Terrebonne moves on; Bourgeois season ends
November 7, 2006
Bad driving ends with drug arrest
November 9, 2006(Posted Nov. 7, 2006)
(AP-New Orleans) NBA Commissioner David Stern said there is no question about the Hornets’ full-time return to the city in the short term, but that long-term concerns about the city’s recovery and corporate support for pro basketball need to be resolved sooner than later.
“We have to do it shortly upon the return,” Stern said during a visit to the city Sunday night for the Hornets’ home opener against the Houston Rockets. “We have to lock it all in, otherwise it becomes a lame duck and that’s really bad for us, but it’s even worse for New Orleans.”
Sunday night’s game was the first of six the Hornets will play in New Orleans this season. The rest, including any playoff home games, will be played in Oklahoma City as part of a two-year agreement following Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans opener was announced as a sellout, although Stern said he had little interest in scrutinizing attendance figures for this year’s games.
Stern said he was more interested in the long-term business climate here. He added that projections he heard from local business leaders and academics when he visited last spring have so far proven “optimistic.”
“It probably hasn’t happened as fast, but nevertheless it’s happening and hopefully it will both continue to happen and pick up speed,” Stern said.
Hornets owner George Shinn said he continues to negotiate with a small group of New Orleans business leaders interested in purchasing around 35 percent of the franchise. Shinn said an agreement with the group could be final by the end of next month.
Stern said completion of such a deal could strengthen the city’s long-term prospects in the league markedly and that he was meeting with some of the prospective investors himself.
“Investors are important for two reasons,” Stern said. “No. 1, to show that local folks think this is a good investment and very much want to participate in the team’s success here, and No. 2, to enlist them as sales people … to be out there calling their friends, their business colleagues and the like that this is an endeavor that’s worthy of your support on long term basis.”
Shinn said that while much work remains to be done for next season, he expects the six games in New Orleans to be successful. The other five games have not yet sold out but ticket sales are solid and all but five of the New Orleans Arena’s 54 suites have been sold for all of the games.
Shinn said he has spent about half of the past six months in New Orleans and has been encouraged by signs of recent progress in even devastated neighborhoods, where he said he notices more lights on at night and much heavier traffic.
“We’ve got a job to do and we’re going to do it,” Shinn said. “We stepped up and improved this team. We’re going to do everything we can to improve this city. We’re committed to do the right thing.”
