Goodman invites Hornets to Vegas

Dan Kulin

Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman indicated Thursday he has had discussions about trying to bring the NBA's New Orleans Hornets to Las Vegas, but it was unclear who the mayor might be speaking with.

The Hornets are expected to need to play their home games outside the city, which like their arena was devastated by Hurricane Katrina over a week ago.

The mayor has long been very public with his desire to bring a professional sports team to Las Vegas, and the city recently landed the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, which some see as a potential step toward having a professional franchise call Las Vegas home.

When asked during his weekly press conference on Thursday whether he has spoken with anyone from the NBA or the Hornets since the hurricane swept through the Gulf Coast, Goodman said, "I would prefer not to discuss that."

But the mayor added that soon after the hurricane he had "a lot of people call me up and say this is the best time to get this team and get that team."

Goodman said he held back then.

"There was something unseemly about that. You just don't try to take advantage. I understand other people did.

"But then I was contacted by people, and I told them if we can come to some kind of accord and it's in everyone's best interest, we will continue that discussion."

The mayor refused to elaborate, but it appears any talks Goodman is involved in are separate from UNLV's offer to let the Hornets use the Thomas & Mack Center as the center's schedule permits.

Daren Libonati, Thomas & Mack executive director, said he e-mailed the NBA to offer the arena to the Hornets.

The Hornets could use the center on days without any scheduled UNLV or Las Vegas Gladiators games, he said.

The NBA's response was "thanks and we'll take it under consideration," he said.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said several different cities have come forward to offer a temporary home for the Hornets. But Frank would not say which cities have expressed an interest, or whether any NBA officials have spoken with Las Vegas officials.

"For now we're working with the Hornets on contingency plans," Frank said. "Right now we don't really know the state of the arena or how long it will take New Orleans to clean up.

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