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In his NBA kickoff press conference Thursday, Commissioner David Stern was asked about the situation in Seattle and it appears the league is not going to get involved unless it has to. He basically said the City of Seattle doesn't seem to want the Sonics and therefore he doesn't feel comfortable trying to force the team upon the city.
Q. I have a count of four lawsuits against the Sonics at this time. They all revolve around the shaky arena situation and the team threat to move. Does the NBA want the Sonics to stay in Seattle? Why hasn't the league taken more of a proactive role in this situation?
COMMISSIONER STERN: Well, I think that every situation is individualized to the facts. From a league perspective, I think it's fair to say that there was a very sort of proactive anti Seattle Sonics movement, which its two featured premises, one legislation by the City Council, openly voted upon, passed overwhelmingly by the people of Seattle, saying any advance of funds with respect to projects had to bear the same rate of return as a treasury bond, which would make that kind of unique in the annals of American arena building.
The second point, I was out there, I did testify, I did meet with state legislators, the second point was, as I understand it, was a request for there to be an extension of the tax, which currently is used to fund the baseball and football stadiums. The speaker out there said that it would get out of committee over his strenuous objections, shall we say. So there was no heart whatsoever for assisting the Sonics team.
Into that, and I've been out there twice on this subject, there didn't even seem to be a critical path to be followed. We were in consultation with the team that hired a whole new set of lobbyists and PR consultants and arena consultants, did everything right. We'd love to have found the path that would see them staying. But right now it just seems that either they'll be there for the duration of their lease or they won't depending on the outcome of these litigations or some divine inspiration that someone may have with respect to a new arena and a suitable funding for it. That's just the way I think the owners look at it and I think that's the way I feel about it.
Q. Do you see this sort of course of action changing any time soon? Again, do you plan to be more involved in this like you have been with the Sacramento situation?
COMMISSIONER STERN: If there were a role for me, the answer is absolutely, yes. But as we watch for an opening for an intelligent path I mean, Sacramento, the team is a fixture. Everyone has expressed that they want them to stay. The statements of support on an ongoing basis from the city, the county, the governor have been very good. It's a completely different situation.
I just don't want to offend people by just coming parachuting in saying, Okay, this is the way it should be. I tried that, and my track record is not very good in Seattle or in Olympia. I don't know that I really add anything to the situation.
Posted by cewl20 at 10/26/07 11:59 a.m.
It is a joke. Hey, why don't we just move the Hawks to Montana, or the Knicks to Omaha, Nebraska. Makes total sense. Both franchises are failing, only solution is to move to a market 3 times smaller...
Posted by tigernike23 at 10/26/07 7:56 p.m.
Dang, his comments struck me like the kid in Georgia slapped with a 10 year prison sentence. It makes no sense that he (Mr. Stern) would side with the team. No arena talk? What? I know people in Seattle have ears and they aren't stupid, Commissioner. So why would they pay overvalue for an arena that doesn't have to be built? And another thing, when he said he went to Olympia, to lobby for a new arena, I thought I heard the phrase "renovate Key Arena". We gave that idea to Mr. Bennett and he slapped that idea down, saying Key Arena is not viable, a renovated Key Arena is not viable. Clay, listen to the commish, and let's make you happy with an addition and renovation of the Key.
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Posted by tukwila206 at 10/26/07 1:25 a.m.
This is such BS. I hate the NBA, it's owners and Mr. Stern. What a joke of a league! Leave Seattle and kiss bye-bye to this very profitable market for ever.
And now he's blaming Seattle.
What can we do other than send emails and make pointless calls that no one listens to anyways. Tell me what we as citizens can do! That would be nice David Stern. Nope instead he just tells us about the demise of our franchise. I'm done with PRO-BASKETBALL!