Ownership dispute heads back to court

[DrReality]

Ownership dispute heads back to court

Anatomy of a feud: The legal decision could affect whether the group will be able to financially support two pro teams.

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, February 15, 2009

A court document from Hawks and Thrashers co-owner Steve Belkin probably says it best:

“At this time, the parties dispute all issues in this case.”

Belkin is suing his seven business partners —- four who live in Atlanta and three who are in the Washington, D.C., area —- over how much his 30 percent stake in the teams and Philips Arena’s operating rights are worth. The owners want to buy out Belkin, who lives in Boston, but the contract that spells out that process is so vague that they haven’t been able to agree on a process or a price.

The dispute will come to a head Tuesday in Montgomery County, Md., Circuit Court. It will be up to Judge Durke Thompson to make sense out of the contract and decide whether it’s Belkin or the seven other partners who can select the next appraiser to place a value on the teams and arena operating rights.

The trial, which is expected to last about two weeks, is in Maryland because the owners previously agreed to litigate there. Each side has the right to appeal the judge’s decision, which could drag the already protracted legal process on for another nine months to a year, leaving the ownership of the teams in limbo yet again.

In the long run, the decision could affect whether the group known as the Atlanta Spirit will be able to financially support two professional teams. According to recent court documents, the Spirit has lost more than $174 million since the 2002-03 season, including $50 million in the past two years alone.

Neither the owners nor their attorneys would comment for this story. In the past, the owners have denied that a team would be sold.

But sports business experts say that the viability of the Thrashers is in doubt.

“Maybe we need to revisit these things as to why we put hockey there,” said Bill Sutton, associate department head of the DeVos Sport Business Program at the University of Central Florida, referring to Atlanta and other nontraditional hockey markets.

How it hurts

The uphill battle in Southern markets is not helped by multimillion-dollar ownership feuds.

“The ownership situation is not, you know, the model for running a franchise —- to have the owners fighting like that,” said Glenn Wong, an attorney and professor at the University of Massachusetts’ department of sport management.

Sports-business consultants say ownership fights have existed as long as pro sports teams have. That doesn’t mean the issues will automatically spill onto the court or the ice. But the more high-profile the issue, the more owners should worry about fans becoming disenfranchised.

“It can be detrimental if the current ownership discussion becomes so pronounced that it forces the fans to collectively roll their eyes and not want to be engaged in the team,” said David Carter, director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. “That’s where the owners would have to take a look at what is the damage done to potential revenue generation as to how this is playing out.”

Each side claims the other owes it millions.

The Atlanta and D.C. owners want Belkin to pay $25.8 million they say he hasn’t paid to cover team expenses since their legal fight began in August 2005, according to a pretrial hearing document, one of few that is publicly available.

For his part, Belkin contends he hasn’t had to pay since the buyout process began, court documents say. He wants the other owners to pay $142.8 million, plus interest as well as legal costs. That’s the amount he says they owe him for his share in the teams based on an appraisal by J.P. Morgan that is now a key part of this trial.

How it all began

The owners bought the teams from the Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System in 2004. The honeymoon lasted a couple of months, but soon they were fighting over petty things, such as who would get the best seats at the NBA All-Star Game. The arguments came to a head in 2005 when Belkin, the Spirit’s representative to the NBA, tried to block a trade of then-Phoenix Suns guard Joe Johnson.

The owners eventually signed Johnson, and Belkin agreed to step down as the Hawks’ NBA governor —- and to have the others buy out his 30 percent stake. The price was to be set by up to three appraisals, and he was allowed to hire the first one.

Belkin selected CitiGroup Private Bank to determine a price of the teams and arena rights. From the start, the seven owners accused Belkin of trying to “hijack” the appraisal process. But court documents outline interference from both sides.

The seven other owners “began to threaten Citi, both orally and in writing: ‘when Steve is long gone, you will have to live with us and yourself … please remember that …’ ” documents from Belkin’s attorneys said. They also “plotted to get ‘word on the street … that Belkin … is never going to get back into sports,’ and that ‘Belkin will never own another professional sports team,’ ” documents said.

For his part, Belkin hired Game Plan, a Miami Beach-based banking and consulting firm for the sports and entertainment industry, to assist with the process, court documents from the other partners said. Belkin agreed to pay Game Plan more money if CitiGroup’s valuation of the teams “exceeded specific thresholds,” the documents said.

