John Reid of The Times-Picayune is reporting that Hornets owner Ray Wooldridge is disputing a report in the Charlotte Observer Wednesday that indicated that the organization had exaggerated the number of premium seats it has sold in New Orleans.

While the Observer stated that "the team failed to reach the goal of 2,400 club seats -- the most expensive individual tickets in the New Orleans Arena, and a key number the NBA has looked at all along" the Hornets announced that they had in fact recorded sales of 2,538 club seats, 55 suites, 8,121 season tickets and six sponsorships.  The requirement was 2,400 club seats, 54 suites, 8,000 regular-season tickets, six corporate sponsorships and reach an agreement on local broadcast rights.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said Tuesday that he is inclined to support the Hornets move to New Orleans, but the team needs to sell more tickets and ?button up? the details of some of the sales.  But what exactly do they need to button up?

"It would be inappropriate for us to say exactly what we need to button up based on the fact that David Stern didn't make it public at the meetings," Alex Martins, the team's director of business operations in New Orleans said.

"It's all paperwork that they must complete," said MetroVision chairman Bill Hines, who has helped in the team's effort to sell season tickets by encouraging businesses to buy suites and club seats. "In 99 percent of the cases, they were able to get credit card numbers or (cash) deposits, but a few they may not been able to get . . . because of the rush of the deadline."

According to a league source the NBA is only supporting the move because it has no real alternative.  

"There's no financing plan in Charlotte. There's no arena plan in place," the source said. "If you have to make a Charlotte-New Orleans decision, it seems in the short run, the Hornets would be better off in New Orleans."

However, should the Hornets leave the league states that Charlotte may still get another team, sparking the first time the league said it would consider domestic expansion in the future.

"We talked about a number of possible scenarios," Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said, referring to a discussion between himself and Wednesday morning.

The NBA hopes to have a recommendation from the relocation committee in about two weeks, with a phone vote by the owners a week after that.  If you listen to Wooldridge there may not need to be a vote.

"This team will be playing in New Orleans next season," Wooldridge said, "because our checklist is almost complete."