In a wild day of behind the scenes activity, the Sacramento arena deal hit a major snag Thursday, then was rescued late in the day by National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern.

Hours after the Kings’ team owners said they do not believe they should pay a $3.26 million share to help launch arena pre-development work, Stern told The Bee in a statement the league itself will step in to advance the initial payments. A source close to the negotiations but not authorized to speak said those payments total about $200,000.

“Following the agreement in principle … the parties have been attempting to reach agreement on funding the pre-development expenses that must be incurred in order for the project to move forward in a timely fashion,” Stern said. “Those discussions have stalled, but I have advised Mayor Johnson that the NBA will advance pre-development expenses on behalf of the Kings pending our report to the Board of Governors at its meeting on April 12-13.”

via Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee