tidbit about our ownership change

[Boondocks]

In reply to:

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IS AN ACTIVE OWNER IMPORTANT?

There has been a long running debate in the media on whether or not the sideline antics of Mark Cuban in Dallas are helpful to his team. Mark Cuban is clearly the most outspoken and well-known owner in the league; he runs his team his way, having taken a franchise that was in the toilet and made it a premier powerhouse in the West. The Mavericks are a huge box office draw in Dallas and across the NBA as one of the top road teams in visiting cities. The Mavs bring in solid numbers in the TV ratings department, and there is more Mavericks apparel available than any two teams combined. All of these things are a credit to the business savvy of Cuban and the staff he has assembled. So how important is solid ownership? If you ask Shareef Abdur-Rahim in Atlanta, he will tell you this past summer was embarrassing, his team was in limbo for most of the summer with David McDavid making a bid unsuccessfully to buy the club from AOL Time Warner. The Hawks were ultimately sold to an investment group comprised of Steve Belkin, Todd Foreman, J. Michael Gearon Jr., Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz and J. Rutherford Seydel II. Steve Belkin has tried to own a NBA team for almost 20 years, recently making runs at the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats, and is expected to be a hands on guy. Its hard to say anyone could match Mark Cuban in the antics/passion department, but Belkin, who may be better compared to Howard Schultz in Seattle, looks to be a guy read to put his mark on the club (once their officially approved), and the Hawks players and staff seem to feel positive about the changes. Hawks coach Terry Stotts commented that Belkin’s group would be great for the franchise saying "I think it’s terrific for the franchise and the city. I think the group of owners bring a lot to the franchise... Steve Belkin is passionate about the sport and what he wants to do with the team... I think people are gonna look back at this time as when the Atlanta Hawks franchise turned a corner, I think the ownership group is gonna make their mark on the franchise early." When asked if having an active owner helps the process, Hawks forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim commented, that it was Steve Belkin’s team, he could do as he pleased with it saying "It's his team he can do what he want to do... really, I mean honestly, it's his team. The few little things that I own I can do whatever I want to do with them. He owns this team, we all work for him, so he can do what he want to do. He can come sit on the bench right in the middle of us. He can do that. I think whatever builds the moral of the team, the organization and makes the city feel good, and gets the people feeling good about us, and having them come out to the game is good for us. Whatever he does if it works, and it makes our organization successful I'm happy about it... It was kind of embarrassing this summer, you know running around and nobody owned our team... Having the team in kind of disarray, it was kind of embarrassing, now having some owners come in, that are proud to have the team, excited about the team. I feel good about the situation." Like him or hate him, clearly Mark Cuban changed the entire concept in Dallas. Steve Belkin’s group has a similar task in front of them, so if the model is be like Cuban, some of the Hawks players would welcome that, if it meant the kinds of improvements in Dallas, but from what is known about Belkin as of today, he’s not quite Mark, but maybe he needs to be.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_5808.shtml