National Basketball Association

Atlanta Spirit says it has no plans to move teams

Published Jun. 18, 2010 8:47 p.m. ET

foxsports

The owners of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and NHL's Atlanta Thrashers say they continue to look for minority partners and have no plans to sell or move either team.

There have been persistent reports that the Atlanta Spirit ownership group is strapped financially and may be looking to sell one or both teams. The latest report was in Friday's New York Post. The group also owns the operating rights to Philips Arena.

Atlanta Spirit principals Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon released a statement saying they have hired a firm to help in the search for minority investors but remain committed to both teams, the arena and the city of Atlanta. Their statement says ``we have no plans to move either team.''