More Sonics developments
The Seattle Times is reporting that the NBA worried last year that the Sonics Oklahoma owners may have violated their good faith promise to secure an arena deal in the Seattle area.
The Tacoma News Tribune is reporting that the same judge presiding over the case between the Sonics and city of Seattle will now preside over the case between the Sonics and Howard Schultz.
Also, Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the city is nowhere close to negotiating with the Sonics on a settlement. That of course counters growing sentiments from other Seattle politicians and key players in the case who earlier this week expressed a desire to take a settlement under the right circumstances.
Here’s a good video some Sonics fans in Seattle put together on the night the Sonics arrived back in Seattle following their season finale at Golden State. It’s 5 minutes, 35 seconds and worth checking out…..
And finally, Eric Musselman, the former coach of the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, waxed poetic about NBA fans in OKC on his blog which can be found here.
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Interpreting Schultz’s lawsuit
Lester Munson, a man of many hats but namely a Chicago lawyer and a senior writer for ESPN.com, answered some questions about former Sonics owner Howard Schultz’s lawsuit against the current Oklahoma group. In this Q&A on ESPN.com, Munson says Schultz has a chance to rescind the 2006 sale.
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Schultz files lawsuit
We just learned that attorneys for former Sonics owner Howard Schultz today filed the expected lawsuit against the current Oklahoma-based ownership group. Schultz is claiming the Oklahoma owners did not act in good faith when trying to secure a new arena deal to replace KeyArena in Seattle, and he is attempting to rescind the July 2006 sale in order to get the team back.
Meanwhile, by now you’ve all heard that Slade Gorton is now open to settlement talks with the Sonics and the NBA as long as the league guarantees the city of Seattle a replacement team.
One last thing, Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor had some nice things to say about Oklahoma City getting approval from NBA owners to become home to the Sonics. Taylor said what’s good for OKC is good for Tulsa.
“It really puts Oklahoma on a national map, and that’s what’s important. And it continues to grow the economy of Oklahoma City, which helps Tulsa,” Taylor said. “We are the two most significant contributors to the state economy. Anything that we can do to help Oklahoma City’s economy expand is good for Tulsa.”
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Schultz to sue Sonics
By now you’ve heard that former Sonics owner Howard Schultz is suing the current ownership group to try to rescind the sale, claiming that the deal was done under fraudulently.
Here’s the story from the Seattle Times. Here’s the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s version.
And here’s Times columnist Jerry Brewer’s take on the suit.
Meanwhile, in OKC, the city council today approved the Sonics lease. And the House of Representatives also approved tax breaks for the Sonics.
And finally, Derrick Rose is expected to declare for the draft this week.
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Stern backs Bennett
Despite revealing e-mails that suggest Sonics Chairman Clay Bennett lied to NBA Commissioner David Stern about his intentions to keep the Sonics in Seattle, Stern said on Monday that he supports Bennett……
By Jeff Latzke
AP Sports Writer
Despite the release of e-mails that SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett exchanged last year with partners about moving the team to Oklahoma City, NBA commissioner David Stern says he is convinced Bennett made a good-faith effort to keep the team in Seattle.
Bennett and ownership partners Aubrey McClendon and Tom Ward exchanged e-mails in April 2007 in which they discussed whether there was any way to avoid further “lame duck” seasons in Seattle before the team could be relocated.
Bennett, who had promised to negotiate with Seattle for a full year before deciding whether to move the Sonics, responded: “I am a man possessed! Will do everything we can. Thanks for hanging with me boys.”
“I haven’t studied them but my sense of it was that Clay, as the managing partner and the driving force of the group, was operating in good faith under the agreement that had been made with (previous owner) Howard Schultz,” Stern said on a conference call Monday. “His straight and narrow path may not have been shared by all of his partners in their views, but Clay was the one that was making policy for the partnership.”
Stern fined McClendon $250,000 last August after he told an Oklahoma City newspaper that “we didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here.” The e-mails released last week as part of the city of Seattle’s efforts to enforce the SuperSonics’ lease at KeyArena shed further light on the ownership group’s thought process prior to Bennett’s self-enforced Oct. 31 deadline to determine the team’s eventual home.
