This may not be fanshot-worthy, but what the hey, it's interesting. The Atlanta Hawks sale to LA pizza magnate Alex Meruelo, which had been contingent on NBA approval, has been called off. ------------------ "The approval process bogged down after the NBA required economic conditions that were not part of Meruelo's original deal. The NBA's stance was believed to be similar to that the league took when Atlanta Spirit bought the Hawks, as well as the Thrashers, from Time Warner in 2004. At that time, the NBA and NHL approved the transaction only after several Spirit partners agreed to make personal guarantees of tens of millions of dollars to ensure sufficient liquidity to fund the money-losing teams' operations going forward." ----------------- Meruelo's statement noted that the two parties "were not able to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement on some key issues given the current uncertainty surrounding the labor issue."