The inflated loss estimates make NBA owners look less wealthy than they really are, and serve a dual purpose as a bargainingstrategy and public relations ploy.
"They appear to have asserted themselves in a strategy that will give them a greater bargaining strength in their home state where power has centered around specific castes, " said columnist Jaspal Singh Sidhu.
But they also recognised that Mr Icahn really did lack an alternative strategy, and that he had, by saying as much, frittered away any remaining bargaining clout with Microsoft.