NBA returning to Seattle?

[TheRealDTM]

http://nba.si.com/2013/05/16/david-ster ... grizzlies/


At least the nation understands how F'd it is.

 

[edogg23]

I thought that after this last rejection I would be to ticked to even care about basketball and I would just want revenge on the nba for breaking my heart a second time. Oddly enough though, I am left still wanting a team back more than ever. Maybe it is because of Chris Hansen who I belive will get it done somehow.

 

[twisted_steel2]

http://nba.si.com/2013/05/16/david-stern-seattle-super-sonics-oklahoma-city-thunder-media-memphis-grizzlies/


At least the nation understands how F'd it is.

Lots of national media types were talking about it on twitter too, how classless it was, so unnecessary.

 

[Blitzer88]

I'm just gonna leave this here, I put this in a PM to another poster who's in freak out mode. Some might not want to read or hear it, but I"m posting it anyway because this thing isn't over, Seattle will get an NBA franchise.

I look at it differently, you didn't see they started their TV deal talks already? The NBA wants us back, its just Sacramento did enough, fair enough for me. I personally like that, it means the NBA has learned from its **** ups in Seattle & Vancouver and now incumbent cities now get a fair shake, I think us in Seattle just now learned how the NBA works with things like this NOW.

Stern will always be the villain here, and its because of the way things went down from 2006-08, and I think he's fine with that. But this new commissioner in waiting, Adam Silver sounds like he wants to be the guy to bring the NBA back to Seattle and be Seattle's hero along side Hansen and the gang (IMO).

Don't give up just cuz we took an L, bro! Our day is coming, and I personally believe its coming later this year when the the TV negotiations are complete. They aren't going into these negotiations without Seattle in them, believe that! TV Negotiations are just the first step to bringing about expansion.

inb4 Blitzer's says his usually "I DON'T KNOW MANNN" stuff.

I want to get behind this at this point and time, but I just can't. I don't see the NBA coming, if ever for a very long time all the while the deal/arena plan that H/B/N developed will go by the way-side. Can dangit.....I can't wait any longer for an NBA team, I want one now and Stern ruined that for me!

 

[JOz56]

I'm just gonna leave this here, I put this in a PM to another poster who's in freak out mode. Some might not want to read or hear it, but I"m posting it anyway because this thing isn't over, Seattle will get an NBA franchise.

I look at it differently, you didn't see they started their TV deal talks already? The NBA wants us back, its just Sacramento did enough, fair enough for me. I personally like that, it means the NBA has learned from its **** ups in Seattle & Vancouver and now incumbent cities now get a fair shake, I think us in Seattle just now learned how the NBA works with things like this NOW.

Stern will always be the villain here, and its because of the way things went down from 2006-08, and I think he's fine with that. But this new commissioner in waiting, Adam Silver sounds like he wants to be the guy to bring the NBA back to Seattle and be Seattle's hero along side Hansen and the gang (IMO).

Don't give up just cuz we took an L, bro! Our day is coming, and I personally believe its coming later this year when the the TV negotiations are complete. They aren't going into these negotiations without Seattle in them, believe that! TV Negotiations are just the first step to bringing about expansion.

inb4 Blitzer's says his usually "I DON'T KNOW MANNN" stuff.

I want to get behind this at this point and time, but I just can't. I don't see the NBA coming, if ever for a very long time all the while the deal/arena plan that H/B/N developed will go by the way-side. Can dangit.....I can't wait any longer for an NBA team, I want one now and Stern ruined that for me!

I don't see it happening either, which is why I'm all for the nuking option. But if expansion actually is an option and they are fast tracking the TV talks for a reason, sure. I'm game. I can wait a couple of years for a team, as long as it is guaranteed. The Sacramento plan is going to blow up in the NBA's faces, and I am going to laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh.

 

[Lords of Scythia]

Hello there Seattle.

How are you today? I'm sure you know by now and oh boy do your tears taste delicious. A little too salty though. I can see why, not only did you get chosen over by a superior market, but you have that constantly depressing weather up there to go along with the aura of mediocrity known as the city of Seattle. A town full of nothing but failure. So sad. Clearly the NBA sees the far superior value in California over Washington. California is superior in every possible category, and it isn't even remotely close. There's also the fact that we constantly dominate you in sports year after year. I'd be angry too.

Support your other teams so the same doesn't happen again. The saying is so true, silence is golden isn't it?

Suck it sore losers!

