Chris Hansen may not have been the big money behind the bid purchase the Kings and move them to Seattle, but he was unquestionably the face of the movement. Hansen has been largely silent since his group was shot down by the NBA Board of Governors but earlier today he gave a lengthy interview to Dave Mahler of KJR Radio. We've got all the highlights courtesy of NBCSports.com's Aaron Bruski with all links going to Twitter..
- While there has been speculation about other clubs that Hansen's group could zero in on, he says that they won't be going after another city's team as a "predator" again. "If we'd known that there would have been such strong support to keep the team in SAC, we'd have approached it differently," said Hansen (link). That would seem to imply that the Sonics will wait for an expansion opportunity to come their way, but that may not be anytime soon. Seattle could also wait for a club to already get the OK to move before pursuing them.
- Hansen didn't expect this level of backlash when it came to the Kings, saying that there was a belief inside and outside of the NBA that they were going to move (link). Before agreeing to purchase a team next time around, Hansen's group will make sure that they have gained pre-approval to move (link).
- David Stern isn't the most popular guy in the Seattle area, but Hansen doesn't believe that the commissioner has anything against the city (link).
- The investor says that he has never sued anybody and doesn't plan to start with the NBA.
- However, the group would like to recoup the non-refundable $30MM deposit that they gave to the Maloofs. But, again, they won't be suing. (Twitter links).
- When the NBA negotiates its next TV contract, Hansen believes that the league will be reminded of how valuable Seattle really is.