Kingsfan23
All-Star
The NBA doesn't want to allow this precedent. The problem is the legal system. I've asked the question since before Hansen put in a bid for the team and Stern pretty much answered it at the Oakland press conference. Forcing the Maloofs to take a lower bid will open up an anti trust case against the league that the NBA wants no part of. This is squarely on the Maloofs for being greedy and threatening lawsuits.
Then, if you need to block the wealthy outsider thiefs (how I consider them, whether legally or not) on the relocation if you can't on the sale. Allow em to buy the teams and make a good faith go of it here - which is the norm everywhere else in pro sports. Somehow, the sale of the team and the relocation of the team became fused in this case, which they shouldn't be - two distinct processes