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Ron Burkle, Billionaire, at Kings Game with Kevin Nagle and SRFC Front Office

Ron Burkle has the cash, but will he have the team?

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President Obama Welcomes NHL Champion Pittsburgh Penguins To The White House Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

During tonight’s thrilling Kings game against the Miami Heat, the Kings surrendered a 16 point lead late in the 4th quarter, only to come back with a last second clutch shot by De’Aaron Fox to send the game to overtime. Once overtime was reached, the entire Sacramento Kings starting five took part in a tough finish that resulted in a 123-119 Kings win. If you only paid attention to the game, which you probably did, you might have missed another amazing clutch finish for City of Sacramento.

If you can’t tell by the images above or their descriptions, the “some guy” that Carmichael Dave was referring to is none other than Ronald Burkle; Billionaire and part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. If you don’t know, Ron Burkle was once a lead investor in the current Sacramento Kings ownership group in 2013, when Kevin Johnson was trying to keep the team in town. However, he was blocked by the NBA to be a part of the ownership due to a conflict of interest.

It isn’t a coincidence that Ronald Burkle is surrounded by Kevin Nagle and what appears to be most of the Sacramento Republic FC front office. He could very well be the whale (or one of the whales) the Republic have been looking for to take over lead ownership, which would then make Sacramento the front-runner for the only currently available MLS slot. His involvement with Sacramento economics in the past definitely makes him a worthy candidate seeing as he was a huge piece in keeping the Kings in California’s capital city.

If what we assume is true, and Burkle ends up taking over as the Sacramento Republic majority owner, this is a huge win in regards to the MLS bid especially since Cincinatti FC is continuing to have problems of their own as they look for a prime location for their stadium. It would appear that Cincinatti FC’s stadium locations and their options are disappearing.

Let’s hope for that whale!!