After purchasing the team from Schultz in July 2006, Bennett promised to spend one full year after the purchase was approved to seek a viable home for the Sonics in Seattle. The NBA approved the sale of the Sonics in October 2006.
Stern repeatedly has said that Seattle’s KeyArena is not a suitable home for the Sonics, and rejected a recent attempt led by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to renovate the arena to keep the team in Seattle. That effort subsequently fell apart when it wasn’t backed by the city or the state legislature.
Stern said it’s too late at this point to seek other owners who would keep the Sonics in the city where they’ve played the past 41 years.
“I think it’s fair to say that extraordinary efforts were made to seek ownership interests when Howard sold the team, including from people who became involved in the effort — the recently unsuccessful effort — to get the state to extend the sales tax for the purposes of retiring the arena debt,” Stern said.
“It happened already. There was no one who was interested in buying the team, including the very people who stepped forward at the last minute.”
NBA owners will vote Friday on Bennett’s proposed relocation to Oklahoma City. A subcommittee of three owners visited Oklahoma City last month and recommended league approval.
During that visit, Stern suggested that Oklahoma City — when combined with the presence of Tulsa less than 100 miles away — could be a viable market even though Seattle has a higher population and television audience. On Monday, he downplayed Seattle’s role as an entry into Asia.
“I would say that we don’t ever like to leave a city,” Stern said. “We don’t like to leave a city as robust as Seattle, but the Asian cities that we’re tending to focus more on have names like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
“It’s disheartening simply to leave the city, as it would be to leave any city.”
A June trial is scheduled concerning the city of Seattle’s lawsuit to enforce the lease and keep the team at KeyArena through 2010.
ESPN Poll on Sonics
ESPN’s Emmy Award winning show Outside the Lines today ended with the poll question, “Should the NBA allow the Sonics to move to Oklahoma City?” I thought, no way there’s more than five percent in favor of the NBA moving the Sonics to OKC. So I waited until the end of the show to find out the results.
Turns out, more than 57 percent of those polled voted yes, saying the NBA should allow the move. Talk about a shocker. I didn’t see the total number of votes below the results. I don’t think OTL showed how many had voted. But it was definitely interesting to see that large a percentage being in favor of the move.
I searched for the link to the OTL poll and couldn’t find it. I’m curious to see if SportsCenter will air the poll tonight. I doubt it, however. The Sportsnation poll currently on both ESPN.com’s home page and its NBA home page had a question about which recent NBA trade will have the biggest impact on the playoffs.
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Sonics owners’ e-mails
You knew things likely wouldn’t turn out good for the Sonics owners when city of Seattle attorneys sought to obtain e-mails from the ownership group. Well, sure enough, there were some pretty revealing things found in those exchanges, The Seattle Times is reporting. As it turns out, three of the team’s owners wanted to have the team play here this season, not 2008-09, not 2009-10, not 2010-11.
Here’s the e-mail exchange between team owners Tom Ward, Aubrey McClendon and Clay Bennett dated April 17-19, 2007….
Ward: “Is there any way to move here for next season or are we doomed to have another lame duck season in Seattle?”
Bennett: “I am a man possessed! Will do everything we can. Thanks for hanging with me boys, the game is getting started!”
Ward: “That’s the spirit!! I am willing to help any way I can to watch ball here next year”
McClendon: “Me too, thanks Clay!”
Also, The Seattle Times obtained a copy of an e-mail exchange between Bennett and NBA Commissioner David Stern dated August 18, 2007, a week after McClendon made his infamous “We didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle. We hoped to come here” statement. Bennett sent a lengthy e-mail to Stern numbering five points.
“1) As I told Joel on Monday night, without question the most troubling thing about the “Aubrey Episode” is that I am concerned that you feel that I have betrayed your trust. David you know how I feel about our relationship both personally and professional. You are among a very few, notwithstanding our relative brief actual physical time together that have significantly affected my life. I view you as a role model as an extraordinary gifted executive, a deep and compassionate thinker, and a person with a rare and unique charisma that brings out the best in everyone you touch. You are just one of my favorite people on earth and I so cherish our relationship Sonics business aside. I would never breach your trust. As absolutely remarkable as it may seem, Aubrey and I have NEVER discussed moving the Sonics to Oklahoma City, nor have I discussed it with ANY other member of our ownership group. I have been passionately committed to our process in Seattle, and have worked my ass off. The deal for me has NEVER changed: we will do all we can in the one year time frame (actually fifteen months) to affect the development of a successor venue to KeyArena, if we are unsuccessful at the end of the timeframe, October 31, 2007, we will then evaluate our options. I have never wavered and will not. Further I must say that when we bought the team I absolutely believed we would be successful in building a building.”
