Seattle Loses Sonics

[kikachuck]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

SEATTLE (AP)—Clay Bennett finally found a dollar amount that would sever his contentious relationship with the city of Seattle—$75 million.

As a result, the SuperSonics are headed to Oklahoma City with Bennett leading the way, leaving behind the team name, colors and 41 years of history.

Oklahoma City will have an NBA franchise for the 2008-09 season after a settlement announced Wednesday between the team and the city of Seattle, ending the clashing bond with the city that culminated in a six-day federal trial over terms of the team’s KeyArena lease. The judge was scheduled to rule Wednesday afternoon.

I'm not really a Sonics fan, but I just can't think of this as anything other than a total sports tragedy. A team with so much history in a city being moved over money. Granted, it wasn't as bad as the Colts moving to Indy or the Browns moving to Baltimore, but still sad.

[theturtle]

I, theturtle, have been a Sonics fans and always supported them since 1992. So some of those OKC jerks think the Sonics don't treat their team well. It's not my fault Seattle have so many fair weather fans.

I have a dichotomy in all of this but with all this BS going on, I am glad they are leaving. The reason is that even though I am a Sonics fan I want that lying @#%$ Clay Bennett to leave town for good. And those OKC fans can enjoy a losing team.

I am looking at this with a long term vision and Seattle will get a team in about 5 years. That's not too bad. I am optimistic.

Why I am pretty @#%$ off about OK state getting our Sonics?

Seriously, I have no problem with OK state until I have visited some facebook groups of OK people who supported the move. While the fans showed a great deal support to the Hornets when they had no home, I am NOT okay with them getting an NBA team at Seattle's expense. Some of the people from those groups were pretty disrespectful toward the city of Seattle, gloated about taking our team, and some even dared to bash the lack of support of the Sonics fans. They feel it's completely okay for them take away a team that had an illustrious history and tradition of winning/competitiveness. Like I previously said, I am a fanatical Sonics fan but I guess it's quantity and not quality and intensity of the fan hood.

Why not move the Clippers to OKC if they wanted an NBA team so badly? It just won't happen.

$&#^% YOU David Stern. You are a crook and the whole world knows it. You keep losing fans over the years and you have no right to be shocked. You cheated the Sonics out of getting the top two picks at this year's draft. Yeah that's a great way to secure yet another losing season.

$&#^% Clay Bennett. You obviously orchestrated the Ray Allen trade leaving Seattle with no bona fide scorer. Yi Jianlian could've been drafted at #5 which could've at least brought lots of ticket sales since the Chinese community is fairly large in Seattle. But JG22 had to be taken. No offence to JG22. Good player but I thought Yi would've been a better commodity. In addition, Yi is actually a solid potential NBA scorer, if not already decent shooter.

$&#^% 100% of the ignorant fools who completely disregard the Seattle fans and blindly jumped on the "OKC deserve an NBA team" bandwagon.

$&#^% the 28 NBA owners who voted for the Sonics to leave. You 28 smug business people have no @#%$ clue and are completely ignorant of the history and tradition of Seattle Sonics basketball. $&#^% your ignorance.

Kudos to Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson from TNT, Mark Cuban, Paul Allen, Bill Walton for supporting the Sonics to stay. You guys have a lot of respect for the history and tradition of Seattle Sonics basketball.

One last thing. The new OKC team can NOT have the name "Sonics." It's synonymous with the city of Seattle. You can NOT have the retired jersey numbers, the records, the history, and of course the championship banners. Just stay away from those and you won't get hurt.

You can have those slimy *******s in the offices who run the team and that drill sargent head coach. You can have them.

As for me, I will do what I can to secure an NBA expansion team.

Thanks for reading my lengthy post. Sorry to come off so angry. But it's really a sad day for the fans of the Sonics.

[theturtle]

Sonics won an NBA championship in 1979.

They took the Michael Jordan-led Bulls to 6 games in 1996.

They had some great players who wore Sonics uniforms. Shawn Kemp (40), Gary Payton (20), Xavier McDaniels (34), Sam Perkins (14), and Detlef Shrempf (11).

