Newly minted owner Michael Gearon Jr. looked out into the crowd and thanked Hawks forward Alan Henderson, center Theo Ratliff and forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim at the news conference announcing the sale of their team, the Thrashers and operating rights to Philips Arena to eight individuals.

The players were among a number of Hawks and Thrashers who attended, and their reactions ranged from relief to excitement, depending on the circumstances of their team.

Don Waddell has served as Thrashers general manager since the franchise first began playing in 1999, and the stewardship of the hockey team has largely gone unaffected.

However, since Lon Kruger was fired as Hawks coach on Dec. 26 and Pete Babcock was fired as Hawks general manager toward the end of last season, the basketball franchise appears to have been paralyzed by the impending sale.

Terry Stotts retained the job as coach in large part because of the delay in the sale. More recently, point guard Jason Terry's contract status had been uncertain.

Ratliff said he has played under visible owners, including Pat Croce with the 76ers, in the past and prefers that to the corporate model.

"I know I am excited and the players are excited to finally get this thing done," he said. "[The owners] seem very hands-on, and they've been in the position of trying to get ownership before, so they were hungry for it and they saw the opportunity and they jumped at it."