NBA in Oklahoma City

[Dan Wishengrad]

Clay Bennett is a liar. Period. He had absolutely NO intention of ever keeping the Sonics in Seattle, and his deputy admitted this in a newspaper interview some months back. Bennett's group had an exit strategy based on deception and misdirection, and it has worked out perfectly.

When he bought the team and lied through his hat, saying he wanted a new arena for the team to play in, it was a brilliant ploy. He stated from day one that Key Arena (which had just been remodeled in 1997, by the way) would be unacceptable. Why? Good Sonics teams had always been successful and made money there, it's only the recent bad teams which failed to draw fans because of the inferior product that was trotted out on the floor. The answer is because by demanding a half-billion dollar new arena paid for exculsively by the taxpayers with none of his own funds committed, Bennett knew it would never have a chance in hell of being approved and built! He could then use this rejection as his justification for moving the team to his home town. I'm surprised he didn't demand a $600 trillion arena with 52-inch plasmas at every seat and hookers from the Emporer's Club to be provided to every player on road games. It was just a masquerade from day one, and David Stern was his willing accomplice.

The really funny thing is the local reaction here in Seattle, with all the idiots on talk radio blaming the legislature for failing to pass an emergency spending plan to build a new palace to keep the team here, as if Bennett would sell the team now that he has gotten what he wants -- which aint going to happen either. The fault was with Howard Schultz for selling the team to a liar who said publicly he wanted the team to remain in Seattle while privately working for the exact opposite thing.

I hope the courts don't allow Bennett to break the lease, that the team has to play here for two more years and that nobody buys a ticket and there is a boycott against attending the games. Then Mr. Bennett can lose millions and millions, getting what he truly deserves.

[PNWLaxer]

Clay Bennett is doing exactly what Micheal Heisley did with the Grizzly Franchise. Buy it from a wealthy guy who has had fun with a new toy but is now tired with it, John McCaw (Griz)/Howard Schultz (Sonics), knowing full well that you are going to move it to a new location that you have already chosen. Meanwhile put on a sob story about how you really want the franshise to succeed where it is, show the fans you really care even though you do not give a rat's behind etc etc.

I am pretty sure that the owner of the NO Hornets did the same thing when he bought the team when it was in Charlotte.

[KnoxVegas]

George Shinn has owned the Hornets since they entered the NBA. He wanted out of Charlotte because he had the last NBA arena built before the emphasis on luxury boxes and club level seating. Charlotte would have built a new arena provided Shinn sold the team. Shinn would not do this, so he moved to New Orleans. He was there two years years and grumbled the whole time about the city lying to him about guaranteed attendance levels.

Then Katrina happened and he used that disaster to try to get out of his lease and move to yet another market. David Stern said no and told him to finish out his lease.

[whitcd]

Clay Bennett is a liar. Period. He had absolutely NO intention of ever keeping the Sonics in Seattle, and his deputy admitted this in a newspaper interview some months back. Bennett's group had an exit strategy based on deception and misdirection, and it has worked out perfectly

Sounds a lot when the North Stars left.

[Kyle Berggren]

Bye Sonics... Enjoy Durant in Oklahoma. Key Arena isn't exactly the easiest thing to get to Downtown... Nothing like driving an hour to the game, taking the exit & driving an hour 2 miles to the Arena.... to watch a team struggle & allow 168 points in a game (wish I was there for that... so bad it's fun to watch).

Overall it's still terrible for the city & the business that surround the soon to be nearly useless Arena. The $150 million is too late, not that they had any intention of keeping the team in town, it's too late. Don't go to the games, support the Hawks & the Huskies, hope Stern allows New Orleans to make the move up here at best... Don't allow them out of the lease, keep the businesses strong for the next few years, & get a strategy on how to keep that part of town from dropping off to non-existent or turning into a slum... like Detroit.

[OklahomaLax45]

There's been a lot of people actually sayin the "Bombers" or the "stealth" b/c OKC played a vital part in the development of the B-2 Bomber...But yea, kinda still too soon. There's actually a suburb high school with the mascot called the "bombers"

I know OKC is looking forward to the team. When we had the hornets people freaked out and threw their money at them almost without regard to anything else. not much to do in the state but watch the Sooners (which is pretty cool too...no bias or anything) Area the arena is in is a very nice part of the City as well. development of the Bricktown area has been a push for the past few years and has really made it a big attraction in the state. Recently passed a 1 cent sales tax to improve the local arena as well to make Oklahoma City the next "Big League City" on the map.

Not sure mileage or time wise what the closest pro team will be to Ok City

closest Pro team to OKC...We have minor league hockey and minor league arena football in OKC and Tulsa, AAA baseball in OKC and AA in Tulsa. Other then that, closest Pro teams would be in Kansas City or Dallas

[Jana]

Not good when teams get moved around, they lose their roots and history is a beautiful thing.

That said, Seattle has become a fairweather town. In the "old days" Seattle was as shabby blue collar town, pro union, Boeing employer. The fans of the sports teams were as loyal as the Cheeseheads are to the Green Bay Packers. People back then just were not as into cyling, mountain climbing and other "active" hobbies, instead they were fans of sports on the weekends. They also have more choices on cable to watch other sports, other than the Sonics.

I will say that Seahawks fans are more loyal than others, the team's move to LA was purely the owner (Ken Behring) wanting to move the team closer to his home, and also to a market that he felt could generate bigger income for the Seahawk organization. If the fans didn't care, the hue and cry that followed would not have happened, and the move back to Seattle would not have happened.