Retired jersey #s:
Lenny Wilkens (19), Nate McMillan (10), Gus Williams (1), Jack Sikma (43), Dowtown Freddie Brown (32), and Spencer Haywood (24).

As a youngster, I watched the Sonics and didn't know anything about basketball. I learned what a slam dunk was by watching Shawn Kemp. Gary Payton showed me what intensity on defense was. Nate McMillan showed me what humility and leadership were. Detlef Shrempf showed me that just because a player is 6-10, it doesn't mean he has to be clumsy. Sam Perkins showed me...what a player looked like when he is baked/stoned. lol JK. He was always the consumate professional.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sAp2OLQYVfI

[Slothrop]

As a neutral, I don't mind this. Oklahoma has a great college game and Durant will be moving back to the Big 12-land to play professionally.

[Safeway]

seattle already has a pro football team and baseball team so i think its not so bad.
compared to portland we only have pro basketball and our population is not that much smaller than seattle.

[theturtle]

Sorry I hate football and baseball so those 2 teams don't mean anything to me.

[theturtle]

Originally Posted by Slothrop

As a neutral, I don't mind this. Oklahoma has a great college game and Durant will be moving back to the Big 12-land to play professionally.

Wait until the newness and excitement wear off.

Will people still attend the "Oklahoma Bandits" despite the fact they are losing? And I mean not just losing. But losing big time.

The Sonics' current roster is a crappy one. Too many individuals playing 1 on 1 ball. Durant has bad shot selection and is lazy on defense.

Things won't change much when they head to OKC.

[Safeway]

well you can still follow portland! we got greg oden.

many portland fans follow seattle seahawks football,
and seattle baseball.

[Slothrop]

Will people still attend the "Oklahoma Bandits" despite the fact they are losing? And I mean not just losing. But losing big time.

As opposed to the packed Key Arena that's been averaging 13k/game?

Originally Posted by theturtle

The Sonics' current roster is a crappy one. Too many individuals playing 1 on 1 ball. Durant has bad shot selection and is lazy on defense.

Things won't change much when they head to OKC.

Durant's game improved considerably over the last few months of the year, in his rookie year. He started the year shooting .380-.400 from the field and got that up to .500 over the last two months of the year - that's a huge improvement. I don't buy the shot-selection argument at all, his game will only continue to improve. He is the undoubted cornerstone of the franchise and Green and Westbrook are good pieces to have around him.

While I'd have chosen Bayless with the 4th, Westbrook should do well in Oklahoma. Presti also nabbed some good projects for the future, particularly in terms of size. Next season will likely be another poor one for the Sonics, but another year or two of solid drafting will get them into the playoffs before long. They've got to add a starting centre to the mix.

[theturtle]

We'll see...we'll see...

As far as the Sonics' 13k attendance, what can I say ? It's too bad the fans of Seattle are just fair weather fans. It's understandable that not too many fans like to pay lots of ticket money see to their teams lose. And I am sure OKC won't be any different. (BTW Key Arena used to sell plenty of tickets during the Sonics better years of Kemp, Payton, & Det). The Sonics franchise went downhill when Shultz took over. He traded away GP.

The owners and Presti totally sabotaged what could've been a potentially decent (great?) season for the Sonics. Those jerks weren't looking to win but rather looking for reasons to move the team away so what do they do?

They trade away the Sonics' "by default" franchise player (Ray Allen) and let rashard go (admittingly, it would've been unrealistic that he resigned with the team).

Ray bought a house in the Seattle area and 2-3 days later they trade him away. He made it clear he wanted to stay in Seattle for the long term.

OKC had a great NBA attendance (18k+) when they hosted Hornets because they were just excited to have a team *period*. But (as I said before) when the newness will wear out, will the enthusiasm/attendance remain? Can't say it will. Can't say it won't. I don't know. but it's a possibility they will fizzle.

While Durant, Green, and Westbrook are a nice nucleus of players, the fans of OKC shouldn't expect any miracle turnaround a la Celts 07/08. It will take a few years, especially they still remain in the Western Conference.

