Joe Maloof Thinks Sacramento Should Stay Out of Kings’ Anaheim Negotiations

For the first time publicly, one of the owners of the Sacramento Kings addressed the possibility of a franchise move to Anaheim.  Joe Maloof was not too thrilled at the city of Sacramento’s letter telling Anaheim to cease its negotiations to bring the Kings to Southern California.  “It’s not for the mayor or anybody (in the City of Sacramento) to interfere with our business. That’s what I think they’re doing, and it’s not right,” Maloof told The Orange County Register. “We would appreciate that they not interfere with our business.”  Sacramento issued a loan worth $70 million to the Kings back in 1997.  And if the Kings leave, there is a uncertainty floating around city hall that the Kings might not repay their debt.  “We’ve always satisfied our obligations to the City of Sacramento,” Maloof said. “We’re honest business people and we have never missed a payment. In fact, we’re way ahead of schedule. A couple of years ago, we paid somewhere between $9 million and $11 million ahead because we wanted to lower the debt…We’ve always paid our financial obligations in the past, we’re going to do it in the present and we’re going to do it in the future. They have nothing to worry about. They will be paid in full, whatever it takes.”  Anaheim City Council will vote tomorrow on whether to issue bonds that would fund renovation and other upgrades to the Honda Center in the event of a Kings move south.