But now only 1 in 5 Seattleites was even born in this state, so far fewer are loyal to the local teams. The cost of tickets has risen - especially for NBA tickets. But there was a huge loss of faith in the late 1990's. I think the article on Shawn Kemp and his 9 kids with 8 women was a big part of that. I followed the team up until then, the play off runs in the mid-1990s with hometown hero and workaholic Detlef Schrempf caught the public's fancy.

But the increase in salaries, the allegations of various criminal actions, an accusation of rape of a player's nanny -- all of that pretty much ended my enjoyment as a fan. Nationwide, I just didn't like the direction the NBA was taking - the press emphasis on Dennis Rodman, etc.

But I still remember as a young kid, my parents celebrating the night the Sonics won it all in 1979. The whole neighborhood held a block party.

If the community doesn't buy enough tickets (which they don't, and I won't), then let them go to Oklahoma. Let the Okies build a half billion dollar home court and pay the high ticket prices. I think Seattle might do just fine with out the Sonics. The neighboring restaurants would suffer, a few hundred local employees will be laid off too.

[JW]

Clay Bennett is a liar. Period. He had absolutely NO intention of ever keeping the Sonics in Seattle, and his deputy admitted this in a newspaper interview some months back. Bennett's group had an exit strategy based on deception and misdirection, and it has worked out perfectly

Sounds a lot when the North Stars left.

And we in Dallas could not be happier. Stanley Cup win in 99 and have had the pleasure of watching a great player in Mike Modano for the last 15 years.

[BB]

Don't make me mad and bring up Norm Greed.

Pro Basketball is worthless game. It is not a team game, it is boring. The league is going to really struggle in coming years. College is great but it just gets terrible at the pro level.

[LaxRef]

If the community doesn't buy enough tickets (which they don't, and I won't), then let them go to Oklahoma. Let the Okies build a half billion dollar home court and pay the high ticket prices.

I am just not in favor of building stadiums and arenas with public money so billionaires can become richer. You want to leave town? Go ahead. Most of the reports that talk about the economic impact of the team to the city assume that people will take their season ticket money and burn it if there's no team, when in fact they'll spend their entertainment dollars elsewhere.

If a city truly needs an arena or a stadium for a public interest beyond an NFL or NBA team (e.g., it's used for the college team, high school playoffs, concerts, rented to sports groups, etc.), build it. But don't build a new one ten years later because the pro team "can't compete" or "can't make enough money without new luxury suites." Screw 'em. Once that stadium is built, you'd better be happy with it until it falls down. Either that or make sure the screen door doesn't hit you on the butt on the way out.

[/rant]

[FLAK]

Pro Basketball is worthless game. It is not a team game, it is boring. The league is going to really struggle in coming years. College is great but it just gets terrible at the pro level.

Tell that to ESPN and you'll have Skip Bayless (Worth-less IMO) spitting while he blasts your "ignorance", and while your at it PLEAD with ESPN to bring back NHL 2Night and broadcast NHL games to the masses so we don't have to put up with the same alley-oop highlights every friggin' night...

[JW]

Pro Basketball is worthless game. It is not a team game, it is boring. The league is going to really struggle in coming years. College is great but it just gets terrible at the pro level.

Tell that to ESPN and you'll have Skip Bayless (Worth-less IMO) spitting while he blasts your "ignorance", and while your at it PLEAD with ESPN to bring back NHL 2Night and broadcast NHL games to the masses so we don't have to put up with the same alley-oop highlights every friggin' night...

I disagree that Pro ball is worthless, but agree that Skip is worthless.

Proball is a team game, but where you have stars like Kobe, Lebron, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Paul, the game moves through these players, but it's not a bad game just a different game. Now that players like Durant, Oden, Beasley, Love, and others have to go to college a year, it just makes them more refined players. Making the game more exciting.

That said, the game is no where near where it was in the 80's and 90's when you had the Lakers-Celtics and Bulls-Pistons rivalries.

[TheBearcatHimself]

I live on the eastside and I'm sick of paying for everything I'll never use in Seattle, including stadiums for horrible football and baseball teams.

Let them go.

So my question is what happens when the new OKC Sonics need a new stadium in ten years and the people in Tulsa are really uppity and pissed because they are "sick of paying for everything I'll never use"?

The real question is can a franchise even survive in OKC for ten years?? Yeah there were people that showed up for the Hornets games but it was the cool new thing, what happens when they play like....the Sonics? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy to say that fans won't support bad teams, OF COURSE THEY WON'T. Just like they won't support bad owners. Good luck supporting a professional sports team OKC, logic and population density says you can't

Also, for everyone blaming Seattle fans for not "stepping up" you need to realize that at the beginning of this decade they passed two separate hundred million dollar levies to pay for the brand new state of the art Safeco Field and Seahawks Stadium which are two of the nicest facilities in Pro Sports period. Is it really their fault that they would like to find a cheaper solution after they have already put the financial burden on people in Spokane, and Walla Walla, and Bellingham, and Vancouver, who are "sick of paying for everything I'll never use"??

[ZagGrad]

I wouldn't care if the Seahawks or Mariners were good, I still wouldn't want to pay for any of their stadiums. My heritage is in Pittsburgh. I could care less about any pro team in Seattle (lacrosse included, sadly).

[TheBearcatHimself]

I wouldn't care if the Seahawks or Mariners were good, I still wouldn't want to pay for any of their stadiums.

That's my point exactly: What happens when the people in Tulsa or Stillwater or Enid don't want to pay for a new Sonics stadium?? Now it might not be next year, but that day will come. I also think the day that people don't show up to games will come sooner. OKC is a Triple-A ball town and always will be. You can't make a metropolis out of an outpost just by putting a team there.

Also, I would argue that the Mariners and Seahawks are good, but we're splitting hairs there...