That was just the first bullet point. Again, he had four more in an awfully lengthy e-mail.
Stern replied: “You and I are fine. I have been acting on the premise that everything you say about Aubrey and your efforts is true–well before you said them. It pains me to see the situation you are in, and I have difficulty conjuring a happy ending in Seattle, but I appreciate your efforts and very greatly value our friendship. I have a meeting with the ref advisory board on Monday morning, which I will spend the day tomorrow preparing for but we should try to talk early in the week–so I can calm you down.”
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Sonics, Sonics and more Sonics (Part II)
DALLAS — So I made the short trip to Dallas to catch the Sonics-Mavs game Tuesday night and there just happened to be a lot of news. The biggest bit is that the Seattle-based investor group pulled the plug on their bid to buy the Sonics and help the city renovate KeyArena.
I guess this news comes as no surprise, since the Gov. Chris Gregoire and House Speaker Frank Chopp have never shown any interest in the proposal. At least not publicly. Who knows where Seattle goes from here. Maybe the Fred Brown-led proposal for that $1 billion Emerald City Center will gain some steam. I doubt it. It looks like more than ever it’s a done deal that the NBA owners will approve the Sonics relocation to Oklahoma City with no arena plan out in Seattle. We’ll see in a few more weeks.
Speaking of, Mark Cuban had a lot to say about his opposition for the Sonics moving to OKC.
I also spoke with several Sonics players to get their take on the potential move now that it’s looking closer to happening. A lot of them didn’t know squat about OKC and reduced themselves to “just players.” Here’s a quote from forward Nick Collison about the potential move…..
“I like where I live. I have a lot of friends (in Seattle). I have a house there. I love the city, so yeah, I don’t want to move. But like I said, it’s part of the job. If we have to, I don’t know much about Oklahoma City but I’m sure there’s nice people there. I’m sure I’ll find a way to fit in. But for now, I like being in Seattle. That’s my home.”
After leaving the Sonics’ locker room following the game I walked away thinking, ”Boy that is a depressing place these days.” I remember covering the home opener, the second game of the season, back when they fell to 0-2. What a big difference between now and then. It was quiet. Almost silent. Players appear to have reached the point of frustration months ago. Answers to media questions are short and trite. I know a lot of people don’t like to feel bad for millionaires, but I honestly feel bad for these guys. And the reporters who have to cover them during a season like this. This can’t be fun for anyone involved.
On a personal note, if the Sonics relocate to OKC next year I’m going on record of saying we’ll get some great sound bites out of P.J. Carlesimo. Dude took 2 minutes, 40 seconds to answer the first question of the post-game press conference. A generic question at that. I love it. But then a few moments later and he answered two questions with about 13 words. So we’ll see how that goes.
I didn’t see GM Sam Presti or owner Clay Bennett at the game. Sonics officials said neither was in attendance.
Also of note, I met the team’s play-by-play announcer, Kevin Calabro. What a nice guy he is. Before the game he told me that he will remain in Seattle if the team relocates. He’s been on the team’s broadcasting team for 21 years and has four children under the age of 24, including, if I remember correctly, a 12-year-old daughter that would make it tough on him and his family to uproot. So whenever the team comes to OKC, if it comes, it’ll have a new television guy.
Not that anyone in OKC knows the current cast. Although former player Steve “Snapper” Jones, is one of the analysts, and NBA fans might know him from his 13 years as an analyst for NBC. But by the sound of it, Oklahoma City could use a guy like Calabro for its prospective NBA team. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named him Sportscaster of the Year for the state of Washington in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006. Pretty impressive.
Oh yeah, the Sonics loss, 99-83, outshot by the Mavs 50.6 percent to 38.1 percent. They’re now 18-60.
