Three cities vying to be Hornets' home
Charlotte, N.C. The battle over where the Charlotte Hornets will play next season is heating up, with three cities making active plays for the team.
The mayor of Charlotte said Wednesday the city will continue trying to find a way to build a new arena despite reports that the Hornets are close to filing for relocation.
"We firmly believe that the city of Charlotte is still the best place for the Hornets and the facts prove that," Mayor Pat McCrory said while attending Wednesday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks.
"The NBA and Charlotte are a good fit."
But New Orleans and Louisville are also in the hunt and all co-owner Ray Wooldridge will say is he'll have a decision at the end of the month.
The Charlotte Observer reported that co-owner Ray Wooldridge is expected to file with the NBA to relocate within two weeks and that New Orleans is the expected destination.
Hawks activate Ratliff; Kukoc on injured list
Atlanta The Atlanta Hawks activated center Theo Ratliff on Thursday and placed forward Toni Kukoc on the injured list because of a fractured right wrist.
Ratliff has missed 32 games this season with a hip injury. He and Kukoc came to the Hawks last season in a trade that sent Dikembe Mutombo to Philadelphia.
New NBA TV deals near $700 million a year
New York The NBA's new TV packages with ABC, ESPN and AOL Time Warner will be worth a total of about $700 million per year, two industry sources told the Associated Press on Thursday.
That tops the $660 million the league pulled in annually for its TV rights under the four-year, $2.64 billion deals with NBC and Turner Sports that expire after this season.
The new deals are close to being completed, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The ABC-ESPN portion of the package would be for about $400 million per season, probably for six years.
Turner's deal, which includes putting the NBA All-Star game on cable for the first time, was said to be worth nearly $300 million annually for six years.
McMillan to miss game
Seattle SuperSonics coach Nate McMillan will miss tonight's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers to visit his mother, who is sick in Raleigh, N.C. Assistant Dwane Casey will coach the Sonics against the Cavaliers.
Walker not seriously hurt
Boston An MRI exam performed Thursday on Boston Celtics forward Antoine Walker's right knee showed no significant damage. Walker twisted his right knee in the first half of Wednesday night's 93-90 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He continued to play and finished with 21 points.
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