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China investors in deal for stake in NBA Cavaliers

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-25 09:11

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert has signed an agreement to sell a minority stake in the National Basketball Association team and its arena to a group of Chinese investors.

A Chinese group led by Huang JianHua, a Chinese businessman known as Ken Huang who has a reputation for linking US and Chinese companies, is in position to obtain up to 15 percent of the Cavaliers.

The deal must still be approved by league owners but Len Komoroski, the Cavaliers' team president, said Sunday the team was approached by the Chinese group and called the venture "an exciting new opportunity."

Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James (L) celebrates sinking the game winning basket against the Orlando Magic with teammate Sasha Pavlovic (R) during Game 2 of their NBA Eastern Conference final basketball playoff game in Cleveland, Ohio, May 22, 2009. [Agencies]

The deal could supply enough funding to ensure the Cavaliers can keep superstar LeBron James, the NBA Most Valuable Player who could become a free agent in 2010, and build a top team around him.

Huang and other investors attended Cavaliers' Eastern Conference playoff games in Cleveland this past week, watching James sink a dramatic 3-point shot at the buzzer to even the best-of-seven series with Orlando at one win each.

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While James has praised his hometown area and said he would like to stay in Cleveland, the New York Knicks and several other teams were expected to make attempts to lure him away with rich deals.

The NBA has made many deals in China, the homeland of Houston Rockets star center Yao Ming and a place where the league has a passionate fan base, and tight Chinese links to James and the Cavaliers would be likely under the deal.

"You have to think globally," James said recently of his business interests. "I have a lot of fans in China, and they're important to me."

James has made four trips to China, including with the US gold medal basketball team last year and with the Cavaliers for 2007 pre-season games, and could be in a position to pass Kobe Bryant as China's favorite US NBA star.

Huang, a Guangzhou native who went to college in New York and is a partner in Sportscorp China, has worked deals with Chinese sponsors with the Rockets, USA Basketball and baseball's New York Yankees.

Gilbert bought the Cavaliers and the arena for $375 million in 2005 and will spend more than $100 million in salary this season, part of the reason the club is thought to be losing money despite its great success.