Stern - NBA gone forever if Seattle moves

[PurpleHaze]

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Stern criticizes city, state governments in Sonics dealings

Associated Press

PHOENIX -- NBA commissioner David Stern warned on Thursday that if the SuperSonics leave Seattle he sees no way the league would ever return to the city.

"I'd love to find a way to keep the team there," he said, "because if the team moves, there's not going to be another team there, not in any conceivable future plan that I could envision, and that would be too bad."

At a news conference following his announcement that the 2009 All-Star Game would be held in Phoenix, Stern criticized the city of Seattle and the Washington legislature for its handling of the issue of funding a replacement for Key Arena. Stern repeated earlier criticism of the mayor and city council for promoting a measure, overwhelmingly passed by voters, that requires any funds to help build an arena earn money at the same rate as a treasury bill.

That measure simply means there is no way city money would ever be used on an arena project, Stern said. He also lamented that the state legislature refused to consider continuing a tax that helped fund Seattle's baseball and football stadiums.

"To have the speaker of the house say, 'Well, they just spend too much money on salaries anyway, so we need it for other things,'" Stern said, casts aspersions on the whole league's operations.

"We get the message. Hopefully, maybe cooler heads will prevail."

He was referring to a remark by House Speaker Frank Chopp last February when funding for a new arena in the Seattle suburb of Renton was proposed.

"They ought to get their own financial house in order when their payroll is over $50 million for, what is it, 10 players? I think that's a little ridiculous," Chopp said at the time. "They need to get their own financial house in order and if they did, they wouldn't have to ask for public help."

Stern's comments were much tougher than the ones he made last June, when he said he believed the issue was "just going to work itself out."

SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett told the NBA last Friday that he plans to move the team to Oklahoma City. When that move would occur depends on outcome of litigation with the city over the franchise's Key Arena lease. The lease calls for the team to play in Seattle through the 2009-10 season, but Bennett wants out sooner.

As the issue becomes more and more contentious, Stern said he hopes "that a white knight that hasn't existed before, somebody who has a building plan of how to keep the team there, will step forward."

The commissioner's comments came at the end of a news conference where he spent most of his time rehashing the one-game suspension of Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for leaving the bench after San Antonio's Robert Horry slammed teammate Steve Nash into the scorer's table in last season's conference semifinals.

NBA rules require a one-game suspension for any player who leaves the bench in such incidents.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3100691

 

[nbrans]

If the NBA keeps trying to extort state governments and burning permanent bridges with fans, there's not going to be any more NBA. This kind of crap needs to stop. Stern makes me sick.

 

[Bricklayer]

I doubt the wisdom of this, but good for him, in this one particular case. I have been following what has gone on in Seattle for some time now, and it really is ridiculous. Makes anything attempted by the resistance in Sacto look like love taps. Seattle really did chase the Sonics out of the state. Feel bad for whatever fans they have, but that city/state made their own bed, and in considerably ugly fashion too.

 

[nbrans]

^I don't know if I agree. Key Arena was renovated not that long ago and isn't a bad place to play. This isn't the ARCO situation where the Sonics are playing in the oldest/worst arena in the league, it's plenty decent. On top of the fact that the Sonics had the gall to propose a tax on restaurants... in order to renovate Key Arena to boost their concessions and take business away from the same restaurants they're taxing.

The former and current owners of the Sonics had the resources to renovate the arena. They want handouts. Such is the state of the NBA. But it's going to bite everyone in the end. One large city is lost to the NBA, possibly for a generation. How many times does this has to happen for the NBA's base to erode? It's ridiculous behavior.

And I'd just like to point out that ARCO was privately financed, as was AT&T Park. It's not bad business to build an arena, but the NBA knows cities will fork over the cash at the expense of cities and states.

 

[Warhawk]

Anyone but me think that this is just smoke - for Seattle? The real goal is to keep Sacramento the home of the Kings. OK, maybe 80-20 Sacramento-Seattle split.

SS are gone. Bye-bye Seattle. This is just blowing smoke after the team is already gone. I doubt that anything can be done at this point.

The real goal is to put Sacramento on notice because it is the first time that the NBA is taking over discussions for an arena deal. They do not want failure in a deal they are trying to put together. This is their fair warning to get their act together and get something done.

