Tony Bizjak and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee report:
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.
“On the heels of the disappointing – but not surprising – action (or inaction) of the state and Cal Expo board, it is fair to say that the NBA has ceased its activities on the Sacramento arena front,” league representative John Moag said in an e-mail to The Bee. “However, we will continue to monitor and respond to the activities and options of others that might reasonably ensure the competitiveness and viability of the Kings’ franchise.”
The now-defunct arena proposal, championed by local developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor, would have leveraged revenues from the sale of the Cal Expo site to help finance a new State Fair in Natomas and a sports and entertainment complex in the downtown railyard.
InsideHoops.com editor says: My main concern is the same as the one Kings fans should have in the back of their mind: The arena situation, if it isn’t resolved, could result in the team eventually leaving Sacramento.
