Grand Theft Hoops: The Stealing of the Sonics
Kevin Durant, we hardly knew ya. Goodbye Slick Watts. Farewell Gary Payton. And Tom Chambers' mullet can find somewhere else to call home. Two contemptible men named Clay Bennett and Aubrey McClendon - who in their spare time spend millions of dollars sponsoring anti-Gay referendums- have moved the Seattle SuperSonics and their 40 years of NBA history to Oklahoma City. As hearts shattered in Seattle, Bennett - who made his money the old fashioned way, by marrying it - grinned like a very sated canary in front of a podium with the NBA logo emblazoned with the letters OKC and said, "We made it. The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season." There is no "we" here unless Bennett is talking directly to McClendon. It's a shame these two ghouls are so adamantly against gay marriage. They deserve each other.
After a six-day federal trial, U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman announced that the city had settled with the two Oklahoma corporate raiders for the paltry sum $75 million, with only 45 million guaranteed. Bennett and McClendon now get to legally steal the team and all Seattle gets back is the right to the name SuperSonics along with the team colors. It's like losing your house and getting to keep the doorknobs.
Bennett said, with a look on his face about as sincere as George W. Bush at a military funeral, "It was a tough experience for all of us that were involved in it. There was just so much that happened on both sides, so much misinterpreted, miscommunicated and misunderstood that it was difficult." (Miscommunicated is not a word.)
But Bennett and McClendon haven't expelled their gob of spit at the sacred hoops of Seattle without help. They can thank the man pulling the strings, a person to whom fans have become little more than scenery for those in the luxury boxes: Commissioner David Stern.
There has been nothing "miscommunicated" by David Stern about whether the Sonics will ever actually have humans to fill those uniforms. He issued the following statement: "We understand that city, county, and state officials are currently discussing a plan to substantially rebuild KeyArena for the sum of $300 million. If this funding were authorized, we believe KeyArena could properly be renovated into a facility that meets NBA standards relating to revenue generation, fan amenities, team facilities, and the like."
In other words, if the taxpayers come up with 300 million dollars, then you get a team. This is insult on top of injury. Stern knows perfectly well that the Seattle legislature has spent the last year denying Bennett, McClendon and Stern this taxpayer money. Stern's statement is little more than insult piled on injury. But even worse has been the reaction of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Nickels did some crowing Wednesday, saying that the settlement would cover all the rent, tax revenue and debt on KeyArena "I believed all along enforcing our lease would allow us time to come to a better arrangement," Nickels said. "We now have that deal."
Some deal. The city gets its payout. Bennett and McClendon get to move their team to OKC. And the fans get slapped in the face. No one in the Washington state political class showed the courage to stand up to Stern and his cronies. They never pursued municpialization - a kind word for expropriation - and turning the team into a public utility. Far smarter than all the politicians who so badly bungled the negotiations and then buckled like a belt, was former Sonics star Ray Allen.
He said it perfectly six months ago: "When the team was bought from the previous ownership, they told us and everybody in the city that they sold it to a group that they thought would most likely keep the team in the city. Everybody thought that was some [garbage]. How is someone from Oklahoma City going to buy a team in Seattle who doesn't have any ties [in Seattle] and has big money in Oklahoma? If things don't go right, everybody's craving for the team to move to Oklahoma City."
Maybe Ray Allen should run for mayor of Seattle. It will be the closest the city gets to having a SuperSonic in the city limits.
51 Reader Comments | Add a comment
Great article, Dave. Amazing the lack of outrage out there, not just for this singular action but also for the precedent it sets. The fixation in sports these days on new venues and luxury boxes is really troubling. I guess the greedy owner syndrome shouldn't surprise us too much, from our days in Carl Pohlad country.
If I could, I'd grow a Tom Chambers mullet as a tribute for my departed team. Sigh.
