<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Steve Belkin says he feels "a loss and a sadness with the start of the season." Michael Gearon Jr. says he "wouldn't change a thing that happened in our little soap opera." Bruce Levenson expresses "regret that we had to go through any of it" but emphasizes "had to." The three men, members of the group that bought the Hawks and Thrashers last year, are reflecting on the ownership battle this past summer that produced fierce rhetoric, legal action and, ultimately, a decision by Belkin to sell out to his partners. Tonight, the Hawks open their home season against the Lakers, and fallout from the bitter boardroom battle will be obvious in Philips Arena. Joe Johnson, the expensive player acquired in the trade that triggered the tempest, will be on the court. Gearon, Levenson and several other members of the nine-man Atlanta Spirit group will be in their courtside seats. Billy Knight, the general manager who dramatically refused to shake Belkin's hand in a Boston courtroom, will be in the building, too. Belkin might be watching on TV in Boston. The extraordinarily public feud, if not the hard feelings, essentially ended on Aug. 17, when Belkin agreed to sell his 30 percent stake to his partners at fair market value as determined by a series of appraisals. The appraisal process continues, and Belkin recently indicated it might be February before the transaction closes. Until then, he remains a Hawks-Thrashers owner --- but clearly a lame-duck owner. Already, his name, photo and bio have been removed from the teams' publications. Belkin declined to be interviewed until the sale of his stake is completed, but in an e-mail, he expressed emotion about entering the season in the process of exiting the group. "I am and probably always will be emotionally attached now to Atlanta, the Hawks and the Thrashers," Belkin said in the e-mail. "I feel a loss and a sadness with the start of the season. I watched the first Hawks game against Golden State and will watch most of the Hawks and Thrashers games. I might be attending some games. "I am still very involved in the teams and Philips Arena, as I am still the largest individual owner and have a lot of emotional attachment and a very significant financial interest." His soon-to-be-former partners expressed no emotion about the breakup. "The [ownership] calls are a lot shorter and a lot more cohesive," co-owner Rutherford Seydel said when asked how things have changed within the group since summer. "Everything that happened happened for a reason," Gearon said, "and I wouldn't change a thing that happened in our little soap opera. Because of all the publicity, the core issue became front and center: We have an ownership that is committed to the franchises, very committed." During the summer, several of the owners and Knight said Belkin's motive for opposing the Johnson trade was a desire to operate the franchises cheaply. Belkin denied that, saying he felt the Hawks were giving up too much --- two future first-round draft picks --- in the trade. In any case, since summer, Atlanta Spirit has signed basketball and hockey players to new long-term contracts totaling more than $150 million, including Johnson's $70 million deal. "We've spent as much money as reasonably possible," Seydel said. The early returns have not been good. The Hawks are 0-3 after a season-opening West Coast trip, and the Thrashers have only four wins in 14 games. The owners resisted preseason predictions for the youthful Hawks but had openly predicted a playoff berth for the Thrashers. "I am concerned," Levenson said of the Thrashers' poor start. "But . . . I think we have a terrific team, and I think we have a terrific coach, and I think that helps alleviate a certain amount of the concern and a lot of the anxiety one might expect if you sit back and think, 'God, they spent all this money, have all these expectations, and it doesn't appear to be working in the first go-round.' "I still think [the Thrashers] are going to be a really good team. If we're having this conversation six weeks from now, you'd probably hear a stronger word from me than 'concerned.' " </div> Source
