Coach George Karl took owner Herb Kohl and his financial advisers to lunch at a downtown restaurant Saturday in an effort to convince the senator of the need to sign free-agent forward Anthony Mason.

"Philosophically, I agree that a small-market team should not pay the tax," Karl said Saturday. "But this opportunity doesn't come along every day. He's an all-star who wants to come to Milwaukee and play for your team, and you can get him for a very low price.

"I don't get into the business sense and how much money we lost last year. I don't want to take time studying that stuff. I just want to make sure the senator knows that he's a very good player and he fits with our basketball team very, very well."