In today's episode of "As the Stomach Turns," dear readers, we will debate the issue of whether or not lies were told,, to whom and when, and whether or not there will be consequences for the prevaricators who spun the whoppers.
I'm sure most of you are aware that there will be TWO sideshows going on in the National Basketball League in June.
One of them, the NBA Championship Finals, is an event that the league most fervently hopes that you will watch, enjoy, participate in, and increase their coffers thereby.
The other, the case of the City of Seattle versus the Professional Basketball Club (AKA the Seattle SuperSonics), is one that they would rather no one were aware of, much less interested in, for fear it might take away from sideshow number one, as mentioned above.
In the latest round of pre-trial discovery, it has been determined that at least three members of the current ownership group--Clayton Bennett, Aubrey McClendon, and Tom Ward--were openly exchanging e-mail messages planning to move the team from Seattle to Oklahoma City during the time period that had been established for the city to come up with a viable plan to keep them here, and that, in fact, there was NEVER any intent to keep the team in Seattle, despite all of Bennett's public comments to the contrary.
From the article referenced above, it appears that Bennett not only lied to the citizens of Seattle and our local and state lawmakers, but he also lied to his good buddy, Commissioner David Stern, in this e-mail, when he said that McClendon had strayed from the farm (more or less) when he made his comments that there was never any intention to keep the Sonics in Seattle. Comments for which the commish later fined him $250K.
If the city's team of attorneys, of whom the lead is former Republican Senator from the state of Washington Slade Gorton, are able to prevail in their subpoena for league records, including records of all teams within the leagues (financial and otherwise), one or more of the league's "dirty little secrets" is likely to become a matter of public record in just over two months from now.
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is the only member of the NBA Board of Governors to have come out publically to say that he will vote against the request by Bennett to relocate the team to OKC next week. I wonder, though, how many others of the 30 owners might be inclined to rethink their votes in light of these developments.
Mayor Greg Nickles of Seattle has already said that the city fully intends to pursue this litigation to its logical conclusion, that any further buyout offers will be as summarily rejected as the first (and last) one for $26.5MM, a figure that looks to be increased as the owners and the league attempt to avoid the potential embarrassment coming their way in court.
My only regret at this stage is that Court TV doesn't exist any more. This could be a good one, and it would certainly show other NBA cities that they don't have to lie down and take the league's ever increasing demands for public money without a whimper of complaint.
Stay tuned, my friends, for the next episode of As the Stomach Turns, coming soon to a blog near you.
Not an NBA fan, but interested in how Seattle fares against this seemingly stacked deck... Here's hoping Sterns and his buddies from OK City are exposed for their shenanigans. Why don't they just allow a new franchise to be established in OK instead of stealing one from Seattle?
Don't get me wrong, I like basketball, just not the NBA, and this only adds another reason why.
Dwindy: And I think that we may just have seen the tip of the iceberg. The NBA's business model leaves a lot to be desired, which is why I don't intend to favor them with my "business" any longer. Stern promised his friend Clay the Sonics when it became obvious that the Hornets (the team OKC really wanted) had to go back to NOLA.
This proves once again why the Dallas Mavericks are so lucky to have an owner like Mark Cuban. Someone who has invested more than his money into his franchise.
Thanks for the heads up on this sleeplessinseattle.
I'm certainly hoping that they will find themselves in the spotlight of the public eye, proven to be the frauds that they are, and that it costs them both money and "prestige".
With all the information and misinformation on this subject, I appreciate you writing this so even I could follow the saga.
Not a B-Ball fan, but the Pacific Northwest has few enough major sport franchises. Hate to lose one.
I'm no longer an NBA fan (I meant it when I said in my last post that they are dead to me, and I won't change my mind), but will still follow college and WNBA. And the pitiful thing is that the Sonics are the area's longest lived franchise, and should not be spirited away like this in the dark of night (see Colts, Baltimore/Indianapolis).
my ? is ? when they move to oaklahoma will they still be refered to as the sonics???? seems kind of funny since oaklahoma is either the cowboys in college or soooners!!!!!!!
sleepless'
Either I've read or heard somewhere that's there's proof that subterfuge has been used on the path of Bennett and his syndicate with regard to the present situation. And it's now apparently not sitting to well with Stern and the NBA hierarchy.
Well there's a surprise considering some of statements made by Stern prior to this.
I've said all along that there was a conspiracy between Stern and Bennett to rig it up so he can move to his hometown. Did anybody honestly think he would stay in Seattle? I just hope that the spectacle will jolt Stern enough to back off and 'convince' Bennett to sell.
Kelly: He can try. But Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, among others, have already indicated that they will not allow their numbers/jerseys to be retired and hang in the rafters in OKC, and that they will insist on going into the HOF as SEATTLE Sonics.
Al: The proof is on the Seattle Times website in black and white, and that little amount is only the tip of the iceberg. They have thousands of e-mails and documents that prove it.
Downs: Nothing would make most of us happier at this point than to see the Board of Governors give both Bennett and Stern a smack down of sorts. Mark Cuban is already not going to vote to approve the move (though, of course, he is only one vote), but he is vocal enough to make a big deal of this.
I am a 50 something health care professional transplanted to Seattle from SoCal in 2001 (and, before you ask, no, I don't want to go back). My tastes in sports are pretty eclectic, but in order of preference, I guess they would be baseball, hockey, basketball, football--col lege and pro/men and women alike. Teams I "HATE": USC (I went to UCLA); University of Michigan (born and raised in Columbus OH to a large family of OSU alumni/alumna e), and--probably most of all--the d***ed Yankees. I have worked in a variety of capacities at the MLB, NBA and NFL venues here in Seattle and at UW (hey, what true sports fan could pass up the possibility of getting paid to do something you would have done anyway (and had to pay for it)?)