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ROY Race
There seems to be a lot of steam building in favor of Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford for this year’s rookie of the year award. My only question is why? It’ll be a shame if Kevin Durant doesn’t win the thing. Period.
I suppose national writers are giving Horford consideration because the Hawks likely will be the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, ending the league’s longest current playoff drought at eight years. But here are the stat comparisons of Durant and Horford…
Kevin Durant Stat Al Horford
20.1 PPG 10.1
4.2 RPG 9.7
2.3 APG 1.5
1.0 SPG 0.8
0.9 BPG 0.9
42.5 FG% 50.2
87.9 FT% 72.6
34.3 MPG 31.4
Sure, you can make a case for Horford: The Hawks are 36-41, good for eighth in the East…….He has 23 double-doubles……. He’s missed only one game and he’s started 72 of 76.
But a much better case can be made for Durant: He’s scored 20 or more points in 35 games……. He’s scored 30 or more in six games…….He ranks 28th in scoring and leads the second closest rookie (Al Thornton, not Horford) by 7.5 points……..He’s won the West’s rookie of the month honor four times…….And statistically he’s improved each month, save a minor decline in production in February. Not to mention he’s having his best month of the season so far in April in points, rebounds, assists and minutes. That’s a considerable accomplishment considering NBA personnel love to analyze how players finish their seasons.
The drawback for Durant, however, is the Sonics are just 18-59, the second worst mark in the NBA. But I’m not buying into the wins-should-matter approach. The ROY isn’t the best rookie on the best team. Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets would win if that were the case.
Based on that line of thinking, Andrea Bargnani of the 47-35, No. 3-seeded Toronto Raptors should have won the award in 2007 in instead of Brandon Roy of the 32-50 Portland Trail Blazers. In 2006, Deron Williams should have won after leading his Utah Jazz squad to three more wins than eventual winner Chris Paul guided his Hornets team to. In 2005, Ben Gordon of the 47-35, No. 4-seeded Chicago Bulls should have won over Emeka Okafor, whose Charlotte Bobcats team finished tied for the league’s second worst record. And in 2004, Carmelo Anthony of the No. 8-seeded 43-39 Denver Nuggets should have won over LeBron James and his 35-47, lottery-bound Cavaliers. The list goes on and on.
Yes, Horford is a key piece on a likely playoff-bound Hawks team. But the Hawks are still five games under .500 and they play in the East. Imagine if Durant had Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson. Just those two. Throw in Josh Smith and Marvin Williams and the Sonics likely are a playoff team in the brutal West. That’s 50 wins, not sneaking into the postseason in a weaker conference with more than 40 losses.
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Linkage
A couple of interesting things around the Web worth noting. First, here is the entire piece TNT’s Inside the NBA did on the Save Our Sonics efforts out of Seattle. Part 1 and Part 2. It’s really a nice piece. That Jim Huber is something else.
Sticking with the Sonics theme, there was apparently a big controversy following the team’s home game last Friday against Houston when the players were supposed to give away their shoes. According to this story, several Sonics players didn’t want to be bothered.
There was also a good story in the Seattle Times last week about Kevin Durant and Jeff Green planning on going to summer school in the off-season to work toward their degrees. Durant obviously left Texas after his freshman year. Green left Georgetown following his junior season.
You can hear this new rock song that has been released about Seattle fan angst in the face of the potential relocation of the Sonics to Oklahoma City. It’s nearly seven minutes long and I can’t understand but about five words. But that’s just me. It’s worth noting that the song is called “Fortyone.” The lyrics can be found on the same page once you click on the above link. That’s the second Sonics song that I know of that has been penned throughout this whole saga.
Check out this South Florida Sun-Sentinel story about Memphis point guard Derrick Rose possibly being a good fit with the Miami Heat. The Heat currently have the NBA’s worst record, which means they’ll have the best chance to get the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft. With the league’s second worst record, the Sonics have the second best chance. In this Sun-Sentinel piece, there is a line that says Dwyane Wade has already hinted that his preference is for the Heat to take Rose if the team lands the top selection.
Here, you can check out Yahoo Sports’ Johnny Ludden’s thorough breakdown of how the West might be won.
And here’s my story on the timeline for improvements to the Ford Center and the construction of the NBA practice facility.
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