Whichever side objected to CitiGroup’s findings would be able to pick a second appraiser, the contract said. But the contract didn’t say what would happen if both sides objected —- which is exactly what happened.

According to court documents, it was clear that both Belkin and the seven other partners planned to object to whatever value CitiGroup assigned the teams. For example, Atlanta-based co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. peppered CitiGroup with phone calls to find out exactly when the appraisal would arrive. He then left two signed objection letters with his attorney before going to Sea Island for the Thanksgiving holiday.

That same morning, Belkin’s business partner began checking his e-mail every 15 seconds for the appraisal and told his assistant to stand by the fax machine with a prepared objection letter in hand.

CitiGroup e-mailed a 69-page valuation, giving the teams and arena rights a fair-market value of $288.4 million. This meant Belkin’s share was worth about $90 million. Belkin faxed an objection one minute later. The other partners sent in their objection 12 minutes after Belkin had submitted his.

Both sides claimed the right to pick the second appraiser. Belkin argues that the choice is his because he objected first. The others say his argument is wrong, that the process did not involve a “race to object” and that they should be able to pick the next appraiser.

Belkin went ahead and hired J.P. Morgan. It assigned a value higher than CitiGroup, providing Belkin the rationale for his $142.8 million claim. The other owners want that appraisal thrown out.

Tuesday’s trial is the second time the issue has been through the Maryland courts. Previously, a Maryland circuit court judge ruled that Belkin had the right to choose the second appraiser. The judge also ruled that the other owners missed the deadline to pay the price set by his second appraisal, and therefore Belkin was entitled to buy them out at cost.

The appellate court overturned that decision and sent the case back to the lower court, where the process is starting over again.

[DrReality]

Ownership dispute heads back to court: Hockey may find itself on thin ice

By Steve Hummer

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, February 15, 2009

In his throwback Dan Bouchard No. 30 Atlanta Flames sweater, Marty Fischer was dressed for the icemaker chill of Philips Arena.

But he is a man who has loved and lost at hockey before, and merely the thought of the Thrashers going the way of those old Flames was enough to send a shiver through him.

Worried about the future of hockey in Atlanta?

“The way things are going, yeah, it’s worrisome,” said the 60-year-old die-hard fan from Marietta, while awaiting a faceoff at a recent Thrashers game.

In 1980, Atlanta lost one NHL team —- those old Flames —- to the Canadian wilderness.

“It was like a divorce,” Fischer remembered. And Calgary got the kids.

And now, another set of uncertainties swirl around the Thrashers, who brought hockey back to Atlanta in 1999, playing on all those old hockey insecurities.

Welcome to Blah-land —- formerly Blueland —- where the ownership is fighting itself, the team is in the cellar and angst grows over the very future of hockey in Atlanta.

A Feb. 3 story in the Toronto Sun listed the Thrashers among six NHL teams most vulnerable to either being moved or being shuttered.

“This could be a blueprint of how not to operate an expansion franchise,” the newspaper warned, referring to the Thrashers.

There is no consolation to be found in the local paper, either.

This week, the three-year-long dispute among the eight-man Atlanta Spirit group —- which owns the Thrashers, Hawks and Philips Arena operating rights —- goes to trial again.

On the ice, the Thrashers have been downright dispiriting, owning the second-worst record in the NHL. And in this most gate-driven of professional sports, Thrashers attendance at Philips Arena has dropped proportionately (ranking 29th in the 30-team league). Some of those absentees are catching the game on TV —- ratings are up 27 percent this year —- but that still amounts to fewer than 5,000 Atlanta households.

Officially, the word is: Remain calm, all is well.

“We’re not planning on contraction. We’re not planning on moving clubs,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “There is a strong core of fans who we are certain will support the team in increasing numbers as things progress on the ice and with the economy.”

Speaking for the Spirit group, Thrashers executive vice president and GM Don Waddell said, “In countless meetings with ownership, never once have we expressed any interest in selling the Thrashers or moving the Thrashers.”

But the Spirit group is facing serious challenges, prompting some sports business experts to question its ability to hold on to the Thrashers.

In nine seasons, the Thrashers have gained precious little traction in Atlanta. Today they face threats to their long-term health on three distinct fronts.

The Economy

Perhaps you’ve heard —- it’s tough out there right now.

“In the city of Edmonton, hockey is the No. 1 thing. When the economy is bad, people will give up on other things rather than hockey,” said Dan Mason, a professor of sports management and a hockey business expert at the University of Alberta. “Atlanta may choose to give up hockey before any number of other things.”