As a fan, well I guess former fan, of the Sonics and citizen of the city that bore them, all I can say is that this perfectly illustrates the nature of modern corporate America. Transfer the bucks up the chain from working fans earning $10 - $20/hour to a wealthy bigot from out of state who married the money. We fans were only renters for crying out loud! Out goes our 41 years of ticket buying, TV watching, product purchases, etc. But as the rules of the jungle ultimately apply, the NBA business model may sink them in the end, too much money on too little talent, and character, in a country that's broke. Money is power and fans aren't money. Think about that this November.
This is precisely what is wrong with sports in the US, particularly the NBA, which is looking more and more like it's run by the Mob. Stern is such an incompetent boob that he'd rather have the NBA in a dump like OKC where there isn't any competition from football and baseball. You know, the sports that you have in a REAL city. Since Stern isn't willing to clean up the NBA, which is no longer a team game and is losing popularity left and right since the glory days of the 90's, he is forced to move the teams to backwater holes where the crooked local government is more than willing to pony up public money for luxury stadiums in lieu of helping the homeless or providing health care for it's citizens. All so a redneck nouveau riche bigot like Bennett can have fun their own personal playtoy.
BOYCOTT THE NBA
Consistent horrible draft picks of young undeveloped centers, the trading of Ray Allen, who was the heart and soul of the organization (for Delonte West and Jeff Green), and the loss one of the best coaches in the NBA and Mr. Sonic himself, Nate McMillian.
This was all done by Wally Walker. Does this guy know a thing about basketball?! There is no doubt that putting a decently competitive team on the floor would give politicians a stronger reason to listen to the franchise's long term needs. Thanks to Walker, this team was so bad last year that it was perfect timing for Bennett and the boys to move in for the kill while the big wigs in Seattle turn their backs on a "losing franchise". Its like the NBA version of the movie "Major League" where a new owner teams up with a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and the team can be moved.
The only good decision the Sonics made was when the pin pong balls gave them the #2 pick in 2007 and there was no way to screw up taking either Durant or Oden after Portland.
On top of Wally's horrible decisions, the only excuse Benett needed was that Seattle wont pay the taxes to buid a new stadium. And why should they?! When some of the richest computer people in the country live in Seattle and could easily take some of their yearly earnings to help fund a new stadium. Washington Wizards owner spent $200 million to build the Verizon Center himself.
Oklahoma City doesn't have the fan base or the cash to support ANY major league team for very long. When the N.O. Hornets had to re-locate there due to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina tickets sold briskly at first but eventually they started to sell less and less. Though all of the games were sold out the fact of the matter is that tickets started going for dirt cheap prices, something that can't be sustained over a long period but does great PR work when trying to steal another cities team. The owners of the Hornets were smart enough to see that eventually this was a town that couldn't keep a NBA caliber team AND turn a profit.
OKC basically shuts down, ON A WEEKEND NIGHT, well before Midnight. I haven't actually ever been to a NBA game in a large city, but I can't help but think that after the game most fans would like to hit a restaurant, bar, lounge, etc. Those things are in short supply in OKC, and in the area of town where the arena is, a crappy shell of a tourist hellhole called Bricktown (my friends and I call it by its' more appropriate name of Pricktown, since the majority of people staffing the bars and restaurants are complete, well, pricks) is populated by mostly chain restaurants that close by 11pm. I'm sure some businesses will make adjustments but as far as amenities go OKC is woefully lacking.
I feel bad for the Seattle Supersonics fans but they can at least feel a bit of the whole "I told you so" reaction when the franchise leaves Oklahoma for greener pastures, which it will.
Well gosh, y'all -- what did you expect from rich Christian republicans? Altruism? Compassion, Loyalty?
Nope, not on your life. They don't have it in them... and they never will.
Reminds me of Bettman and his way of bending over for every owner who flashed a few hundred million under his nose. Seattle is a great market, has cross-border draw with Vancouver and a loyal fanbase, Oklahoma has what? Oh yeah, another rich guy Stern can pal around with.
Good riddance if it means that my cable bill goes down. ESPN and Comcast has been jacking up prices. This is just like the stadium financing by taxpayer. If the fanbase wants to pay extra, they should start a collection to build the stadium and pay extra for cable prices.
