It was one of the mantras of the players and their union during the lockout — the NBA owners claim poverty and lost money but they never talk about the increased value of the franchise during their ownership and the profits from that.
The Maloofs bought the Kings 15 years ago in 1998 for $156 million.
The value of the franchise for the purpose of this sale is $525 million (the Maloofs are only selling their 53 percent share of the team, another minority owner is selling his share so the Seattle group will have 65 percent of the team, more than a controlling interest).
That led LeBron James to tweet this.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, 2013You can bet a lot of players and agents are nodding their heads in agreement. LeBron also threw a nod out to the fans of Sacramento, who are getting screwed in this process by bad owners who killed every stadium deal that came their way to keep the team in the California capital.
I do know Mayor Johnson and the city/fans of Sacramento will do whatever it takes to keep the team put. We’ll see what happens #NBAFiles
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 21, 2013