“You’d have to be completely naive not to think that franchise is struggling,” said Ray Ferraro, a former Thrashers captain, now a hockey broadcaster living in Vancouver.

There are bargains to be had, but the NHL can be an awfully expensive date. The man in the Atlanta Flames sweater, Fischer, paid $156 for lower bowl seats for a night at the Thrashers game with his wife. His Flames season tickets averaged out to $7 each per game, he said.

When the Flames left in 1980, no one blamed the loss on the lack of fan support —- it was more an offshoot of a financial crisis by then-owner Tom Cousins.

Nor is anyone prepared to claim the Atlanta fans can’t sustain hockey now.

Former coach Bob Hartley has been to two Thrashers games this season.

“The crowds weren’t very good,” he said. But, he maintains, “Is it the greatest hockey market? Maybe not. Is it a market that should do well? Absolutely. Atlanta deserves a hockey team.”

Whether Atlanta chooses to pay for one during grim economic times is another matter.

The Ownership

Figures filed prior to this week’s trial showed the Atlanta Spirit losing millions of dollars on its two franchises —- an average of more than $21 million a year since it took over in 2004. That average could have been worse, if not for the hockey lockout of 2004. Without the need to support the Thrashers, the Spirit’s losses were cut to $12.5 million that year.

One perception of the ownership is common in the stands: “They’re basketball guys,” said Tim Thompson, a season-ticket holder from Lawrenceville.

Those same fans wonder how long the Spirit —- in whatever shape it’s in after the trial —- is willing to absorb losses from this “stepchild” property.

But the team argues that the Thrashers are an important part of a larger financial package.

“A stand-alone hockey team in this city? It would be very tough [to survive]. Very tough,” Waddell said. Since the Spirit also operates Philips, however, the Thrashers are intertwined in lucrative arena sponsorships, Waddell said. The largest of those is the $9.3 million-a-year naming rights deal signed by Philips, which extends through 2019 but could be voided if either of the two “anchor” sports franchises pulled out.

Fans aren’t fed on sponsorships; they live on results. According to the Web site HockeyBuzz.com, the Thrashers have the fourth-lowest payroll in the league ($47.5 million, which is about $9 million below the cap ceiling). Whether the Spirit is able or willing to spend enough to build a winner is the question customers are most passionate about.

“Everyone wants to focus on that $57 million [cap ceiling],” Waddell said. “We’re one of those franchises that economically can’t be at the cap. We have to have a budget we can live with.”

Ultimately that feeds into the last, most important, issue facing the Thrashers.

The Product

“Certain teams have an identity. With Detroit, you know what you’re going to get. With Philadelphia, you know. With most good teams, that’s the way it is. I don’t know what the Thrashers’ identity is,” said Tim Ecclestone, the former Flames winger who settled in Atlanta after the team left.

Under Waddell’s watch, the Thrashers have been to the playoffs once in eight seasons —- and got swept by the New York Rangers.

While not always to blame, the franchise has lost some of its most dynamic, marketable players, such as Dany Heatley and Marian Hossa. All-Star winger Ilya Kovalchuk, with one more year left on his contract, could have one skate out the door.

This, the Thrashers’ ninth season, has represented a significant backslide, and the fans are restless. The first customer wearing a paper bag over his head was spotted in the stands a week ago. One anonymous grump has begun an e-mail campaign to protest what he called the Spirit group’s “running this franchise into the ground” with more paper bags and banners during a game with Montreal next month.

One of the most reliable cliches in sports states that winning cures all ills. That has never been truer than with this town and this team.

“Put a couple of winning seasons together, have a nice playoff run, then you build a following,” Thrashers defenseman Garnet Exelby suggested.

Nearly a decade after the NHL’s return to Atlanta, though, how much longer must fans wait for that promise to bloom? Or, more to the point of hockey’s future in Atlanta, how much longer will they wait?

3 REASONS FOR HOCKEY TO STAY

1. The NHL wants a presence in the eighth-largest television market in the United States.

2. Moving the team could threaten the $9.3 million-a-year arena naming rights agreement with Philips.

3. There is evidence Atlanta would support a competitive team —- attendance and interest spiked around the only playoff season —- if the Thrashers put one on the ice consistently.

