ORLANDO, Fla. – They're still talking. They're still meeting. They're still trying.

They're still here.

Long before the talks broke up about 10 p.m. EST Sunday, set to reconvene this morning, two developments suggested all the participants are aggressively, emotionally and intensely engaged in the arena negotiations with Thursday's deadline looming.

1) NBA Commissioner David Stern, who left the hotel where the talks were being held to attend the All-Star Game at Amway Center, planned to rejoin the session into the wee hours, if necessary.

2) Joe, Gavin and George Maloof went hours without a meal.

Stern's affinity for the Kings and Sacramento have been obvious for years. He likes the community, is protective of the market and has been expending tremendous energy and time to facilitate a deal.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Stern's point man of late in the latest arena incarnation, has been at his side.

But the Maloofs? Specifically, younger brother George?

George Maloof, who directed the team's threatened relocation last April, remains the most skeptical of the siblings. He is the brother who develops projects, he says, which causes him to be more cautious. And true to his nature, during a quick late-afternoon break, he looked like a nearby Disney character – Grumpy.

If body language could talk, his was screaming for a high-speed train away from the railyards. Late Sunday night, he said only, "There are a lot of issues we have to get into."

George had hoped for a short afternoon session and a flight back home to Las Vegas. Instead, he sat with his brothers through roughly seven hours of formal discussions, preceded by two to three hours of meetings with Kings officials, and is coming back for more.

"We're encouraged," Stern said late Sunday night. "My guys (the Maloofs) think Sacramento wants them to stay and they want to be there. We're trying to find a way to make that happen. Everybody worked really hard today, and we're meeting again in the morning. That's a good thing."

The public-private partnership in this deal involves a million moving parts and $387 million. The already wild ride – this decades-plus journey toward a new sports and entertainment facility – became particularly crazy Sunday.

The scene inside the five-star resort on the massive Disney World property was interesting, revealing, fluid, occasionally even comical.

Reporters from Sacramento began hunkering down in the lobby bar/restaurant around noon. Down the hallway and one short elevator flight below, the parties met in several adjoining conference rooms, in large and small groups.

Stern was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver and league attorneys Joel Litvin and Harvey Benjamin, among others. The Maloofs were joined by Kings finance guru John Rinehart. Johnson led a Sacramento contingent that included City Manager John Shirey, Assistant City Manager John Dangberg and consultant Chris Lehane.

At various times throughout the discussions, some of the participants walked up the stairs and tried to hurry past the dozen or so reporters. The mayor twice stopped and chatted briefly, as did Lehane and Stern, who was returning to the hotel when the meeting broke up.

But the Maloofs, who went in search of something to eat around 5:30, found themselves trapped inside the gift shop by the Sacramento press corps. As George handed out $36 worth of chips, boxes of chocolates and bottles of soda to his brothers, the cameras catching all the action, Gavin turned to the familiar faces.

"You want something to eat?" he asked, laughing.

Joe grinned and held up his credit card.

Though they had been advised not to say anything, as usual, they couldn't resist.

That railyard project is a two-way street. Sac wants them. Do they want Sac?

"Yes, yes, absolutely," Joe told a television reporter. "We've been here 14 years. We love Sacramento. We really want this to work."

And on and on it went. Sightings for bathroom breaks. The commissioner leaving for the game – contrary to rumors, not in a helicopter – and checking text updates from Litvin during timeouts. Johnson canceling his 6 a.m. flight today. The Maloofs booking another night of hotel rooms and taking a long, private stroll around the massive pool area before driving to dinner.

"We're trying, we're trying," Joe said. "But I can't say anything … "

ON PAGE A1

Sacramento arena talks resume today after city representatives, the NBA and Maloof family failed to reach a deal Sunday.

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