| | Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers coach Isiah Thomas is facing
an NBA-mandated Oct. 3 deadline to sell the Continental Basketball Association.
"I'm still in the process of trying to do that," Thomas said
Thursday. "We're working night and day. I've never been asked to
divest myself out of a business, and I don't think anyone has ever
been asked to divest themselves out of a business in such an
environment."
NBA commissioner David Stern and other league officials have
told Thomas that having him coach the Pacers while owning the CBA
would be a conflict of interest. Thomas purchased the Phoenix-based
CBA last year for $10 million.
The NBA players' union had considered purchasing the CBA, but rank and file members of the union
expressed skepticism over the idea at their annual meeting in July.
The union and Thomas already had signed a letter of agreement on
exploring the sale. However, Detroit forward Michael Curry, a first
vice president with the union, said last month that the union was
no longer interested in the deal.
If no buyer is found by the deadline, Thomas must place the CBA
in a blind trust and put it up for auction, according to Pacers
vice president Donnie Walsh.
"We wouldn't have gone forward in hiring Isiah last month if we
didn't feel very confident that we had come up with a system that,
by Oct. 3, a buyer would be in place," Pacers general manager
David Kahn said. "I don't know if there's anything in life that's
foolproof, but we feel very, very, very confident that everything
will work itself out." | |
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