3 REASONS HOCKEY COULD LEAVE

1. There is the perfect storm of a bad economy, the uncertainty that goes with the court battle over ownership and the team’s bad performance of late.

2. Vultures are circling: There is interest in acquiring hockey in cities such as Kansas City, Las Vegas, Quebec City and Winnipeg (although each city has its own set of issues).

3. Unlike the NBA’s Hawks, the Thrashers are not tied to the Philips Arena

[tonegully]

Mr. Blank save us!!!

[HawkItus]

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/busine...irit_trial.html

update

[DrReality]

Let the soap opera begin. Makes us look like a bunch of buffoons.

Atlanta Spirit co-owner labels Belkin as ‘evil’

By KRISTI E. SWARTZ

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, February 16, 2009

Now there’s no question what seven of the owners of the Hawks and Thrashers think of their Boston-based business partner Steve Belkin.

They think he’s plain evil.

[uga2006]

This is just ridiculous. They need to do something and quick!

[DJlaysitup]

Now there’s no question what seven of the owners of the Hawks and Thrashers think of their Boston-based business partner Steve Belkin.

They think he’s plain evil.

Of course they do - he is a basketball man who (as the single highest investor and team Director - or whatever you want to call it) AGREED to make Joe Johnson a Max offer. When his pitiful GM (BK) advised that it might not work he AGREED to going for a sign-and-trade with Diaw. So now we have gone from just gambling on a Max offer for a possibly great player (unproven in that regard at the time)...to tossing in a first round pick (Diaw) and (after further negotiations) a future 1st round pick....WOW....that's big time stuff to get a very good SG. Max contract - 1st round pick (Diaw) - future 1st round pick.

And guess what? Belkin AGREED to THAT. As bad as we were at the time - as important as a guy like Diaw and a VERY GOOD 1st round pick would be...he agreed. Then PHX wanted more....ANOTHER 1st round pick - Holy Toledo! Max contract + 1st round pick (Diaw) + next 1st round pick + future first round pick. BK was all for it as were the other owners (can you say "drunken sailors?")

Belkin balked and said it was too much. A good poker player could have stayed tough and got JJ for Diaw alone - or at worst Diaw + 1 first round draft pick. BK was in love with JJ....the other owners went out on the airwaves of our silly radio stations and said as how Belkin was the evil man keeping the franchise down (while their man - BK - was missing on real draft picks left and right).

Belkin - as the guy who put in the most individual money - was forced to the side and made the villian while we gave up a Max contract + Diaw + 1st round pick +another 1st round pick....for JJ.

That's reality. :hush: Whether you think it was worth it or not - that's reality. Belkin was trying to make multiple moves to get players and ended up stuck with a buncha guys who just wanted JJ at any cost. We likely could have had JJ and a couple other excellent players if we had played our cards right.

Edited February 18, 2009 by DJlaysitup

[DrReality]

The nitty gritty stuff:

Tension fills air as Belkin sheds light

Maryland trial: Hawks co-owner testifies for first time in tampering case that cost team $1 million-plus.

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Rockville, Md. —- It took less than a day for the tension between Boston-based Hawks and Thrashers co-owner Steve Belkin and his seven business partners to come to a head in a Maryland courtroom.

The man called “evil” by his partners testified for the first time Tuesday and shed light on a tampering case that cost the NBA team more than $1 million.

Belkin’s testimony came on Day 1 of a trial that could reshape the ownership structure of the two pro franchises.

Belkin became the Hawks’ representative to the NBA when the eight owners, known as the Atlanta Spirit, bought the teams and the Philips Arena rights from Turner Broadcasting System in 2004. Rob Remar, an attorney representing the seven other partners, accused Belkin of trying to “control and dominate” the other owners, who live in Atlanta and Washington.

He wouldn’t let the other owners into the Hawks’ locker room. Or fly on the team plane.

Remar said Belkin accused co-owner Bruce Levenson of player tampering —- an act Belkin denied in open court. Belkin said his business partner, Felix Riccio, made the accusation. Tampering generally refers to recruitment of other teams’ players. No further details were provided.

“I didn’t do that,” Belkin told Remar. When pressed, he clarified.

“We weren’t sure if there was tampering or not,” Belkin said.

The NBA asked an Atlanta attorney, one who helped the Spirit buy the teams from Turner, to investigate the tampering claims. When the lawyer concluded the claims were false, Belkin engaged his own lawyer to investigate instead.

