ABA chief executive officer Joe Newman released a letter of apology to the Dream and their fans Tuesday. He focused mostly on the Washington Raptors' decision not to come to Anchorage for games Monday and Tuesday at Sullivan Arena, a cancellation that cost Davis more than $20,000.
Newman said he also expects the Dream to return to the court in 2009.
"The Alaska Dream will take a short break to re-coup and will begin a full season of play beginning January 1st," Newman said in an e-mail sent to Alaska media outlets. "The ABA will be doing a series of things to show how important the Alaska Dream, the state, the city, the fans, the media and everyone there are to the ABA."
Newman's e-mail included a vague promise to avoid future cancellations.
"We cannot undo what has been done," he wrote. "We can put in safeguards to be sure it does not happen again."
Newman didn't detail the kinds of safeguards he plans to create, nor did he respond to an e-mail asking for details.
But it was enough to persuade Davis to stick with the league -- something he didn't sound eager to do Monday, when Davis announced this week's game cancellations.
"We're examining other leagues now," he said at an afternoon press conference. One idea, he said at the time, was an in-state league with teams in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai and the Valley.
"We are still part of the ABA," Davis said in a Tuesday e-mail. "I don't know what those safeguard(s) will be yet.
"We are expecting them to honor their commitment to eliminate the situation that happened."
Davis, who quit his job at the Boys and Girls Club in October to run the Dream full time, said in an e-mail to Newman that he spent $10,235 for a dozen airline tickets and $12,000 to rent Sullivan Arena for the two-game series with Washington.
The Dream have six home series scheduled at Sullivan Arena from January through early March. The first series is Jan. 5-6 against the Modesto Bearcats.
In an e-mail, Davis said he's already making plans for the first game of the series. He says admission will be free.
"We hope to show our home crowd that this was an unfortunate incident, but we are Alaska's team and we can make it through the negative and make something everyone can be proud of," he wrote.
As for Newman, he ended his e-mail with a promise to Alaska fans: "We will not let you down again," he wrote.
Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.