Moderators AHF Posted July 10, 2006 Moderators Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 Quote: What would be the best possible outcome of Stern stepping in? What could he really do? He's not bigger than the court of law. Stern couldn't step into the legal proceedings at this point. The NBA and NHL won't weigh into the legal case because they have no role at this juncture. The best outcome of Stern getting involved is if he let Belkin know that the way he has conducted himself has been detrimental to the Hawks, the NBA players association and the league and that he has spoken with other owners and it is unlikely the league will approve a transition of ownership to Belkin. That would put pressure on Belkin to agree to a buyout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Final_quest Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 I think Stern could step in, and put an end to this if he feels it has gone too far. He owns the building, and these guys are fighting over who owns the vending machine in the building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholasp27 Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 Quote: What would be the best possible outcome of Stern stepping in? What could he really do? He's not bigger than the court of law. stern could say that he won't allow belkin to own the team without the other members of the spirit it's his league and the owners don't have the right, but the privilege, to belong to it the judge already said that he'd run his ruling by stern before giving the decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasPete Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 Stern has watched idly as other owners have committed atrocities on their cities and teams for years. He is an overrated jerkoff. He really doesn't care about this crap and won't touch this situation unless something happens that has a bearing on other franchises. Until then don't expect this excrement to get involved. He is basically gutless and just loves the publicity of being the commissioner. He is the most overrated commissioner in sports history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Final_quest Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 Didn't he step in last offseason with us regarding the JJ situation? He has an interest in keeping the league functioning. Not sure what he'll do, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lascar78 Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 what you have to realize is that Stern is a lawyer. I think he is probably extremely pissed and furious about this situation, but if he's not doing anything, it's because he legally knows that there's nothing he can do. The judge said that in the event that Belkin does win, he will send it to Stern and the NBA for approval prior to rendering the verdict. Perhaps Stern knows that this is when he can take control of the situation and not sooner. If there's one thing we know about Stern, it's that he likes to be in full control and run things. Often to a fault. If he's not doing anything, I think it has to mean that he believes that there's nothing he can do right now. Being commish does not put him above the law to the point where he can tell a judge what to do when unsolicited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrReality Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 I would not be surprised if Stern had not had some sort of contact with the owners to get a feel for where they are with the Stern thing. Putting up with crap from the Knicks owner who has been there a while is different from putting up with it from Belk. If you listen, the Spirit group has said all along that they feel confident that they will prevail. This is obviously not grounded in what's happened in court. Could very well be from knowing where Stern stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lascar78 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Quote: If you listen, the Spirit group has said all along that they feel confident that they will prevail Honestly I wouldn't read too much into that. Both sides always say that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusBoyIsBack Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Stern COULD step in and clear this whole thing up. The problem is HE DOESN'T CARE? Why doesn't he care? Because we're the Atlanta Hawks! Any other respectable franchise in the league and this circus would have never gone on this long. We're a victim of our history of futility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lascar78 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Quote: Stern COULD step in and clear this whole thing up. Please explain how he could step in and clear this in? Is he suddenly higher up than judges in the legal system? He can give his opinion if he wants, but other than that, the ball's not in his court until the judge sends it to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeacKillsaDevil Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 He can get the other owners to block Belking becoming the sole owner. The owners would still have to approve the transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packfill Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Well, he could essentially circumvent the legal system buy doing some behind the scenes arm twisting forcing all of the current owners (i.e., Belkin and the Spirit Group) to agree to sell the team for fair market value. Basically, he could tell them that they are not "NBA material." The way he sells this to Belkin is by explaining in no uncertain terms that the NBA will never approve him as owner of the team. He sells it to the Spirit Group by explaining that they are dumb asses for getting into this mess and this is the only way to bail them out of this mess and to save the franchise. Easy really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lascar78 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 I think you GROSSLY underestimate how complicated this is. For starters, you're crazy if you think the owners would sell to a new group after all this. Why would you give a team up, when you currently have a 50/50 chance if getting it? That makes no sense. Also if it was that easy to sell the hawks, why is it that the first guy who tried to buy us didn't have enough cash, the second group was a disfunctional bunch. Billionaires aren't lined up to buy us. Additionally, if it was so easy to just get one group to sell to another at "fair market price", the spirit would have gotten the team from Belkin a long, long time ago, when he agreed to sell to them. Also, we don't know how legal it is for him to do all this threatening, and forcing a team to sell. We do know that if he waits patiently, the judge will hand it to him and put the ball in his court, which is what he's probably waiting on. At that point he can legally recommend that the owners don't approve Belkin. In round 1, he waited for the judge to call upon him, he spoke up, and got Belkin to agree to sell eventually. He knows the law and knows when he has to wait. Just because he's extremely powerful within his league doesn't put him above the law Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainview1981 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Quote: I think you GROSSLY underestimate how complicated this is. For starters, you're crazy if you think the owners would sell to a new group after all this. Why would you give a team up, when you currently have a 50/50 chance if getting it? That makes no sense. Also if it was that easy to sell the hawks, why is it that the first guy who tried to buy us didn't have enough cash, the second group was a disfunctional bunch. Billionaires aren't lined up to buy us. Additionally, if it was so easy to just get one group to sell to another at "fair market price", the spirit would have gotten the team from Belkin a long, long time ago, when he agreed to sell to them. Also, we don't know how legal it is for him to do all this threatening, and forcing a team to sell. We do know that if he waits patiently, the judge will hand it to him and put the ball in his court, which is what he's probably waiting on. At that point he can legally recommend that the owners don't approve Belkin. In round 1, he waited for the judge to call upon him, he spoke up, and got Belkin to agree to sell eventually. He knows the law and knows when he has to wait. Just because he's extremely powerful within his league doesn't put him above the law Judging by how it's went so far.... I'd say the chances are more like 80/20 in favor of Belkin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lascar78 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Either way, you're not going to just give up on your dream when you still have a shot at flat out winning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainview1981 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Quote: Either way, you're not going to just give up on your dream when you still have a shot at flat out winning But they're not going to win. There's no reason to believe they will. What matters is that Stern should strip both sides. The other ownsers have to take some blame. They went into business with the guy. Without their help, he wouldn't have the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lascar78 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 So if you had bought the hawks, had a dispute with a co-owner where he agreed to let you buy him out, but then tried to get the team from you on a technicality, if the commish told you it would just be easier to sell the team to a stranger while the trial was still in progress, you would just give up and sell it? What a quitter's mentality if that's what you're saying. If that's the kind of people they are, I hope they do indeed sell. I don't think that's the kind of people they are. I think they're people whose hearts are enamored with bringing this franchise back. They may have proven to be pretty inept in fighting Steve "Lucifer" Belkin, and they may well end up losing it to him, but there's no way they're giving up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainview1981 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Quote: So if you had bought the hawks, had a dispute with a co-owner where he agreed to let you buy him out, but then tried to get the team from you on a technicality, if the commish told you it would just be easier to sell the team to a stranger while the trial was still in progress, you would just give up and sell it? What a quitter's mentality if that's what you're saying. If that's the kind of people they are, I hope they do indeed sell. I don't think that's the kind of people they are. I think they're people whose hearts are enamored with bringing this franchise back. They may have proven to be pretty inept in fighting Steve "Lucifer" Belkin, and they may well end up losing it to him, but there's no way they're giving up. Alot of it would depend on the chances. If you got no chance... You got no chance. The only chance is Stern and right now it appears he will do nothing. I hate that they got involved at all. He wouldn't have the teams if it wasn't for them in the first place. They should shoulder the blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lascar78 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Bull, they've still got a decent chance. I don't know who I'd give the upper hand. Belkin has won to date, but they have a legit case against him AND Stern doesn't want Belkin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainview1981 Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Quote: Bull, they've still got a decent chance. I don't know who I'd give the upper hand. Belkin has won to date, but they have a legit case against him AND Stern doesn't want Belkin. Stern is the only chance I think and there's been nothing from him so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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