Maybe I'm all wet on this one, but I don't see this as that big a statement for Seattle.

 

[sidney]

^I don't know if I agree. Key Arena was renovated not that long ago and isn't a bad place to play. This isn't the ARCO situation where the Sonics are playing in the oldest/worst arena in the league, it's plenty decent. On top of the fact that the Sonics had the gall to propose a tax on restaurants... in order to renovate Key Arena to boost their concessions and take business away from the same restaurants they're taxing.

The former and current owners of the Sonics had the resources to renovate the arena. They want handouts. Such is the state of the NBA. But it's going to bite everyone in the end. One large city is lost to the NBA, possibly for a generation. How many times does this has to happen for the NBA's base to erode? It's ridiculous behavior.

And I'd just like to point out that ARCO was privately financed, as was AT&T Park. It's not bad business to build an arena, but the NBA knows cities will fork over the cash at the expense of cities and states.

Key arena was renovated in the mid 90's but I believe is one of the smallest arenas out there and has the same limited box seat problem as Arco does making it tough to compete.

Take a look at that quote:
"They ought to get their own financial house in order when their payroll is over $50 million for, what is it, 10 players? I think that's a little ridiculous," Chopp said at the time.

So many things wrong with that. There is usually one or two whacky polititians that say things like this about a sports team, but note this guy us the Speaker of the House up there. This is not unusual for Seattle. It is a surprisingly mainstream view. There is a pattern of nutiness up there in that is hard to descibe unless you live there.

 

[HndsmCelt]

This is all about posturing and throwing down the gauntlet. I have tried to stay out of the new arean threads beceause I know how passionate sports fans are and how that can often cloud their reasoning. In this case there are even more than two sides to the story.

Did the city of Seatle "chase the Sonics out of the state?" Sure that is a valid claim but inquiring minds might ask WHY? Once again this relates to the general financial disaster publicly funded areans and stadiums have been and the growing presure from owners (Shultz) on cities to not just pay the tab for them but to give them the keys to the arena once it is built. Heck if Shultz had wanted to pay for his OWN arena a 5 cent increase on every Venti Carmale Machiato Starbucs pimps out a day would have paid for it in less than 5 years. The guy convinced America to pay $2.00 for a cup of coffee you would think he could convince us to buy him an arean for his pet team.

A supurb comparison can be made between the cities of San Franciso and Seatle. Both are very urban, politically progressive with a very hip and well informed public. Both cities also have strong fans of their sports teams. Both cities and or their city councles voted to severly limit the city funds that would be spent on new stadiums/Arenas ironically with Seatle out spending SF. In the end both the Giant and 49er organizations went out into the priviate sector to get the moeny needed to provide the facilities they thought would be neccessary for their product.

In Seatle ownership decided to posture and threaten to move their teams. While this stratagy has workded in other cities, the general public in Seatle said go get your money from the priviate secter and the owners did not. In the case of the Sonics the previous owners had been fielding an inferior product and attendace sliped. But ultimalty the city called the owners bluff so he sold the team in order keep his local buisness ties clean. Now the new owers have to back his bluff and move the team.

Stern has to look out for the ownership so he needs to send a signal NOT to Seatle but to any other city with a NBA team looking for a community to pay for a new building. The message is clear not only will I let the team pack and go but I will not let another team come into your town! This might seem odd bu a simple look to the NFL helps explain a lot.

In the 80's and 90's several onwers pulled this same crap. Hell when Modell moved the Browns to greener pastures in Baltimore (a city who lost a fortune on the new stadium deal) The City of Cleveland blocaded the stadium. In the end though with their rabid fanbase and more than adaquate facillities the city of Cleveland simply brought in a new team. This simple little lesson almost put an end to the "I'll move my team" threat that jerks like Al Davis had been pulling ans cities were responding with "we will just get a new team!" Now the ownership class cant have this. Heck if a struggleing team like say Charlot or Atlanta were offered a deal to move to Seatle now what power will teams like the Kings or the Caveliers have when they want the city to build them a new home? So Stern has thrown down the gauntlet and made it clear that if cities want ANY NBA team they pretty well need to take it at the terms the team has offered. You gotta love a man who knows history and learns from it.