Bee: Q & A with Gavin Maloof: Co-owner is loyal to Sacramento

[Warhawk]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13209256p-14052218c.html

Q & A with Gavin Maloof: Co-owner is loyal to Sacramento

Kings will not take their fan base and support for granted, he maintains

By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, July 10, 2005

LAS VEGAS - His wish was their command.

More sugar substitute for the iced tea, please, waiter. A cushion for the back, because the metal chair just isn't too comfy. A refill would be nice, with a little more ice this time. And throw the fajita soup back in the warmer until the appetizers are all gone, if you could.

So it goes when you're the king of your own jungle, or Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof dining at a poolside patio in the family's Palms Casino & Resort.


If only the service were this good in Sacramento.

As the Maloofs' favorite worlds of NBA basketball and Las Vegas were joined during summer league last week, Gavin Maloof sat down on a 105-degree day in the desert to discuss the joy of seeing his visions realized in the Entertainment Capital - and the frustrations of not getting what he wants in the capital city out west. The order for a new arena that he and brother/ co-owner, Joe, want to share with all of Kings land is taking longer than expected, as discussions with city officials and business owners remain stagnant. His request for an unprecedented Las Vegas NBA All-Star Game in 2007 likely has been answered, giving him hope that maybe one day a sports team will be here all the time (no, he insists, not that team).

And surely he didn't ask for all the coaching controversy that's come since the Kings' season ended in May, from the Phil Jackson saga to the mysterious phone call from Portland that he's convinced never happened.

Check, please.

Q: So has it been fun having your two passions collide this week?

A: I think (the summer league) should be here every year. I think the players are having a great time. Some of them may have never been to Vegas. (Summer league is) either here or in Long Beach, and nothing against Long Beach, but I think everybody wants to come here. Some of the NBA owners are here: Jim Dolan of the Knicks, and I guess Paul Allen (of Portland) was here. So you get more interest, and people want to come here. Why not have events where people want to go? Does that make sense, crazy as it sounds (laughs)? But I was impressed.

Q: Why has it grown so much from last year to this year? Six to 16 teams is quite a jump.

A: Gee. I think it's probably that more teams are in the state of change, maybe. Because there were a couple years where we didn't even have a summer-league team. We had Webber, a great bench, and we only made maybe one change. But now we have a few roster spots. Not a lot, but a few, so we need it. It's been fun. We've worked with (summer-league executive director) Warren (LeGarie) because he wanted it here. There's been very warm support, really great. In fact, when we're done here, I'll probably go check out some more games. As an owner, you have to see as much basketball as you can. That's what you do. We're passionate about it. That's why we watch so many games, because you have to know, really, the free agents available, who's good. (You) have to have some idea. Not that we're making the basketball decisions, but you have to have some idea what the people are talking about.

Q: You guys have always trusted (Kings president of basketball operations) Geoff (Petrie) to no end (with the basketball decisions), but over the years have you made an effort to educate yourselves more and know what you're talking about?

A: To a certain extent, we know what we're talking about. They say we know just enough to be dangerous, I guess is the old saying (laughs). But we listen to Geoff. Like with this (first-round draft) pick (Francisco García), you have to trust your people, and (Petrie has) had a track record of picking some good talent. At the end of the day, you're not going to be 100 percent, but that's why you have to have experts. I learned long ago you can't cross-pollinate one expert in one field to another field. You have to listen to whoever's an expert in the particular field.

Q: What's the latest on the free-agent market?

A: I'm really not at liberty to talk about free agents, but who knows what might happen.

Q: Might we see a few new names on the roster?

A: You never know what's going to happen. You really can't predict the future. This free agent comes available, then it leads to another one, the domino effect. Nobody goes into free agency knowing what's going to happen. It's just trial and error, really.

Q: What's the latest with the All-Star Game coming (to Las Vegas) in 2007?

A: We're hopeful that the league will make a decision fairly soon. I think we're cautiously optimistic. The gambling issue has been resolved. (The casinos) said they wouldn't carry the game on the book. I think Las Vegas has to finish putting up their proposal, submit it to the NBA, and (Commissioner David) Stern has to make a decision.

