It looks like the National Basketball Association is entering into the world of bailing out their own franchises. In a move that may be surprising to some, the NBA is on the verge of completing a deal to buy the New Orleans Hornets from current owner George Shinn…
New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn has agreed to sell the club to the NBA and the transaction could be completed within a couple days, according to a person familiar with the decision.
The league has lined up New Orleans-born sports attorney Jac Sperling, vice chairman of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, to be the NBA’s administrator of the team and oversee its sale to a more permanent owner, the person told The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t been publicly announced.
Current Hornets President Hugh Weber will continue overseeing day-to-day operations of what will be the first NBA team to be owned by the league, the person said.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank Sunday declined to comment on the sale.
Shinn has been in negotiations to sell the team to minority owner and Louisiana native Gary Chouest since last spring, but talks have been stalled for months.
Chouest, who owns 35 percent of the team, runs a business that supplies vessels to the gulf oil industry. Recently, he has become concerned about his ability to run his family business while taking over the Hornets, said the person who confirmed the NBA’s planned purchase of the club.
Read more details via AP on Yahoo.com
