Lol -- Stern promised fair dealing with Seattle down the road. Guessing that it wasn't very well received.
what do you know, Seattle's bid was full of shit! just like their attempts to keep the sonics in seattle. Sacramento's government fought HARD. Kevin Johnson should have a bronze statue erected in the capitol building.
Stern and Silver did not say this, but it really came down to the new building IMO. They mentioned their "regret' in leaving Seattle the last time, but really what they regretted was the city not bending over and building a new arena. Sac bent over, thus they get to keep their team.
I get the sarcasm, but it doesn't quite fit, when I'm assuming the backup offer being referred to is just the 20% ownership Hansen's group would buy from the Maloofs, and nothing else, no?
What, you think Seattle's government was behind them the first time around when Clay Bennett and company took them to OKC? Kevin Johnson worked his ass off to keep them in Sactown.
completely different scenarios. The Sonics had already been sold to someone who was trying to move the team. The Sonics weren't UP for sale, and the city mayor of Seattle wasn't given a chance to find a new ownership group TO buy the team.
They did what it took to get it done. Seattle did not the first time around. Sure, Clay Bennett fucked them, but it took a lot of incompetence on the part of Seattle's governemnt as well.
The funny thing is the next best franchises for Seattle to steal are the Bobcats and the Grizzlies. Unfortunately, the Bobcats are becoming the Hornets again so that should keep them stable and interesting for a few years and the Grizzlies are actually good so they're not going anywhere. It'll be a good 10 years before the Seattle Supersonics exist.
Stern let him work his ass off. If you miss every deadline, at some point you shouldn't get any more chances. Likely Sacramento is going to get stuck with a shitty ownership group that is going to be in the red every year if the TV revenue sharing concession is true. Apparently a day late and a dollar short gets you an NBA franchise.
Are you not aware that Bennett's "proposal" for an arena in Seattle involved King County paying approx. $300 million, the city of Renton paying approx. $200 million and Bennett paying EXACTLY $0? He also submarined relationships in the community and his group fully admitted that the intent of his owner group from the beginning was to move the team to OKC. KJ did a great job, no doubt. You, on the other hand, apparently bought a whole lot of B.S. when it comes to your understanding of the Sonics move to OKC. To be fair, you could sling mud at Seattle politicans (Frank Chopp, Gregoire, Mayor McCheese, etc.), but you are generally pretty offbase.
yeah, but they still have a team. that mayor of seattle back then in Sonicsgate looked like a complete doofus who couldn't tie his own shoes.
well, its a question on effort on the part of the local government. Seattle didn't try. Sacramento did. And the end result, as expected, is different.
Did Seattle's politicians do a "great job" in keeping the Sonics in Seattle? That's basically all you have to do to see the difference between the two cities.
Remember, the Sonics could have had another year in Seattle but Bennett paid off the city government of seattle. think KJ would have taken that deal?