Q: Is there a timeline on it?

A: No, I don't think there's a timeline. It would just be so positive for Las Vegas, for the league. It'd be great for the league, the biggest event that ever hit Las Vegas, just amazing what it could do for this town. (The NBA has) got such an international flair. What, 30-something percent of the league is foreign players. It just fits.

Q: So you've got the summer league now, the All-Star Game most likely coming, and I know your stance on the Kings, but is it only a matter of time before there is an NBA team here, regardless of which team it is?

A: I think, I think (pause), let me say eventually there should be a team here. It's too big of a market. There's too much money here. It's growing. The issue, of course, is the sports book. Will the casino owners take that particular team or the league off the sports book, whatever the league requires? That's the big question.

(more)

 

[Warhawk]

Q: Do you get the sense that they would, or would the casino owners lose too much money?

A: We took the NBA off the book (at the Palms), and we're not suffering. Sure, there's revenue that's wagered on the NBA, but we did it, and we seem to be surviving (laughs). It just comes down to a question of whether casino owners here want a team of the community. If they don't want it in the community, then they won't be willing to take that sport off the book.

Q: You know a lot of the major players. Is there support out there?

A: Probably not. I don't think there would be, because they're saying 'Why should I get less revenue just to have a team in the community?' I think it's short-sighted. One thing is, being a local here, I think one thing this city needs is you don't have sports. Sure, you've got everything, but you don't have sports. You don't have major-league sports. You have minor league, but nobody wants to see minor league. This is a major-league town. I think it's an injustice not to have a major-league team here. Another thought (from the casino owners) is, 'Well, we don't want (people) at a game. We want them in the casinos gambling.' I think that's short-sighted, too. Like a couple hours out of the day is going to kill anybody here. It's a couple hours. There's a need for sports. There's 2 million people here, soon to be 3 million, soon to be 4 million. This town's growing like crazy. I think it's just unreasonable that they wouldn't take it off the books.

Q: What about having a team here and not taking it off the books. Is that opening Pandora's box?

A: No, I don't think so. There's always been a stigma with gambling and sports. Look at UNLV. They used to be off the book, and now they put them back on. There's been no corruption, been no players throwing games. Especially in the NBA, these guys are making too much money. They're not going to risk their whole livelihood for two or three thousand dollars, some guy trying to throw a game. It doesn't make sense. I think there should be wagering on the sport (in Vegas).

Q: Has Stern shown any signs of backing down or changing his stance?

A: No, he hasn't. We differ on that.

Q: Have you begged and pleaded with him?

A: Yeah (laughs). Well, at one point we wanted him just to take the Kings off the book (at the Palms, instead of the entire NBA), but he wouldn't do it. That's the way it is. I think another thing, when you talk about a team for the future for Las Vegas, I think what will happen is when the casino owners see the popularity of this All-Star Game when it comes to Las Vegas, and they see what sport can do to this community, they may soften their stance about taking a particular sport off the books. This is going to be like a mini Super Bowl. The All-Star Game is watched by over 3 billion people worldwide. The journalists will be here. Everybody's going to want to come to Vegas. It'll be a boon for Vegas and for the NBA.

Q: Anything new on the arena front?

A: No, not really. We're still trying to find a way. We've got a lot of smart people working on it, so hopefully we can find a way to get it done. We're trying. We're trying, doing everything we can.

Q: Are there ever times when you say to yourself, Geez, wouldn't it be a blast to have the Kings in Vegas?

A: No, no, no. When I say I want a team here, of course I don't want our team here (laughs).

Q: What about buying a baseball team and bringing it out here?

A: If it was up to me, I'd own a team in every sport. But we love Sacramento. We love the fans. They've been terrific. How could you leave that market that's had 300 straight sellouts? You can't take that for granted. It's hard to do in sports. I don't know how many teams can say that in all of sports. San Antonio doesn't even sell out, and they won three championships. I was reading (Thursday) in the (San Antonio) paper, they were bragging about how when they came back to the airport (after winning this year's title), there were 5,000 people there to greet them. If that was Sacramento, there'd be 100,000 people. That's the difference. The point being that we never want to take our situation for granted, and we never will. We love our fans, we love the city. We're just going to try to work this arena out. Somehow, we've got to find a solution.

