Category — Sam Presti

Hey Seattle, how ’bout them Sea Chickens?
The Sacramento Kings are only a few signatures away from moving to Seattle. How ironic. Many Seattle fans have cried a river about how the Sonics were hijacked to Oklahoma City, which, in some sarcastic irony, serves as headquarters for Sonic.
What frequently gets my blood to boiling, though, is how the story of Seattle and the Sonics parting is often written with revisionist history. Sportswriters and columnists are the worst.
For years, Seattle refused to build the club a new arena. As much as I applauded its refusal not to sacrifice taxpayers’ money for what its former ownership could have built with its own funds, anyone with a brain knew the Sonics’ days in the Emerald City were numbered. When the man who owns Starbucks sold his team because the city wouldn’t build him an arena, couldn’t you see the handwriting on the wall? Did you really believe Clay Bennett was going to build 1 out of the goodness of his heart or his deep pockets to please fans in Seattle?

As soon as Bennett inked the deal I, like many others, would have bet the farm they were headed to Oklahoma City. Blame David Stern. And blame Bennett, if you like, but he knew he had the commissioner’s blessing. Blaming the good folks in Oklahoma City is totally misguided. Do you see them hanging your 1 little raggedy championship banner or any the Sonics’ retired numbers in the rafters?
And while we’re on the subject of the NBA setting up shop in OKC, consider yourself lucky New Orleans. The Hornets and their ownership would have killed for the opportunity to stay there after their 2-year run, the fanatical support and sellouts stunned even Stern, who initially advised city officials to go searching for an NHL club. OKC didn’t have the big boy pants the NBA wears, he said. We know now how small-minded and out of touch he was.
Now the Kings are close to checking out of Sacramento because the Maloof family reportedly is nearing a deal with a Seattle group. To their credit, many folks in Seattle oppose the deal. But at this point, that doesn’t matter to Stern and the powers that be.
For Stern, it’s like killing 2 birds with 1 stone. First, he can rightfully (or wrongly, depending on your view) return a franchise to Seattle, where he will always be a villain for his shady role in the Sonics’ fiasco. Second, he can rid himself of the Maloofs, who have caused him more headaches than Mark Cuban has ever dreamed about.
Doesn’t make it right. But like the old cliche goes, it’s just bidness.