Hornets Owner: New Orleans Investors In The Lead

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Hornets owner George Shinn says that a group of New Orleans-based investors are front-runners for gaining a minority share of the NBA team. <br/><br/>During a visit to New Orleans Wednesday,

Thursday, July 20th 2006, 4:48 am

By: News On 6

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Hornets owner George Shinn says that a group of New Orleans-based investors are front-runners for gaining a minority share of the NBA team.

During a visit to New Orleans Wednesday, Shinn did not reveal how many other competing investors there are for his team, which is preparing to spend its second season in Oklahoma City.

But he says there remain people in Oklahoma City who are interested in buying into the Hornets, even after another Oklahoma group led by Clay Bennett bought the Seattle SuperSonics Tuesday.

Bennett led a group that at one time pushed seriously to buy a majority stake in the Hornets. Shinn, however, has refused to sell more than 49 percent.

Bennett has said he would not seek to move the Sonics for at least a year while he attempts to negotiate a deal with Seattle and the state of Washington for a new arena and a more favorable lease.

Shinn says the Sonics' sale had little impact on the Hornets' plans since he always intended to return the team to New Orleans, barring another natural disaster there.