It would be nice if OKC wasn't a sustainable market and we got our "I told you so" moment" but I don't think that's the case. Basketball is firmly entrenched behind football and baseball popularity-wise. The success of teams in small markets that don't have competition from the other two sports (Portland, Salt Lake City, Sacramento) proves that it can work, unfortunately.
well written david. insightful, intelligent, and genuine. you write like a man from a different generation. when i read your columns it is like hearing the old time broadcasters. i can see the press pass and the "jimmy the paper boy" hat and i can almost smell the chesterfields. you speak from the heart. this piece articulates well the simple american fact that nothing is off limits when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. not livelihoods, not athletic teams, not even other countries. so what does all this mean? it means thank god for dave zirin and the people like him who remind us that some of the myth and mystery of all of the games and players we have loved over the years has been bought right out from under us. and for those of us who care, it is a bitter pill to swallow, but it must be remembered and there is a touch of catharsis in the discussion. i think chris rock summed it up well when he said, "the shit need to be said! somebody gotta say it!"
fight the power d... hit them bastards ereyday homie!!!
- r
how ironic, the supersonics are moving to one of the gay-est states...why do you think they named it Oklahomo? it's a closeted pole-smokers paradise.
What makes this worse is that the same politicians that failed to stop this move of a team they already had will most certainly be the folks who will swoop down like vultures anytime the words "relocation" and "Memphis" or "New Orleans" are found in the same sentence, offering every concession under the sun at the expense of the taxpayers.
My parents, who are residents of OKC, looked into the attendance rates at the Ford Center when the Hornets were here and found that the sold out stats at the games were subsidized by the city. Citizens' tax dollars at work, I guess. And the waiting list for season tickets is still a mile long and growing.
I am saddened to see the Sonics go as well. All parties are to blame. I think the solution is like Howard Cosell used to say. If you want socialism check the NFL. Pro sports teams are community entities and all cities should have the same level playing field, of facility, salary cap and revenue SHARING. The fantasy of billionaires saving franchies should be thrown out and the people should own the teams.
Big Dick Cheney,
Your anit-gay remarks are not welcomed by me, and probably not by others here.
You can come up with insults for the state or the team without resorting to bigotry, can't you?
This whole debacle is outrageous! It's nice to know that there were multiple suspects in this whole thing. Walker leaked the team dry, the owners are greedy bastards, and David Stern... well, let's say Stern did what was in the interests of business and not in the further development of basketball culture in the Pacific Northwest.
This story bothers me to no end. And it makes me think what else? Bryan Colangelo became GM and President of the Raptors for a reason, eh?
First as is usual with high brow Seattle folk http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/miscommunicated it is a word. The entire fault for this lies at your own feet Seattle. You would not nor does it appear you ever will do anything on a Civic level to get an arena in place to house an NBA team. There are many other factors but this is the first & largest. I am not sure if Seattle even cares to do anything to get a team. They want someone with deep pockets to lay half a billion down to get a franchise and build facility and if that happens they will let them play in the Seattle & only the Seattle proper area. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!
jeez dave, for someone who spends so much time ragging on bill simmons, you'ld think you could have come up with something way better than his multiple columns addressing this issue. i guess you'ld rather take a very late, very one-dimensional approach to an issue that is extremely complicated and increasingly germane to most sports fans. and there's a major political connection to boot. isn't the edge of sports where politics and sports collide? i think i read that somewhere.
It's hard not to be excited, getting a team here in OK. We should be happy. But, everybody talking shit on us, doesn't make sense. The person to blame most has to be Howard Shultz. He's a fukkin billionaire. And, he knew exactly what would happen, if he sold the team. And, don't think people around here like that douche bag Clay Bennett either. I wouldn't be shocked if he moved the team to Europe within the next decade. Ticket sales will be even better, then when the Hornets were here. We will be top 10 in attendance fo sho!
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