Q: Does it eat at you to have all the negativity of this issue between you and those same fans?

A: It does eat at you. See, the misconception is that this arena is for Joe and Gavin. We're not the only two people going to this arena. There's another million, 800,000 people that frequent the arena. It's not for us. It's for the people, but we can't get that across, obviously, through the paper. The paper's been negative about it. I don't know why. When you travel around and look at other cities and the facilities they have, and you come to Arco and look at our facilities, we can't offer a first-rate product because we don't have a first-rate facility. We can offer a first-rate product on the floor, but not in our facilities, and that's frustrating for us. People are missing something if they think it's for us. It's been an uphill battle trying to convey that to the public.

Q: Have you always felt like doing the financing publicly was the only way to go, or have you looked at creative ways of mixing public and private financing? Or have you always felt like this really needs to come from the public side?

A: We've looked at every scenario. But the problem is, someone will say, 'You did this (Palms Casino) for $600 million, why can't you just build the arena for $450 million or $400 million?' They're two different entities. This is the Palms, and it has nothing do with the Kings. And the reason you can't do it is because if you finance $400 million, say, you've got to pay debt service, and maybe that's 9 percent. That's $40 million a year, and you can't make that work.

Q: To play devil's advocate, what about the everyday fan who sees the select few teams that do get it done privately? How is that different?

A: The market. Look at what happened to (Trail Blazers owner) Paul Allen in Portland. He financed it privately and went bankrupt, and he's the second-, third-richest guy in the world, and the arena went bankrupt. You can't make it work. It's impossible. Not in our market. If you were in L.A., at the Staples Center, then, yeah, well, they have 300 suites and can pay for that with the revenue streams. We can't do it. It's impossible. Then you're spending all your money on the building instead of spending money on players. Then you ask yourself, Do the people want to win? There comes a price tag with winning. We're not afraid to spend money. We've paid the luxury tax a couple years in a row. We're putting a competitive product on the floor. We won 50 games this last season, with (Kings coach Rick) Adelman doing a terrific job and Petrie, too. That's no small accomplishment. There's a lot of teams that wish they were in the playoffs. The Lakers didn't make it, and we made it (laughs). I don't want people to take for granted the success we've had on the court, and they haven't, but it's just hard. Sports is competitive, and, knock on wood, we haven't really had a down year.

Q: If and when you do get an arena built in Sacramento, do you worry about the fan base changing if prices keep going up and it's a suite-filled arena, losing that infamous Arco feel?

A: No, no, no. We can add more people and bring the fans closer than at Arco. We know the intimacy is important, and we don't want to lose that. We probably wouldn't add a lot more suites, probably 50 total, because that's the market. You've got to be able to sell them. We'd probably add more club suites, upgrade in that area.

Q: On another issue, you guys have taken a lot of flack for the Phil Jackson situation and how it was handled, if and when (Adelman) was told about it. He was upset, as you know. Was the criticism fair or was it a case of you not planning on anything leaking out?

A: Yeah, I thought all of it would be behind the scenes, and it got out.

Q: What was going through your head as you saw that (hiring Jackson) was a possibility, then thinking through about how to play the situation?

A: It was just an opportunity to look at a great coach. He was available, let's look at it. More exploratory. It's nothing against Rick. He's done a great job. But when you get a guy with nine titles, you've got to look at it (laughs). And that's what it was.

(more)

 

[Warhawk]

Q: Do you regret not contacting him before getting in touch with Phil, or if you had it to do over again, would you make the same play?



A: I don't know if I would've done it differently. I really don't. (Petrie) had just gotten sick (with a heart problem that resulted in an angioplasty). Joe contacted (Jackson's) agent. We never even spoke to Phil Jackson, just (agent) Todd (Musburger). I think it was just like if there was a great player out there that we're going to go for, then you do everything you can to get him. That's really what it was.



