Agent's daughter talks about Tweet that started it all

[VF21]

Sam Amick has a new article, focusing on Daiana Falk, daughter of agent David Falk, who let the cat out of the bag about the pending sale to Seattle with a Jan. tweet. In the article, Amick quotes a letter from Falk to USA Sports Today.

Here's the part I found most interesting:

My January tweet was not intended to report that the Kings were packing up and moving to Seattle. Rather, that after a number of failed attempts to identify local ownership that would keep the team in Sacramento, the Maloofs had reached a tentative agreement with the Seattle group.

So it's going to be the ongoing story that the Maloofs sought and couldn't find a local ownership group? Where did they look? In their shoes? Under their breakfast plate? Maybe in their linen closet?

I know one thing. There is no data out there to support the idea that the Maloofs EVER indicated publicly their desire and/or willingness to sell the team.

At one time, this would have really made me angry. Now it's just another brick in the wall, another piece of the puzzle, another lego in the old toy box.

It doesn't matter any more. And very shortly, the Maloofs won't matter any more. I don't have to be diplomatic and I don't have to be kind. The Maloofs were a blight on Kings fans and I'm glad they're fading into the mist...

 

[HndsmCelt]

If you are keeping it secret that you are selling them, or that the team is for sale in the first place you are doing a TERRIBLE job of letting any potential buyers know that the team is for sale.

 

[hrdboild]

Sam Amick has a new article, focusing on Daiana Falk, daughter of agent David Falk, who let the cat out of the bag about the pending sale to Seattle with a Jan. tweet. In the article, Amick quotes a letter from Falk to USA Sports Today.

Here's the part I found most interesting:



So it's going to be the ongoing story that the Maloofs sought and couldn't find a local ownership group? Where did they look? In their shoes? Under their breakfast plate? Maybe in their linen closet?

I know one thing. There is no data out there to support the idea that the Maloofs EVER indicated publicly their desire and/or willingness to sell the team.

At one time, this would have really made me angry. Now it's just another brick in the wall, another piece of the puzzle, another lego in the old toy box.

It doesn't matter any more. And very shortly, the Maloofs won't matter any more. I don't have to be diplomatic and I don't have to be kind. The Maloofs were a blight on Kings fans and I'm glad they're fading into the mist...

We can follow Stern and KJ's lead and play nice for a few days until the sale is completed. After that, anyone who wants to dump on the Maloofs -- for making a fairly straight-forward transfer of ownership into a prolonged soap opera during which numerous media pundits couldn't help themselves but disparage our city, our mayor, and a year's long effort to develop a new arena plan which not even mighty Seattle for all it's money could match in terms of public fund-raising -- would be more than justified I think. But I suspect once the sale is complete and no amount of Maloofery can ever harm our team or our city again, most of the motivation to lash out will probably be gone. These journalists can write whatever they want for all I care. We know the true story, have known the whole story all along, and we got the last laugh.

 

[Kingsfan23]

I will trust the Mayor when he said the first he heard the team was for sale was when the scum buckets came to terms with Hansen/Ball****

 

[Turgenev]

The Maloofs have a need to save face. I think the damage control is a farce I am happy to go along with for now.

Hopefully the next few days run smoothly.

....

Congratulations to all in Sacramento.

 

[Löwenherz]

I'm still eagerly awaiting their plans to refurbish Sleep Train.

 

[rhythmless]

If I saw a Maloof, I would have the thought to spit in their face. However, I think the team was probably always for sale at over $500M. Sacramento groups probably came to offer at 300-350 valuation (still over what the Kings were valued at the time). Given what they owed to the league, they wouldn't have walked away with very much. I think if a Sacramento group came and threw a $525M valuation, the Maloofs would have listened. I don't have proof, but I don't think anyone did that. So when Seattle fans say that no one in Sac "stepped up," I think there's merit to that. You know, if step up means to grossly overpay for the privilege of dealing with the worst existing NBA owners (you're welcome Sterling).

