King balks at Mets talk

King said the notion of owning the Mets began as a simple phone call but quickly grew into a media swirl. He said that on Saturday morning, he received a call from Larry Meli, a longtime television executive and friend, who introduced the idea.

“He asked me if I would want to be part of the ownership of a National League baseball team,” King said. “I told him that it was something I would need to explore.”

King said he would join a group that would include Meli, former Met great Ed Kranepool and Donn Clendenon Jr., whose father starred for Morehouse College before playing three seasons for the Mets.

On Saturday night while he was enjoying the Trumpet Awards, King said Meli called him again and asked if he would be interested in talking to the media, “to say that I was interested and part of a group of others who have aspirations.”

King declined to talk to the media, but Meli told The New York Post that the “time and place are right” for an African-American team owner.

The story was picked up by several media outlets, some of which reported that King was leading a group of investors.

“Larry gave a lot of information that led to the impression that I was leading an effort,” King said. “First, that is not accurate. What is accurate is that there has been a discussion. But there is no deal on the table and I am not leading an effort.”

Meli could not be reached Monday, but he told The New York Times, “I didn’t say anything that I didn’t talk to Martin about, but on the other hand it’s gotten a life of its own in a little bit of a different way that I’d like to fix."

King said that a deal to be part of the group to purchase the Mets is not “off the table,” but he is still trying to grasp the possibilities.

“I am still in the exploratory phase,” King said.

Last week, Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon announced that the club might have to consider selling about 25 percent of the team because of hundreds of millions of dollars in potential losses tied to litigation surrounding the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.

The Mets are worth an estimated $858 million, according to the last valuations by Forbes magazine, meaning that a buyer seeking a quarter interest would have to come up with about $215 million.

“Whether or not Atlanta believes this or not, I am not wealthy,” King said.

He added that he does want to see professional sports open their ranks to more diversity in ownership.

“I want to use my voice as the son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King to make sure that diversity is on the table,” King said. “We have made little progress on that front.”

King said his primary goal right now is to focus on his wife and daughter and raise money for the King Center.

“Like all non-profit organizations, we are challenged right now,” King said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”