Shots fired.

Don't you get what this is? This dude is 5"1', bald at twenty-five, pays 300' dominatrixes to bellow insults at him while using whips to "punish" him for being a "bad little boy". With this "shots fired" post he has bent over and pulled his butt-cheeks apart and Vasolined up awaiting the gang-bang. Now I'm tellin ya'll--you want to be stayin the f away from THAT mess. Just leave it alone and the Bad Little Boy will go off and find some dominatrix-chubber porn to have a limp spasm to and leave us the f alone.

 

[Lords of Scythia]

I understand the hate for Stern, he's a king douche bag, but why no hate for your own civic leaders in Olympia and Seattle who pretty much kicked Stern in the ass? You have to ask yourself, if only our local guys would have just shown they would try would the Sonics be gone? Right now I would bet good money Stern wouldn't have let the Sonics move had they just tried a little bit, hell the Sac group has an agreement for a new Arena that is as stable as RGIII ACL, and we offered at least double what the Kings are worth, and they aren't moving.

Believe me there was plenty of hate for local civic leaders when the Sonics moved, but those guys aren't around anymore. 2) Once Stern's boofoo buddy Bennet got the Sonics it was all over - the arena plan was a total gouge that never would've been approved by local gov, which was Bennet's intention.

 

[dunceface]

Well hey if it takes another year or two for an expansion team Durant will be that much closer to being a free agent... ray:

 

[drdiags]

I understand the hate for Stern, he's a king douche bag, but why no hate for your own civic leaders in Olympia and Seattle who pretty much kicked Stern in the ass? You have to ask yourself, if only our local guys would have just shown they would try would the Sonics be gone? Right now I would bet good money Stern wouldn't have let the Sonics move had they just tried a little bit, hell the Sac group has an agreement for a new Arena that is as stable as RGIII ACL, and we offered at least double what the Kings are worth, and they aren't moving.

To me the issue was the 95 remodel of Seattle Center. Plus the lease not being the type of lease that the NBA later figured all teams needed to make money with. Stern himself was shaking hands and kissing babies when the 95 remodel occurred, saying the arena was state of the art. Then 10 years later, after many folks felt the two other stadiums got forced upon them, it was going to be a hard sell to get people on board to build the Sonics a new arena. NBA was not happy.

Plus the fact that Ackerley and company chose a configuration to discourage the idea of sharing it with the NHL and the whole thing was just one calamity after another. Schultz couldn't get what he wanted, Stern was snubbed and away we go. Though many knew the endgame, Bennett was presented as willing to work with the locals prior to giving up on the region. It wasn't until after the fact that the Ballmers of the world tried to rally late. Relocation had already been approved before the rallying cry was on from what I remember.

I doubt Stern would have been an ally to stop relocation like he was with Sactown because our politicians didn't give him reason to. Bennett wasn't credible and was scorned here prior to filing for relocation but the league could see it was poisonous by the time they allowed him out. Of course he helped along the fight but that is for another day.

Yep, the governor, city council, mayor and state legislature all helped make it a layup to get the team out of town. They all can take a leap but most are gone except for a few major dickheads.

 

[TheRealDTM]

Stern and Bennett are good friends. Bennett came to the leagues aid by hosting the NO Hornets after Katrina

Stern is a human being (believe it or not) when a good friend of yours asks you for a favor you don't say no, especially when you make the favor at the cost of an enemy (seattle gov).

Clay Bennett was 100% guaranteed the next team available, if Schultz didn't sell it could have been SAC or MIL or NO

This is all Howard Schultz fault, no one on this forum should ever be caught drinking that Starbucks shit. go look at some boobies at a coffee stand. DO NOT SUPPORT SCHULTZ.

 

[Uppercase]

Stern and Bennett are good friends. Bennett came to the leagues aid by hosting the NO Hornets after Katrina

Stern is a human being (believe it or not) when a good friend of yours asks you for a favor you don't say no, especially when you make the favor at the cost of an enemy (seattle gov).

Clay Bennett was 100% guaranteed the next team available, if Schultz didn't sell it could have been SAC or MIL or NO

This is all Howard Schultz fault, no one on this forum should ever be caught drinking that Starbucks shit. Go to Seattle's best or go look at some boobies at a coffee stand. DO NOT SUPPORT SCHULTZ.

Doesn't Starsux own Seattle's Best? Sometimes I get confused. Either way your point is spot on!

