Michael Heisley Willing to Sell Grizzlies

As he told the Commercial Appeal, all Heisley needs is for the right offer to come along: “I’ll reiterate my position again. I’m 73 years of age. My family is not going to take over this basketball team. My point is very simple. If the right person makes a reasonable offer for the team I will sell it. If the minority (local) owners want to come up with a reasonable offer, I would love to sell it to them. I think they would make great owners. If it’s not to be, it’s not to be. Quite frankly, I don’t have to sell this team. I’m not in any financial difficulty. We have to be a model for what has to be done in the new era of pro basketball when teams are losing the kind of money they’re losing. Some people have got to be more fiscally responsible. We’ve lived within the rules. I’ve taken the heat. Everybody says I’m cheap. But I’ve shown that it does you no good to just go out and spend huge amounts of money.’ Would you sell the team to anyone who intended to move it? ‘Let me put a close on something. There is a contract that holds the Grizzlies into Memphis for 17 years. People should get off of this. I can’t move it tomorrow. It’s like talking about something that cannot be. All people have to do is read the contract. I’ve never said anything about moving. I’m not ready to be sued and go to jail. The NBA wouldn’t let it happen. What are we talking about? It’s not possible. If somebody calls up, we tell them (moving) is not possible. Tell the people to wait about 10 years, let attendance never get any better and then they better start worrying. Right now, there’s nothing to talk about.”