Mayor vows regional effort to keep Kings

SACRAMENTO, April 19 (UPI) -- Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday he's teaming with regional leaders in a bid to keep the NBA's Kings from moving to Anaheim.

Johnson, who met with the league's Board of Governors last week, said his effort to team up with political leaders across a six-county Northern California region is meant to show the city isn't alone in wanting to keep the Kings, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Previous attempts led by the city to build a replacement for aging Arco Arena have failed, but with regional help "it will be different this time," Johnson said.

"[The NBA] is going to want to know what's different this time than the previous times when we've tried to do a new entertainment and sports complex and failed, and I think there's a political will and leadership," he told the Bee.

The league extended a deadline until May 2 for Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof to make a formal request to move the team to Anaheim's Honda Center after Johnson's presentation.

The chairman of the NBA board's relocation committee will be in Sacramento Thursday to get an update on progress toward a new arena, the newspaper said.