In defense of ATL Spirit.. .help me understand.

[Diesel]

Here's what I get...

1. Belkin decide to sell his interest in the hawks.

2. By the contract, either party had first objection to refuse the appraisers appraising.

3. Belkin had his appraiser come in and he immediately objected to his appraiser's appraising.

4. ATL Spirit Also Objected.

While the courts were tied up with the objections, the time ran out on when the buyout was supposed to happen.

5. Belkin went back to court and said that the contract had been breached.

6. Court ruled in favor of Belkin and gave him the opportunity to buy out the other owners at Cost.

Is that how it went down?

[AHF]

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Here's what I get...

1. Belkin decide to sell his interest in the hawks.

2. By the contract, either party had first objection to refuse the appraisers appraising.

3. Belkin had his appraiser come in and he immediately objected to his appraiser's appraising.

4. ATL Spirit Also Objected.

5. Belkin went and had the second appraisal done anyway.

6. The ATL Spirit group objected to it but elected not to have the NBA conduct a third appraisal.

7. While the courts were tied up with the objections, the time ran out on when the buyout was supposed to happen.

8. The Court ruled that Belkin had priority in terms of objecting to the first appraisal since he was first in time, but stated that it would not rule in his favor at that time on the entire suit.

9. Belkin went back to court and said that the contract had been breached

when the Spirit Group unlawfully refused to go forward with the buyout when he properly objected and that the contract stated that if the buyout wasn't completed by a date certain that he would have the right to buyout the other owners for their capital investments in the team.

10. Court ruled in favor of Belkin and gave him the opportunity to buy out the other owners at Cost.

Is that how it went down?

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[Diesel]

How is it possible to move forward with a buyout if both parties cannot legally agree on the price.

I will give Belkin credit.

He set this whole thing up by putting in writing the component which allowed him to do the buyout after a certain time has lapsed. However, I say that the Judge has to have a discerning eye and see that Belkin manipulated the situation all around.

ATL spirit should have amended the contract to give them more time if Belkin is dicking around with the price. Because that's all Belk did. He gave a sky high buyout price that any good business man would have disagreed with and he waited for the date.

[macdaddy]

That sounds technically right. I prefer:

-Belkin brings lawsuit believing he has the right to block the JJ trade

-The other owners, BK, the fans, the judge, and David Stern all recognize that the ownership agreement clearly says that if 2/3 of ownership group agrees then it moves forward.

-Belkin 'agrees' to sell out to other owners but obviously only intented to legally manipulate the system until he could gain sole ownership at a bargain price.

So basically, by bringing a lawsuit without merit against his co-owners Belkin started a plan of deception to take the team. How else to you explain his easy willingness to sell out after he lost the JJ deal and his statements now that its his mission to own the Hawks.

rant over

[AHF]

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How is it possible to move forward with a buyout if both parties cannot legally agree on the price.

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Because if the parties still did not agree on a price, they had the right to seek a third evaluation from the independent NBA and then (if I recall correctly) the middle value was to be used.

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I will give Belkin credit.

He set this whole thing up by putting in writing the component which allowed him to do the buyout after a certain time has lapsed. However, I say that the Judge has to have a discerning eye and see that Belkin manipulated the situation all around.

ATL spirit should have amended the contract to give them more time if Belkin is dicking around with the price. Because that's all Belk did. He gave a sky high buyout price that any good business man would have disagreed with and he waited for the date.

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Belkin's point is that the contract was set up to resolve the differences between the parties by use of outside evaluators and the Hawks didn't follow through. Since their only objection was that he didn't have the right to pick the second arbitrator and the court found he did, there was no excuse for not completing the deal as required under the contract.

Why the Spirit Group agreed to this deal, I can't tell you.

[AHF]

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That sounds technically right. I prefer:

-Belkin brings lawsuit believing he has the right to block the JJ trade

-The other owners, BK, the fans, the judge, and David Stern all recognize that the ownership agreement clearly says that if 2/3 of ownership group agrees then it moves forward.

-Belkin 'agrees' to sell out to other owners but obviously only intented to legally manipulate the system until he could gain sole ownership at a bargain price.

So basically, by bringing a lawsuit without merit against his co-owners Belkin started a plan of deception to take the team. How else to you explain his easy willingness to sell out after he lost the JJ deal and his statements now that its his mission to own the Hawks.

rant over

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I agree with this except that he probably planned either to get bought out at a huge profit or to own the team. If the Spirit Group would have gotten an estimate from the NBA then they could have completed the deal and no logal wrangling by Belkin would have prevented them from buying him out.

[Diesel]

I guess then, there was no defense for the Spirit group. They dropped the ball and will seemingly learn a tough lesson out of this.

Unforutnately as a fan of this team, it sickens me to the pits of my stomach that this guy will be rewarded the team. I can just see him running the team on the cheap....

[AHF]

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I guess then, there was no defense for the Spirit group. They dropped the ball and will seemingly learn a tough lesson out of this.

Unforutnately as a fan of this team, it sickens me to the pits of my stomach that this guy will be rewarded the team. I can just see him running the team on the cheap....