In all honesty, I am pretty bitter as of this minute and hope they will have yet another horrendous season. Yeah I am candid about my feelings about this. Yep I hope that team will lose lots of games.

Meanwhile, I will boycott the NBA until Seattle gets a new franchise.

This whole ordeal is just stupid mess that never needed to happen.

Well I think the Seattle Storm are still in town. So GO STORM!

Sorry if I come off so angry. I know it's an SA forum. It's only been less than 48 hours since the announcement.

[Slothrop]

I know I'd be steaming mad if they ever relocated the Raptors. I wasn't impressed when the Vancouver Grizzlies were sold, either. Attendance in Memphis has been a joke. They average something like 12,000 a game.

[theturtle]

^^

Well no one wants to pay to see their teams lose.

Heck. The Lakers' attendance wasn't all that great until they were in the lead in the West this past season.

[Slothrop]

Originally Posted by theturtle

^^

Well no one wants to pay to see their teams lose.

Heck. The Lakers' attendance wasn't all that great until they were in the lead in the West this past season.

Lakers' numbers are always steady, regardless of their record. There is so much money being thrown around over there, it's ridiculous. Memphis has never cracked the 17k/game mark over a season. Clearly that wasn't the best market to move to.

[hms]

I can't stand Clay Bennett. He is a lying weasel who never intended to keep the team in Seattle.

It sucks that the team is moving, although there still is one more lawsuit that may keep the team in Seattle. What also sucks is the leadership of our State and the City of Seattle who did not do what was necessary to keep the team here by building a new arena. The Seahawks and the Mariners each got one so why not the Sonics?

I was a huge fan of the Sonics teams in the 90s with Kemp and Payton even though the coach George Karl would make some really stupid moves sometimes (like start the same 5 all year, then in the playoffs change the lineup). Although they didn't win the title during those years, they did take the greatest team of all time record-wise the 70+ win Bulls team to 6 games in the finals.

And also you can't forget the best play-by-play announcer in all of sports Kevin Calabro. I will miss hearing him call the games.

So until Seattle gets another team, I guess I will root for the Blazers. I've been watching Brandon Roy since he was in high school and knew he was a special talent.

Did I mention I hate Clay Bennett?

[odun]

since seattle retains the nickname 'sonics' for a future franchise...i have a suggestion for the oklahoma team.

how does oklahomophobes sound?

[theturtle]

Originally Posted by Safeway

well you can still follow portland! we got greg oden.

many portland fans follow seattle seahawks football,
and seattle baseball.

Thanks for welcoming me into the Blazers' fan base Safeway! Yeah, even though the Blazers and Sonics were I-5 rivals, I am liking them a bit more now.

Coach Nate McMillan was/is one of the classiest players/people in the league.

Brandon Roy went to Garfield HS in the Seattle area and had a great career at u-dub.

Martell Webster went to Seattle Prep (Jesuit school in Capitol Hill). He was also Spencer Hawes' teammate.

Of course I am a fan of Greg Oden. If the Sonics had the #1 pick, it would've been him I hoped the Sonics would have selected.

[theturtle]

Originally Posted by hms

It sucks that the team is moving, although there still is one more lawsuit that may keep the team in Seattle. What also sucks is the leadership of our State and the City of Seattle who did not do what was necessary to keep the team here by building a new arena. The Seahawks and the Mariners each got one so why not the Sonics?

Timing. I think the Mariners won the pennant way back in the 90s. I think the Seahawks won something...(I don't know what it was because I don't watch football)

The city gets $45 mil right away from the devil Bennett. Then in 5 years if Seattle does not get a franchise, then Bennett must fork over an extra $30 mil.

And also you can't forget the best play-by-play announcer in all of sports Kevin Calabro. I will miss hearing him call the games.

Kevin Calabro's commentary was awesome! It was very colorful and his idiosyncratic style was unmatched by anyone else in the NBA. Every other announcer was so bland compared to Kevin!

"Kemp's got it on the break. Sets up...Goes airborne and smashes it down with a right handed tomahawk!"