Belkin files suit against co-owners Wounded Spirit: Partner ousted as Hawks' NBA governor returns to court, says he was short-changed in attempts to buy out his share Home Edition

• Published in: The Atlanta journal-constitution (2001)
• Main Author: Tim Tucker, Bob Kemper
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Atlanta, Ga Atlanta Journal Constitution, LLC 07.01.2006
• Subjects: Atlanta Hawks; Belkin, Steven; Litigation; Professional basketball; Sports team owners
• ISSN: 1539-7459

In that highly publicized case, a judge ultimately allowed [Steve Belkin]'s partners to replace him as the Hawks' NBA governor, clearing the way for a controversial trade that Belkin had opposed for guard Joe Johnson. Belkin then agreed to sell his stake in the teams to his partners for a price to be set by up to three appraisals. Belkin began this round of the legal war with a complaint filed Nov. 22. His partners answered Dec. 14, saying that the first appraisal was "breathtakingly generous" by a firm "handpicked" by Belkin and that Belkin "now seeks to . . . hijack the appraisal process" and take "sole authority" for selecting the appraisers. In the December filing, the defendants denied Belkin's allegation that they "threatened, harassed or otherwise sought to unfairly influence" Citigroup's appraisal. "In fact ... it was Belkin that sought unfairly to influence Citigroup's appraisal," the defendants said.