“I thought there were inaccuracies,” Belkin said of the first report. “We felt it was best to be honest and forthcoming with the leagues.”

The investigation cost the Atlanta Spirit $1 million in legal fees, Remar said.

During the morning opening statements, it became clear just how much animosity the other owners hold for Belkin.

In a memo cited by Belkin’s attorney, Levenson mentions “Belkin’s misdeeds” as a business partner and says his wrongdoings should have a “not-so-subliminal effect against the evil Belkin.”

Jack Fabiano, Belkin’s attorney, argued that the other owners wanted Belkin out of the group ever since they bought the teams. The other owners “were crowing about how they built relationships with the players,” Fabiano said.

Belkin stepped down as NBA governor after the others wanted to trade for then-Phoenix Suns guard Joe Johnson, and he didn’t. “Your honor, you’ll probably hear more about Mr. Johnson than you care for,” Fabiano said.

The group is in court trying to decide which side can pick an appraiser to establish how much Belkin’s 30 percent stake is worth. Both sides objected to the first appraisal, and the contract that laid out the buyout process was so vague it didn’t outline the next step if that happened. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

Fabiano argued that Belkin completed his side of the deal —- he let the owners sign Johnson, and he stepped down as NBA governor. So, now, the other partners should pay up —- $142.8 million —- plus millions in interest.

“We ask the court to give Mr. Belkin what he bargained for,” Fabiano said, saying an appraisal completed by J.P. Morgan should be honored. “He was supposed to get a return, and he hasn’t gotten a nickel.”

Edited February 18, 2009 by DrReality

[AHF]

Belkin balked and said it was too much. A good poker player could have stayed tough and got JJ for Diaw alone - or at worst Diaw + 1 first round draft pick. BK was in love with JJ....the other owners went out on the airwaves of our silly radio stations and said as how Belkin was the evil man keeping the franchise down (while their man - BK - was missing on real draft picks left and right).

Belkin - as the guy who put in the most individual money - was forced to the side and made the villian while we gave up a Max contract + Diaw + 1st round pick +another 1st round pick....for JJ.

That's reality. :hush: Whether you think it was worth it or not - that's reality. Belkin was trying to make multiple moves to get players and ended up stuck with a buncha guys who just wanted JJ at any cost. We likely could have had JJ and a couple other excellent players if we had played our cards right.

What Belkin AGREED to was to be part of a partnership where they would vote and a 2/3 majority would make binding decisions. The 2/3 voted, Belkin was the odd 1/3 out, and instead doing what he AGREED to do he tried to a hostile take-over of the team which both the NBA and the courts later said he did not have the power to do.

Had Belkin done what he AGREED to do, the ASG would not have been in court over JJ and this whole thing would not have happened the way it did.

[HawkItus]

Of course they do - he is a basketball man who (as the single highest investor and team Director - or whatever you want to call it) AGREED to make Joe Johnson a Max offer. When his pitiful GM (BK) advised that it might not work he AGREED to going for a sign-and-trade with Diaw. So now we have gone from just gambling on a Max offer for a possibly great player (unproven in that regard at the time)...to tossing in a first round pick (Diaw) and (after further negotiations) a future 1st round pick....WOW....that's big time stuff to get a very good SG. Max contract - 1st round pick (Diaw) - future 1st round pick.

And guess what? Belkin AGREED to THAT. As bad as we were at the time - as important as a guy like Diaw and a VERY GOOD 1st round pick would be...he agreed. Then PHX wanted more....ANOTHER 1st round pick - Holy Toledo! Max contract + 1st round pick (Diaw) + next 1st round pick + future first round pick. BK was all for it as were the other owners (can you say "drunken sailors?")

Belkin balked and said it was too much. A good poker player could have stayed tough and got JJ for Diaw alone - or at worst Diaw + 1 first round draft pick. BK was in love with JJ....the other owners went out on the airwaves of our silly radio stations and said as how Belkin was the evil man keeping the franchise down (while their man - BK - was missing on real draft picks left and right).

Belkin - as the guy who put in the most individual money - was forced to the side and made the villian while we gave up a Max contract + Diaw + 1st round pick +another 1st round pick....for JJ.

That's reality. :hush: Whether you think it was worth it or not - that's reality. Belkin was trying to make multiple moves to get players and ended up stuck with a buncha guys who just wanted JJ at any cost. We likely could have had JJ and a couple other excellent players if we had played our cards right.