 

[Glenn]

If I saw a Maloof, I would have the thought to spit in their face. However, I think the team was probably always for sale at over $500M. Sacramento groups probably came to offer at 300-350 valuation (still over what the Kings were valued at the time). Given what they owed to the league, they wouldn't have walked away with very much. I think if a Sacramento group came and threw a $525M valuation, the Maloofs would have listened. I don't have proof, but I don't think anyone did that. So when Seattle fans say that no one in Sac "stepped up," I think there's merit to that. You know, if step up means to grossly overpay for the privilege of dealing with the worst existing NBA owners (you're welcome Sterling).

Until it was leaked that there was a binding offer with Hansen/Ballmer, the people in Sacramento were being told the team wasn't for sale. You are saying that I am wrong. The city stepped up with a term sheet for an arena and the Maloofs rejected it.




Edit: After reading what she had to say, I am happy she did what she did and I think she knew she was exposing something that ultimately would hurt the people of Sacramento. It doesn't appear to me that she was on Sacramento's side but that she did not think that these arrangements should be allowed to continue under the cover of secrecy. Whether I am right or wrong in my interpretation, I think we should all be happy that she exposed what was going on.

 

[rhythmless]

Until it was leaked that there was a binding offer with Hansen/Ballmer, the people in Sacramento were being told the team wasn't for sale. You are saying that I am wrong. The city stepped up with a term sheet for an arena and the Maloofs rejected it.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm merely postulating that when the Maloofs said that the team wasn't for sale, they meant "for a reasonable amount near market value." Almost everything is for sale if you go high enough. That classic Camaro that your dad has in the garage, that "isn't for sale?" It's not for sale for 30k, but 100k? Hell yes. I couldn't part with my signed Richmond jersey, but if you offer me 500k I'll drive it across the country to hand deliver it to you.

I'm saying that it's possible that the Maloofs didn't plan to sell for 300-400, which was what they (and everyone else) would think they could conceivably get. Remember, this is in a time where GS was sold for $450 and that was a RECORD, while we were valued around $300M. Their franchise is better than us in every single way, so any rational person would say that no one would offer more than $450M. The bar was set. And Maloofs could have said "no sale" when it's "no sale outside of a ridiculous unheard of illogical price in the vein of indecent proposal." I don't remember Burkle et al offering $500M+ or we would have heard something about that by now, with everything that's been going on. The logical assumption, given what we know and what we have/haven't heard is that no one offered anywhere near that kind of money until HBN.

Again, this is just a theory, but I believe it's reasonable based on the market at the time, the maneuverings of players, and the lack of noise coming from the previous group.

 

[NewArena]

We can follow Stern and KJ's lead and play nice for a few days until the sale is completed. After that, anyone who wants to dump on the Maloofs -- for making a fairly straight-forward transfer of ownership into a prolonged soap opera during which numerous media pundits couldn't help themselves but disparage our city, our mayor, and a year's long effort to develop a new arena plan which not even mighty Seattle for all it's money could match in terms of public fund-raising -- would be more than justified I think. But I suspect once the sale is complete and no amount of Maloofery can ever harm our team or our city again, most of the motivation to lash out will probably be gone. These journalists can write whatever they want for all I care. We know the true story, have known the whole story all along, and we got the last laugh.

!!!!

This mess is to be expected from the national media, but even writers in the bay area, were completely ignorant to what had been going on around here. Made me SICK, but I'm over it... whatever. They'll never admit how wrong they were/are.

 

[uolj]

If I saw a Maloof, I would have the thought to spit in their face. However, I think the team was probably always for sale at over $500M. Sacramento groups probably came to offer at 300-350 valuation (still over what the Kings were valued at the time). Given what they owed to the league, they wouldn't have walked away with very much. I think if a Sacramento group came and threw a $525M valuation, the Maloofs would have listened. I don't have proof, but I don't think anyone did that. So when Seattle fans say that no one in Sac "stepped up," I think there's merit to that. You know, if step up means to grossly overpay for the privilege of dealing with the worst existing NBA owners (you're welcome Sterling).

I think you're exactly right on this. A lot of semantics and word games, but the bottom line is the Maloofs couldn't afford to sell at $350M or $400M and no Sacramento investor would be dumb enough to pay more than that until they were forced to by Hansen's overbid (which he had to do if he had any hope of getting the team from the Maloofs).