Kings See End of Lockout Being Key to Their Appeal

Upon learning that the NBA was on the verge Wednesday of ending the lockout, King President Tim Leiweke said he was ecstatic.

That probably wasn’t the reaction throughout the NHL, which saw a window of opportunity to expand its fan base slammed shut.

Although most teams sharing markets with the NBA reported attendance gains, the Kings and Mighty Ducks were not among them. The Ducks were down by more than 900 fans a game going into Wednesday night’s game at the Arrowhead Pond against Buffalo, while the Kings are about even.

“This marketplace is shrewd, not as passionate as others, and people aren’t going to come see us play just because we’re the only pro sport in town,” Leiweke said.

“Maybe they would in a smaller market like Denver, where there isn’t as much competition for the discretionary dollar. But there’s a lot of different ways here to spend money.

“The only way we might have taken advantage of the lockout is if we had won, and we didn’t do that for the first couple of months. Only now are we doing that.”

Leiweke said he considered an attempt to jump-start the team, or at least to create interest, by acquiring an established star such as Pavel Bure, Ziggy Palffy or Theo Fleury, but decided that a quick fix was no fix.

“I hope we will have a superstar in a Kings’ jersey in the future,” Leiweke said. “But I’m more convinced than ever before that the answer is to win long term. That’s the only way we’ll put 16,000 ravenous season-ticket holders into our arena.”

Meantime, that’s the Lakers’ job.

The Kings literally couldn’t afford for the NBA to shut down because they are 25% owners of the Lakers and partners in the $350-million Staples Center scheduled to open before next season.

“Their pain is our pain,” Leiweke said. “If the NBA had been locked out for the rest of the season and had continued to talk about replacement players, there would be a big black cloud hanging over that beautiful building downtown. That’s lifted now.”

*

The NBA can resume holding its breath. . . .

There’s another “drop-dead” date approaching, the day Michael Jordan decides whether he’s retiring. If he doesn’t come back, there’s less chance fans will in the near future. . . .

No one was happier about the end of the lockout than Marge Hearn. . . .

So says Chick Hearn, who hasn’t been around the house this much in 39 years. . . .

No one believes USC linebacker Chris Claiborne made a mistake by declaring for the NFL draft. Unless Indianapolis trades down, the Colts probably will take him with the fourth pick. . . .

There is, however, some doubt about UCLA offensive tackle Kris Farris. . . .

Scouts believe he could have improved his draft position with another year at UCLA. As it is, he’ll probably go late in the first round or early in the second. . . .

Oregon State’s Mike Riley, the San Diego Chargers’ apparent choice for head coach, has been compared to Mike Holmgren. . . .

Outside of Holmgren, the former USC offensive coordinator was the best choice of available candidates to groom Ryan Leaf. . . .

Did you notice that on the same day Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount were voted into the Hall of Fame, Pete Rose took a job as hitting instructor of the Sacramento Steelheads? . . .

Bud Selig is still reviewing 50 pages of documents submitted by Ted Williams and Bob Feller in their efforts to have the Hall of Fame ban lifted on “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. . . .

Although Jackson was implicated in the Black Sox scandal of 1919, he hit .375 and committed no errors during that World Series. . . .

If Mike Tyson can’t keep his cool during a teleconference with the media, what are his chances when he gets into the MGM Grand ring Jan. 16 with Francois Botha? . . .

“He’s getting into his fighting mood,” said his promoter, Dan Goossen. . . .

But Tyson delivered a nice eulogy for Jerry Quarry. . . .

“He is in the record books for putting up great fights with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,” Tyson said. “He never laid down and [always] gave it his best. . . . As a man, he put in his work for the boxing business.” . . .

Tyson added: “He had a lot of personal problems. Sometimes we become a victim of our personal problems.”

*

While wondering why NBA owners and players couldn’t have made this deal six months ago, I was thinking: Hardly anyone pays attention to pro basketball until after the Super Bowl anyway, Donald Sterling doesn’t have to pay a coach for at least 27 more days, I guess this means Karl Malone’s radio career is on hold.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com