Is this Belkin? You are the only person I've heard tell the story this way.

[mrhonline]

People can say what they want about the ASG now, but the fact that Belkin STILL has his apologists after ALL this crap, blows my mind.

[exodus]

Of course they do - he is a basketball man who (as the single highest investor and team Director - or whatever you want to call it) AGREED to make Joe Johnson a Max offer. When his pitiful GM (BK) advised that it might not work he AGREED to going for a sign-and-trade with Diaw. So now we have gone from just gambling on a Max offer for a possibly great player (unproven in that regard at the time)...to tossing in a first round pick (Diaw) and (after further negotiations) a future 1st round pick....WOW....that's big time stuff to get a very good SG. Max contract - 1st round pick (Diaw) - future 1st round pick.

And guess what? Belkin AGREED to THAT. As bad as we were at the time - as important as a guy like Diaw and a VERY GOOD 1st round pick would be...he agreed. Then PHX wanted more....ANOTHER 1st round pick - Holy Toledo! Max contract + 1st round pick (Diaw) + next 1st round pick + future first round pick. BK was all for it as were the other owners (can you say "drunken sailors?")

Belkin balked and said it was too much. A good poker player could have stayed tough and got JJ for Diaw alone - or at worst Diaw + 1 first round draft pick. BK was in love with JJ....the other owners went out on the airwaves of our silly radio stations and said as how Belkin was the evil man keeping the franchise down (while their man - BK - was missing on real draft picks left and right).

Belkin - as the guy who put in the most individual money - was forced to the side and made the villian while we gave up a Max contract + Diaw + 1st round pick +another 1st round pick....for JJ.

That's reality. :hush: Whether you think it was worth it or not - that's reality. Belkin was trying to make multiple moves to get players and ended up stuck with a buncha guys who just wanted JJ at any cost. We likely could have had JJ and a couple other excellent players if we had played our cards right.

Belkin is also the guy who challenged the appraisal from his own appraiser before he had even read it. Why would he do something like that? Because he obviously had other motives.

[DJlaysitup]

What Belkin AGREED to was to be part of a partnership where they would vote and a 2/3 majority would make binding decisions. The 2/3 voted, Belkin was the odd 1/3 out, and instead doing what he AGREED to do he tried to a hostile take-over of the team which both the NBA and the courts later said he did not have the power to do.

Had Belkin done what he AGREED to do, the ASG would not have been in court over JJ and this whole thing would not have happened the way it did.

Nope - that is wrong....you can post all you want....but that is incorrect....like it or hate it AHF but we know the truth.

Edited February 18, 2009 by DJlaysitup

[DJlaysitup]

Redub:

Belkin is a basketball man who (as the single highest investor and team Director - or whatever you want to call it) AGREED to make Joe Johnson a Max offer. When his pitiful GM (BK) advised that it might not work he AGREED to going for a sign-and-trade with Diaw. So now we have gone from just gambling on a Max offer for a possibly great player (unproven in that regard at the time)...to tossing in a first round pick (Diaw) and (after further negotiations) a future 1st round pick....WOW....that's big time stuff to get a very good SG. Max contract - 1st round pick (Diaw) - future 1st round pick.

And guess what? Belkin AGREED to THAT. As bad as we were at the time - as important as a guy like Diaw and a VERY GOOD 1st round pick would be...he agreed. Then PHX wanted more....ANOTHER 1st round pick - Holy Toledo! Max contract + 1st round pick (Diaw) + next 1st round pick + future first round pick. BK was all for it as were the other owners (can you say "drunken sailors?")

Belkin balked and said it was too much. A good poker player could have stayed tough and got JJ for Diaw alone - or at worst Diaw + 1 first round draft pick. BK was in love with JJ....the other owners went out on the airwaves of our silly radio stations and said as how Belkin was the evil man keeping the franchise down (while their man - BK - was missing on real draft picks left and right).

Belkin - as the guy who put in the most individual money - was forced to the side and made the villian while we gave up a Max contract + Diaw + 1st round pick +another 1st round pick....for JJ.

That's reality. Whether you think it was worth it or not - that's reality. Belkin was trying to make multiple moves to get players....

P.S. - and anybody who wants to argue that the previous isn't right...well then I gotcha - cause I saw it happen.

Edited February 18, 2009 by DJlaysitup

[mrhonline]

DJ, this has been discussed endlessly on here before, and those with your perspective have never offered anything other than opinions.

