public-funded NBA arena. The tide has been turning for some time, and at some point the tide will just be out. That could be now.
The Suns cannot be allowed to leave Phoenix by the NBA. It would be as criminal as the Sonics leaving Seattle. In a just world, NBA commissioner Adam Silver would pull Sarver aside, tell him that this isn’t happening, and start to nudge the goon toward selling the team. NBA teams have exploded in value since Sarver bought in a little over a decade ago. Just take your gains and GTFO. Phoenix deserves better.
Scores
Pistons 107, Hornets 108
Knicks 106, Cavaliers 113
Bucks 97, Pacers 113
Nets 127, Sixers 124
Celtics 130, Wizards 125 (OT)
Blazers 83, Grizzlies 92
Thunder 114, Pelicans 118
Hawks 107, Mavericks 114
Heat 84, Jazz 111
Timberwolves 130, Kings 141
Raptors 113, Warriors 93
Schedule
Lakers at Rockets, 8 p.m. ET, TNT
Clippers at Spurs, 8:30 p.m. ET, League Pass
Bulls at Magic, 9:30 p.m. ET, League Pass
Mavericks at Suns, 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Links
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Basketball sneakers’ share of the shoe market is dropping, so why are companies like Puma getting back in?
LeBron James says he and Dwyane Wade pushed each other harder as friends than they ever could as rivals.
Zach Lowe on how the Heat’s Miami Vice uniforms happened. He includes the detail that some Heat players have purchased a full set of them (as in one jersey of each teammate).
As I predicted, Steph Curry was joking about the moon landing stuff and was actually in it for the NASA lunar lab tour.
I was skeptical of Sports Illustrated naming the Warriors as the Sportsperson of the Year, but then Chris Ballard got assigned to write the story, so I’m now on board.
A lack of inside presence is hurting the Clippers. Free Boban!
Oh, my lord, Tom Haberstroh determined that the Kings have been over .500 for only 86 days in the PAST DECADE.
Be excellent to each other.
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