NBA commish expresses confidence in Atlanta Spirit

ATLANTA -- NBA Commissioner David Stern expressed confidence in the owners of the Atlanta Hawks, saying they are "way down my list of current worries."

The group known as Atlanta Spirit already sold its NHL team, which moved to Winnipeg, and had an agreement to sell the Hawks to California businessman Alex Meruelo. But that deal fell through and the Spirit took the Hawks off the market.

That's just fine with Stern, who's in Atlanta for Wednesday night's game against Indiana. He says the Spirit is committed to bringing a championship team to Atlanta and boosted its financial resources by selling the Thrashers hockey team.

Stern says the new collective bargaining agreement with the players and enhanced revenue sharing among owners will help lower-revenue teams such as the Hawks.