Lakers coach Phil Jackson infamously referred to Sacramento as a "cow town" during a heated playoff series against the Kings a decade ago. But as it turns out, Jackson doesn't want the backwards people of Sacramento to lose their basketball team. The Maloof family, which owns the team, is determined to move from Sacramento to Anaheim in time for next season. Jackson and the Lakers oppose that idea, as Sam Amick writes in Sports Illustrated.
After saying on March 26 that having a third team in the market would be "ridiculous," Jackson expounded on his views in an interview with SI.com.
"I don't see any community, I don't care if it's Bombay with 25 million [people], being able to support three teams [in the same market]," Jackson said before the Lakers fell to Golden State in what was their third straight loss."
According to Amick, Jerry Buss, the Lakers patriarch and among the most respected owners in the league, "is ramping up his behind-the-scenes effort to rally support against the move." Jackson is merely the public face of the Lakers' opposition.
The reason for their ire is simple: a team in Anaheim eats into the Lakers' market. They stand to lose 10 percent ($500 million) of the lucrative, $5 billion television deal they recently signed with Time Warner.
The Clippers could get involved in drumming up opposition to the King's potential relocation as well; owner Donald Sterling has yet to encounter a sum of money he wouldn't like to save.
Check out Amick's story for complete details. It sounds as though the Lakers and Clippers may be entitled to some sort of compensation if the league's Board of Governors allows the Kings to relocate to Anaheim.