The Seattle City Council passed Ordinance #116011 with an 8-0 unanimous vote. The ordinance is described as follows: <blockquote>AN ORDINANCE stating the City Council's intent not to propose or to enact any ordinance that would have the effect of approving any amendment to the Premises Use & Occupancy Agreement between the City of Seattle and the Professional Basketball Club, L.L.C. allowing the Seattle SuperSonics to vacate the KeyArena prior to September 30, 2010. </blockquote> As the Seattle Times states, this is symbolic at most, an attempt by the City to be heard, loud and clear, by the NBA and Clay Bennett in particular, when they say they will not let these teams leave without a fight. </p> Think the FBI investigation into Tim Donaghy is a pain in your neck, David Stern? How will a lawsuit from the state of Washington over breach of contract feel?</p> How many new stadiums are you going to get for your owners when you prove that you couldn't care less about the "communities" of which your teams are a part? </p> How many cities are going to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for worthless lease agreements you will break whenever you want by using small but eager mid-market cities with open checkbooks to bully cities into giving you whatever you want? </p> Your league is in a mess. Be the big man, step in and fix this problem...NOW. Henry Abbott over at TrueHoop on ESPN.com is right, honesty is important and it is about time we started getting some from you and the rest of the NBA. </p>
