First the denials came from Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson via the AJC that the Sports Illustrated story from two sources in the NBA's office who said that a sale of the basketball team to an unidentified party was "about to be consummated."
Now the rest of the media gets a press release.
Unfortunately, Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers fans, any dreams that the Atlanta Spirit -- an ownership group that ranked 121st out of 121 for honesty in an ESPN poll as owners of the Thrashers and 101st as owners of the Hawks-- were getting out of Atlanta sport fans' hair in the immediate future seems is not going to come to immediate fruition.
The statement reads as follows:
"As we have stated for an extended period of time, we engaged an investment banker to assist us in looking for investors for the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena operating rights. We have spoken with a number of parties, but at this time, there is no deal in place, nor is there an exclusive negotiating agreement in place. We will have no further comment at this time."
Sorry folks, that Atlanta Spirit/Hawks nightmare continues possibly even through the NBA lockout and beyond. That is, if the Spirit is smart enough to buy low and sell high. Then again it is the "deal with it" Atlanta Spirit we're talking about here.