 

[m0ng0]

Doesn't Starsux own Seattle's Best? Sometimes I get confused. Either way your point is spot on!

yes

 

[Throwdown]

Coffees gross anyway, and yes we blame everyone!

Everyone can be lined up in the line, screw them all, may they starve to death instead of those poor kids in Africa.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

I think we're screwed, guys. I'll just never pay attention to the NBA ever again.

 

[vedthree]

I understand the hate for Stern, he's a king douche bag, but why no hate for your own civic leaders in Olympia and Seattle who pretty much kicked Stern in the ass? You have to ask yourself, if only our local guys would have just shown they would try would the Sonics be gone? Right now I would bet good money Stern wouldn't have let the Sonics move had they just tried a little bit, hell the Sac group has an agreement for a new Arena that is as stable as RGIII ACL, and we offered at least double what the Kings are worth, and they aren't moving.

Oh, there's plenty of hate for the local and state guys that were involved, but Let's not even pretend the situations were similar.
The Kings' struggles, the Maloofs' attempts to move, the need for a new arena and the inability of both sides to work out an arena plan have been out in the open for YEARS.
With the Sonics, 95% of the people never even knew there were issues until the sale to Bennett was announced out of the blue. (In fact, most of the team employees and minority owners didn't even find out until the actual press conference). The NBA's attitude that Seattle had built for the 'Hawks & M's and then shafted the Sonics was BS - the fact was the Sonics got their new building FIRST. Key Arena was only 10 old, the Sonics still had a long-term lease and there was still $40-$50M left for the team to pay off for construction. The NBA & Stern had praised the building as a model facility for other teams to follow.
Now, I'm not claiming Key Arena was perfect - it had legitimate problems (and the whole story of how the Key was a compromise b/c Ackerly couldn't build his planned 20K seat arena in SoDo adds an extra-depressing element to it). But the majority of The Key's issues were the NBA's own fault. They got their asses handed to them in the CBA/player lockout of the early 00's and suddenly their expenses sky-rocketed. Schultz never showed his books to prove he was losing $$ ... his Chief complaint seemed to be he wasn't making as much $ as everyone else.
Schultz & Stern went to Olympia ONCE. They walked into a climate where Boeing was threatening to leave the area, there was a massive battle going on about transit funding and replacing the viaduct, the State was in a Budget crisis and the national economy was starting to tank. They went in dicks-swinging and expected to cut to the front of the line. They also started off demanding the moon. Schultz never committed to front any of his own money, they wanted access to the taxes that had been specifically passed just for Qwest Field, and they wanted massive debt forgiveness.
And Olympia never told them "NO" - they instead told them that it sounded like an in-house problem and to at least put together a plan that included SOME of their own money. It's that seemingly reasonable response that made Stern so butt-hurt and things only escalated from there. The next move was the sale to Bennett and his demands for a 100% publicly funded $500M, which was obviously a con from the start.
Yeah, our leaders made mistakes, but fact is Stern was on the warpath from the beginning.
I don't know why Stern has his hatred-boner for us, but it's obviously existed even BEFORE the OKC heist. He started off playing hardball with our governments over a team that was still locked into a lease on a serviceable arena and few people had reason to believe was in trouble. He then acted shocked when everyone refused to kiss his ring.

 

[CANHawk]

But I really like saying "Venti". It makes me feel like I'm in a cafe in Milan. Much better than going to Tim Hortons and ordering a "double double" so I can feel like I'm at a curling rink in Hamilton.

PS. Well said Ved.

 

[Pstark3]

Words can't describe how guilty i feel for watching basically every playoff game so far

 

[twisted_steel2]

Coffees gross anyway

:shock: You take that back!

 

[Blitzer88]

Coffees gross anyway, and yes we blame everyone!

Everyone can be lined up in the line, screw them all, may they starve to death instead of those poor kids in Africa.

Agreed, coffee is disgusting, I'm more of a hot chocolate man myself.

 

[JOz56]

I don't know why Stern has his hatred-boner for us,.

I think this is my new favorite word. Thank you for that, I absolutely needed a laugh. Unfortunately, I don't see Seattle getting a team until Stern is 6 feet under. Once he's dead and gone and not wrapping his tentacles around everything to avoid Seattle, I see talks opening up again. Unfortunately for then, the market may have already been burned. Oh wells, I still have my memories.

Also, I can only stand coffee is a half a pound of sugar is bored into it. Have way to sweet of a tooth for me to be accepting of it.