FANS FORGOTTEN AS SONICS DEPART
“The NBA should be banned from using the phrase ‘NBA cares’ in any future public service announcement.” That’s how ESPN columnist J.A. Adande opened his remarks about the sad conclusion to the Seattle SuperSonics saga.
Hours before a federal judge was about to hand down a decision whether a lease would require the Sonics to play two more seasons in the Emerald City, Seattle officials waved the white flag.
The city agreed to let the team immediately pack up and move to Oklahoma City, Okla. in return for $45 million guaranteed and Seattle’s retention of the SuperSonics name, logos, colors and history.
I was disappointed that a ruling wasn’t handed out, because it would have carried some impact as legal precedent for future lease disputes.
Though I rarely rooted for Sonics, watching this franchise get yanked from its home just hurts. Seattle fans had no legal rights as their team got uprooted, although they were central to this business for 41 years. That’s the real travesty. It was the fans’ passion and loyalty that was trampled by owner Clay Bennett, a “man possessed,” for few million dollars of play money.
Commissioner David Stern's inaction speaks volumes for the future of the NBA. The league needs Seattle more than Seattle needs the NBA. Instead of serving the fans, Stern showed he was more interested in helping his buddy (Bennett) and establishing his own precedent and leverage to hold other NBA cities hostage over arena deals.
Seattle P-I columnist Art Thiel summed upped the mess in Northwest well when he wrote “Bennett is still a liar, Stern is still unconscionably remorseless, and the Sonics are gone.”
That’s right, today, basketball fans in Seattle are hoopless and have been left relatively hopeless. This should serve as warning to NBA fans everywhere, watch out, your team could be next.
1 comment:
If this was only a story about Seattle it might not be so sad, but teams in all major professional sports do this same thing to their fans constantly. While people in Oklahoma City might be thrilled, thousands of Sonics Fans had their hearts broken because greed and personal relationships were put before the good of the league. Many NBA players say Key Arena is their favorite place to play and demanding that any city take tax payer dollars to build you a new sport venue when roads and public infrastructure is crumbling is irresponsible.
The NBA is so popular it could easily expand, putting an additional east team in Oklahoma City and an additional west team in Las Vegas, both cities that can apparently support teams. Instead the league chose not to be creative and search for a win-win situation simply saying that the "owner" is in control of the fanchise and all the people who support it's function, year in and year out, are meaningless. I hope the people in Oklahoma appreciate the team they have and the NBA works hard to mend the mess they made in Seattle.
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