Phil Jackson continues to lament the Sacramento Kings' apparent plan to relocate to Anaheim. Sam Amick reports for SI.com that the Los Angeles Lakers, owned by Jerry Buss, whose daughter Jeanie Buss is both a Lakers executive and Jackson's longtime girlfriend, continue to press other owners to reject the Maloofs' expected relocation bid. Jackson is serving as a sort of spokesman for the cause.
Most interesting in Amick's report are new details about the Lakers' new television deal with Time Warner Cable. The deal had previously been reported to be worth $3 billion over 20 years; the Lakers will get two regional sports networks, one presented completely in Spanish, beginning in the 2012-13 season. Time Warner has disputed the reported terms; Amick now reports via sources that the deal is worth $5 billion over 25 years, a mammoth $200 million per season. (For comparison's sake, the NBA's deal with ESPN, ABC and Turner for national games is worth $400 million per season.)
That means that according to an ESPN report from March that the Lakers would stand to lose $500 million in a Kings relocation to Anaheim. ESPN's Arash Markazi reported that the Lakers' deal with Time Warner called for a 10 percent reduction in value if L.A. received a third NBA team. It's just a huge amount of money that the Lakers would lose, and the Busses are reported hearing some sympathetic ears around the NBA Board of Governors.
The league's franchise owners will discuss the Maloofs' plans during normal meetings April 14-15. The Maloofs' relocation application is due April 18.
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