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If their objection was legitimate they have a leg to stand on. They would argue that the contract was ambiguous and should not be interpreted to provide for a "race to object." If that was in error, they had a valid basis for standing their ground against Belkin's efforts to ram the second appraisal through and the failure to complete the deal in the expected time could be excused because there was no way to perform in the face of that ambiguity.

[Packfill]

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How is it possible to move forward with a buyout if both parties cannot legally agree on the price.

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Because if the parties still did not agree on a price, they had the right to seek a third evaluation from the independent NBA and then (if I recall correctly) the middle value was to be used.

Quote:

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I will give Belkin credit.

He set this whole thing up by putting in writing the component which allowed him to do the buyout after a certain time has lapsed. However, I say that the Judge has to have a discerning eye and see that Belkin manipulated the situation all around.

ATL spirit should have amended the contract to give them more time if Belkin is dicking around with the price. Because that's all Belk did. He gave a sky high buyout price that any good business man would have disagreed with and he waited for the date.

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Belkin's point is that the contract was set up to resolve the differences between the parties by use of outside evaluators and the Hawks didn't follow through. Since their only objection was that he didn't have the right to pick the second arbitrator and the court found he did, there was no excuse for not completing the deal as required under the contract.

Why the Spirit Group agreed to this deal, I can't tell you.

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The Spirit Group messed up because they did not insert language into the agreement that would only allow the party who did not pick the first independent appraiser to object. Belkin gamed the situation by picking the first appraiser and then objecting immediately so that he effectively gets to name the first two appraisers. As such, he would be guaranteed the price set by one of his two appraisers, since it is likely that the third appraiser - picked by the Spirit Group - would be the lowest of the three.

Really big mistake there. Granted what Belkin did is contrary to the spirit of the agreement, but it should never have come to that to begin with.

[macdaddy]

Even if he's not running it on the cheap we're still talking about an entire organizational rebuild....AGAIN. What he's doing you could call business but its really just selfish back-handed dealing. If he cared about this team he'd negotiate a price and we could all move on.

[Seano]

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If he cared about this team he'd negotiate a price and we could all move on.

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Well it's obvious he doesn't. He cares only about himself. Thus, the problem.

[mountain_jim]

The way Belkin and his conniving lawyers played this whole thing out, sueing over JJ, gaming the buyout contract and effectively attempting to steal the team, I don't care if he might turn out to be a good owner someday, I would never want anything to do with such a person, and I hope the NBA commish and owners feel the same way.

And for him or his possible family members lurking here - stay in Boston and go find another team to wreck - you have already wrecked this Hawks offseason and I can't wait untill Karma pays you a much deserved visit.

mj

[TexasPete]

There were two appraisals and they both came back way off...one of them was for 112M for Belkin's shares and the other was for 88.

The Spirit did not think his 12M investment could be worth either amount so soon after just investing two years ago.

Here is where the Spirit screwed themselves...the contract stated that if the Spirit did not like the two appraisals they had 5 days to engage a 3rd appraisal. The contract must have been crystal clear...the contract did not say that they could delay if they didn't like either appraisal. It said to get a 3rd within 5 days. THEY DIDNT DO IT. I think they were so hung up on how out of whack the first two appraisals were that they were looking at other legal remedies.

Now, the judge initially said that he could not see Belkin getting his way. He used language like "Belkin's remedies will fall short of what he is seeking"...that was before a careful exam of the contract I believe because the judges ruling was EXACTLY what Belkin wanted...the ability to buy the other owners out at their cost basis. So, the contract must be so clear that the judge just followed the letter of the contract. Now, the Spirit are making a lame defense like people will lose jobs if Belkin wins, yada, yada.

These guys (surprise, surprise) don't appear that sharp. When you have a contract that is clear and you violate it...you lose. Belkin is certainly the sharper party I can assure you.

Don't blame the judge...he was just following the contract. The Spirit were apparently hoping for someone to step in and help them with the price, which was extremely high. But that didn't mean they could fall asleep at the wheel and go past the 5 days.

Billy may be about to draft his last 6'8 forward. He may be wishing that he had stood up, looked Belkin in the eye, and shook his hand. That's what a man does...even if he doesn't like the other man. People thought is was funny but it was an insight into BK's character. BK looked like a spoiled brat that didn't get his way and acted like a child. I disagreed with Belkins stance on taking the JJ deal public...but you should still stand up and shake a man's hand. That picture tells you all you need to know about BK. Belkin didn't like Knight either but he had the stones to go over and extend his hand...like a man. The real fool in that picture...isn't Belkin.

[Seano]

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but you should still stand up and shake a man's hand.

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Why, because custom calls for it?

I say that's BS. If you believe a man to be a lying, scheming rat- then why should you be compelled to take his hand if he offers it to you? I wouldn't have shaken Belkin's hand either, because as his actions have proven- he's a piece of sh*t.

[AHF]

Under the contract, the Hawks would not have selected any of the appraisers if they went forward. The third was to be selected by the NBA.

[DrReality]

Spirit's lawyers act like a bunch of law students. You gotta wonder if they didn't screw the pooch and miss the contract language. Makes me wonder if they will have to pony up to the Spirit via their malpractice inurance.

BK is like spoiled child and likely done in the NBA other than a scout or assistant.