Sonic-less in Seattle
Posted by SK, July 10, 2008 - 8:45 am
It’s been a few days since the legal system finally caved in and gave Clay Bennett and company the permission to leave Seattle without professional basketball. I have to believe that it doesn’t hurt any less. The last court the Sonics played in was, unfortunately, a legal court and not a basketball court.
For me, the memory of the NBA’s greatest season in recent history will always be marred by the drama surrounding the theft of Seattle’s basketball team. And how the commissioner’s office stood by and did nothing about it. And I’m not even a Sonics fan. I can’t even imagine how they’re feeling.
For those who haven’t been following, let me offer this brief timeline to summarize:
Nov. 4, 1995: Sonics play their first game at KeyArena. NBA commissioner David Stern attends the game and says that KeyArena “is very special to me,” and that everyone in Seattle should be proud of the “beautiful building.”
2005-2006: The New Orleans Hornets, relocated by Hurricane Katrina, play half their home games in Oklahoma City, which develops a taste for NBA hoops.
July 18, 2006: Clay Bennett and a group of Oklahoma businessmen buy the Sonics from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz for $350 million, pledging a “good-faith” effort to keep the team in Seattle.
April 2007: The state Legislature rejects the Sonics’ proposal to build a $500 million arena in Renton, paid for mostly with an extension of taxes currently paying off Safeco and Qwest fields. In response, Bennett threatens to relocate the Sonics.
August 2007: Sonics part-owner Aubrey McClendon confirms the suspicions of many Sonics fans when he tells an Oklahoma newspaper, “We didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here.” The NBA later fined McClendon $250,000 for the remark.
Sept. 10, 2007: The Seattle City Council votes 8-0 to strictly enforce the Sonics’ KeyArena lease, rejecting any early buyout.
Sept. 21, 2007: Sonics owners file for arbitration on KeyArena, seeking approval to pay a cash settlement instead of playing out the final two years on the team’s lease.
Sept. 24, 2007: Seattle files a lawsuit seeking to hold the Sonics to their KeyArena lease through 2010.
Nov. 2, 2007: Bennett announces he is seeking NBA permission to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City.
April 18, 2008: NBA approves the Sonics’ move to Oklahoma City.
June 16-26, 2008: U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman listens to testimony during a six-day bench trial to settle the issue of the Sonics’ lease.
July 2, 2008: The Sonics owners reach an agreement with the city, buying out the last two years of the lease at KeyArena for $45 million. The team will play in Oklahoma City next season. The Sonics logo and team history are, for all intents and purposes, dead.
And that’s what it must feel like for Sonics fans this week. The untimely death of a loved one feels like their soul has been stolen from you. And the Sonics were soul of Seattle, the city’s first and most successul pro sports franchise. This is the ugly side of sports as a big business.
Meanwhile, David Stern showed his true colors. Merely a dozen years after calling Key Arena something “to be proud of”, he supported Clay Bennett holding the city hostage for a new arena, and granted him permission to leave when they didn’t pony up the cash. Forget John Gotti, David Stern is the most successful mafia don of our time - with his arena extortion rackets and gambling referees it’s a wonder more people around him haven’t been whacked.
I’m ashamed of the league I love for treating its fans so poorly. Who knows which team is going to be held hostage next? It could be yours.
The NBA: Where dicking over a loyal fanbase happens.
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To be fair, it’s also a little hypocritical for the taxpayers of Seattle to pony up for the Mariners and Seahawks, but then turn around and decide they’re not financing a new arena for the Sonics.
That is true, but Key Arena was state of the art 12 years ago, as per even David Stern. The Kingdome (where the Mariners and Seahawks were playing) was a much older facility that was much more in need of repair/replacement.
Yeah man. The arena was built TWELVE years ago and it’s outdated already? Lamest excuse ever.
nice work, man
nice work, brother