Meanwhile, there have been a number of articles in the AJC laying out the exact reasons why Belkin's actions were nothing more than a power grab.

Yours is the minority opinion, and so the burden of proving it is on you. Saying, "ou can post all you want....but that is incorrect" isn't going to suffice for an actual argument or substance.

[exodus]

Redub:

Belkin is a basketball man who (as the single highest investor and team Director - or whatever you want to call it) AGREED to make Joe Johnson a Max offer. When his pitiful GM (BK) advised that it might not work he AGREED to going for a sign-and-trade with Diaw. So now we have gone from just gambling on a Max offer for a possibly great player (unproven in that regard at the time)...to tossing in a first round pick (Diaw) and (after further negotiations) a future 1st round pick....WOW....that's big time stuff to get a very good SG. Max contract - 1st round pick (Diaw) - future 1st round pick.

And guess what? Belkin AGREED to THAT. As bad as we were at the time - as important as a guy like Diaw and a VERY GOOD 1st round pick would be...he agreed. Then PHX wanted more....ANOTHER 1st round pick - Holy Toledo! Max contract + 1st round pick (Diaw) + next 1st round pick + future first round pick. BK was all for it as were the other owners (can you say "drunken sailors?")

Belkin balked and said it was too much. A good poker player could have stayed tough and got JJ for Diaw alone - or at worst Diaw + 1 first round draft pick. BK was in love with JJ....the other owners went out on the airwaves of our silly radio stations and said as how Belkin was the evil man keeping the franchise down (while their man - BK - was missing on real draft picks left and right).

Belkin - as the guy who put in the most individual money - was forced to the side and made the villian while we gave up a Max contract + Diaw + 1st round pick +another 1st round pick....for JJ.

That's reality. Whether you think it was worth it or not - that's reality. Belkin was trying to make multiple moves to get players....

P.S. - and anybody who wants to argue that the previous isn't right...well then I gotcha - cause I saw it happen.

The reality is that you have no clue what you are talking about. Belkin was only interested in a hostile takeover and used the JJ situation to do it. He tried to veto a trade when he didn't have veto power and then tried to take over the team. Every move he has made has been to further his own interests not those of the Hawks.

Why would he object to the appraisal of the team before he even read the appraisal?

*crickets*

[BeeSwatter]

Redub:

Belkin is a basketball man who (as the single highest investor and team Director - or whatever you want to call it) AGREED to make Joe Johnson a Max offer. When his pitiful GM (BK) advised that it might not work he AGREED to going for a sign-and-trade with Diaw. So now we have gone from just gambling on a Max offer for a possibly great player (unproven in that regard at the time)...to tossing in a first round pick (Diaw) and (after further negotiations) a future 1st round pick....WOW....that's big time stuff to get a very good SG. Max contract - 1st round pick (Diaw) - future 1st round pick.

And guess what? Belkin AGREED to THAT. As bad as we were at the time - as important as a guy like Diaw and a VERY GOOD 1st round pick would be...he agreed. Then PHX wanted more....ANOTHER 1st round pick - Holy Toledo! Max contract + 1st round pick (Diaw) + next 1st round pick + future first round pick. BK was all for it as were the other owners (can you say "drunken sailors?")

Belkin balked and said it was too much. A good poker player could have stayed tough and got JJ for Diaw alone - or at worst Diaw + 1 first round draft pick. BK was in love with JJ....the other owners went out on the airwaves of our silly radio stations and said as how Belkin was the evil man keeping the franchise down (while their man - BK - was missing on real draft picks left and right).

Belkin - as the guy who put in the most individual money - was forced to the side and made the villian while we gave up a Max contract + Diaw + 1st round pick +another 1st round pick....for JJ.

That's reality. Whether you think it was worth it or not - that's reality. Belkin was trying to make multiple moves to get players....

P.S. - and anybody who wants to argue that the previous isn't right...well then I gotcha - cause I saw it happen.

You saw it happen? Please explain?

[DJlaysitup]

Totally incorrect AHF - Belkin was the "Governor" because he spent much more money than any of the others.....as a "Governor" and a BB guy he had the authority to stop the JJ trade FOUR TIMES.

[DJlaysitup]

Why would he object to the appraisal of the team before he even read the appraisal?

*crickets*

He's smart - you dumb arse. :lighter:

[DJlaysitup]

I normally agree with you ex....but you are DEAD WRONG here.