Q: What about the Portland situation? Were you ever contacted by them or knew of them getting in touch with Geoff? (The Portland Tribune reported that the Trail Blazers contacted Petrie about hiring Adelman, who has a year left on his contract, and that permission was denied. Adelman said that, if the report was accurate, he would have liked to talk to Portland and it would be "upsetting" if that hadn't been allowed. Petrie has refused comment, and Joe Maloof said he knew of no contact from Portland.)



A: No, they never contacted me. I don't think they contacted Geoff, either. I think it was all the Portland papers. I think the paper started all that (laughs). There was no validity to it, no substance to it. I really don't know where they got it from. And we're all right with Rick. He's our coach. He's got another year.



Q: Last year, you picked up Adelman's option on his contract for this coming year, but he doesn't have any options anymore. Do you just let the season play out before addressing his situation, or might it happen earlier?



A: It's really hard to tell until you get into it. We don't know what direction the team's going to go. We think they're going to do well, got all the pieces there to do well, but you never know. Just wait and see.

(end)

 

[Warhawk]

This was in today's paper, but some of it has been said before, I think....

 

[VF21]

It was previewed on the sacbee website a few days ago...and, you're right, IMHO. Almost everything in the article has been said before that. I didn't see anything earth-shattering. In fact, I didn't see much of anything.

 

[captain bill]

I think what will happen is when the casino owners see the popularity of this All-Star Game when it comes to Las Vegas, and they see what sport can do to this community, they may soften their stance about taking a particular sport off the books. This is going to be like a mini Super Bowl. The All-Star Game is watched by over 3 billion people worldwide. The journalists will be here. Everybody's going to want to come to Vegas. It'll be a boon for Vegas and for the NBA.

Gavin must be completely off his rocker. Half the people on earth watching the all-star game? I doubt that even half of all NBA fans watch the all star game, and maybe ten people who aren't NBA fans will watch the game. And that's because either they watch it with a spouse or they're trapped in a sports bar with no way out, and the remote is broken.

 

[Padrino]

It was previewed on the sacbee website a few days ago...and, you're right, IMHO. Almost everything in the article has been said before that. I didn't see anything earth-shattering. In fact, I didn't see much of anything.

as is generally true with any q & a from ownership/management. nobody ever actually says anything. they like to talk a lot. but they (somehow) pull off a longwinded interview without actually saying anything of value. quite an amazing talent that must be.

 

[VF21]

Well, perhaps I misspoke. I did learn that Gavin prefers sugar substitute for his iced tea and a cushion for his back...

 

[Padrino]

Well, perhaps I misspoke. I did learn that Gavin prefers sugar substitute for his iced tea and a cushion for his back...

now there's a valuable piece of information!

*wonders how gavin maloof takes his coffee*

 

[AriesMar27]

Gavin must be completely off his rocker. Half the people on earth watching the all-star game? I doubt that even half of all NBA fans watch the all star game, and maybe ten people who aren't NBA fans will watch the game. And that's because either they watch it with a spouse or they're trapped in a sports bar with no way out, and the remote is broken.

the superbowl doesnt even get that kind of exposure..... game 7 of the nba finals doesnt pull those nubers.... maybe he was thinking of the slam dunk contest? or 3-pt shootout, maybe? lmao....

 

[kingsfannPDX]

to quote the godfather of soul "talking loud and saying nothing."

 

[BigWaxer]

Maloof Quotes On Kings in Vegas (again)

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2105306

From ESPN

Chances are they won't change so drastically that the not-exactly-glitzy Shinn or the L.A.-obsessed Sterling would be willing to relocate to the Strip. And Maloof, insisting "we'll never take our fans for granted," reiterated for the umpteenth time that "it won't be the Kings." But I'm betting on an existing NBA franchise's relocating to Vegas before we see new ones in Europe.

Further proof that I don't think our Arena problems are going to land the Kings heading to Vegas.

I didn't post the entire article becuase it really doesn't relate to the Kings, just that quote.

 

[VF21]

The quote used by Marc Stein was from the interview with Sam Amick in the Bee yesterday.

I'm merging the thread.

 

[BigWaxer]

Thanks VF I missed this post... I swear I looked to see if it was already posted

... Be in your neck of the woods this weekend, camping