does anyone have access to AJC plus?

[flava]

there are a lot of articles by the AJC columnist on the Hawks and i was wondering what they were all about?

if not and someone wanted to summarize what they read in the paper, is there any insight we haven't already mentioned on hawksquawk?

thanks in advance,

flava

[Nurlman]

Said Stan Kasten, who knows the principals and principles involved: “There’s no question this particular configuration [of owners] cannot survive this episode. Something’s got to happen. At least they’ve gotten past the happy talk, which was hardly believable before, and now the battle has been joined. But they need to go all the way with it. It will be bloody, but they need to finish it.”

Of this latest Hawks misadventure, Kasten hauled out the most damning comparison there is. “It really looks like Elgin Baylor and Donald Sterling,” he said, naming the addled architects of the infamously forlorn Los Angeles Clippers. “But it’s much worse than that. At least Elgin got to make his own decisions.”

Until Atlanta Spirit LLC moved to buy the Hawks, the Thrashers and Philips Arena, Kasten was president of all the above. He was likewise president of the Braves, who have become the model for organizational success, and he served for more than 20 years under Ted Turner, who created the caricature of the capricious sports owner. “This is what I was able to stop,” said Kasten, speaking of such a public tempest. And then: “Ask John [schuerholz] or any of the other top 10 GMs if they could work under these conditions. The Braves would have never become the Braves if this [ownership] were in place.”

By moving unilaterally to undercut the biggest acquisition of Billy Knight’s tenure, Belkin has told the sporting world he doesn’t value the counsel of his general manager. (Said Kasten, “I may have disagreed with the GMs who worked for me, but you never knew it.”)

When partners start saying such things about one another, they can’t stay partnered. Belkin being a minority unto himself, you’d bet he’d be the one to leave. But he’s stubborn, and he’s also litigious. Said Kasten: “He might stay longer than you’d think. He’s waited 20 years to get into the NBA.”

[Duff_Man]

All this, and 45 minutes up the road in Flowery Branch, Arthur Blank is doing an outstanding job of ownership. It is just so frustrating.

[TheDude]

i wonder, with special lubricant, I wonder just how far my addidas could fit up Belkin's butt.

[KB21]

...., but he is one of the smartest men in professional sports.

He has toyed with the idea of being part of an ownership group before. I believe he had talked with a couple of other people about buying the Braves from AOL/TW. I wouldn't mind seeing Gearon Jr. and Seydel recruit Kasten in as an investor to buy out Belkin.

[Lascar78]

I'll take him in a heartbeat over Belkin. Kasten never wronged the hawks intentionally IMO. He crippled us by allowing us to keep a bad GM for years, but I don't think it was intentional. We already have a good GM, so I'd be fine with Kasten coming back

[KB21]

Notice that Kasten stated he disagreed with the GM many times, but no one ever knew about it. I wonder how many disagreements he had with Pete Babcock?

I think Kasten is one of those types that believes success comes out of stability, and that's why you saw him keep a guy like Pete around for too long.