third world cityWhen you don't get what you want just resort to name calling. Stay classy seattle.
As far as I am concerned, the Seattle area gave up the Sonics when they failed to come through for a new arena and clearly don't want another team, but they might have been motivated more if the Sonics had made more then one or two playoffs in 20 years. Good luck to the team in Seattle. I don't think the Maloofs will have a problem picking up the Sonics name in Seattle.I agree.
LOL - I was just thinking about how badly Seattle managed the Sonics in the terms of building a new stadium and all and then about how badly the Sacramento Kings has been managed by the Maloofs and wondering if the citizens of Seattle will still feel like they stole the Kings in a few years.After 2 to 3 years of drafting horrible centers they'll feel like the sonics never left.
Love all of the selective reasoning by oklahoma fans.
If you don't see the difference between the two groups who made these purchases then there is no way to have an honest discussion to begin with. There is a huge difference between coming in and giving hope (no matter how stupid schultz was to believe it, nor the fans who grasped onto hope) and a group coming in clearly saying what they intend to do with plenty of time for everyone, including fans and city officials, to have the opportunity to do something about it. This is not small differences here.
The Kings were a badly managed team with a great history ran into the ground with owners most fans cannot support. The city has had a few years to find either an arena deal or an ownership group. And Hanson wasn't the first group to try and buy and move the team. This is a very different set of conditions.
And yet there is no Seattle fan who will not understand how bad Kings fans feel, nor how some will be angry and bitter even toward those who didn't do anything to them directly. I won't speak for other Sonic fans, but I have never hated on any OKC fans. I do think their owner is a slime ball and I'm entitled to that opinion. His actions and lies were directly involved in our deal, but the fans who now enjoy what was our team were not involved in any way. Still, some of you could show a bit more compassion for why there is hate coming your way. We will have no choice but to do the same for Kings fans upset and misdirecting it to our fan base.
Attempting to say there is hypocricy here is both factually incorrect on every level and a sign you don't care to take the high road.
This new ownerhip group came up out of the outrage over this situation. They took their disdain and put it into action creating the second biggest privatly funded arena deal behind MSG and is the best deal any city outside of NY has ever had on such a facility. They further are spending way more than the Maloofs deserve to move that franchise. Then word comes out today that Phil Jackson is set to take over the front office and he will personally groom the next head coach. This isn't a stupid organisation. They also don't just blindly spend stupid money. They are well organised and are making great decisions so far.
At the end of the day once the new Sonics are in their new facility with the garbage contracts dumped and a new team with quality coaching emerges the fans should thank your city for its theft. Many fans will move and deal with the loss of 5 seasons of basketball in our city. You can choose to keep thinking the vocal minority represent the rest or just take them for what they are worth.
Can't wait to see the reactions for both the first home and road games between the two teams. Doubt the teams themselves will find it an instant rivalrly, but the media will help stir up the already brewing animosity between both cities. I'm sure the booing will be a bit louder, but lets all hope it stays at that and no visiting fans suffer anything more than spirited taunting.
Seatle fans are welcomed by OKC fandomI can respect your positive attitude and offer, but a majority of Sonics fans didn't and won't transfer to the Thunder. I find this thread kind of hilarious in that what exactly do the fans have any say in how this goes down? We could say OKC stole the Sonics, and Kings fans can say Seattle will eventually steal the Kings. Both statements are irrevelevant from a fans stand point, and really all that matters is whether or not you care enough for a team to cheer for them. To say Sonics fans are hippocrites for being excited that we may finally have a team after a 5 year layoff doesn't make any sense. Our job as fans are to enjoy the product on the court, not to steal/relocate/move teams around. If we get the Kings just like the Thunder got our Sonics, why should we be scrutinized for our excitement? When all is said and done, I feel for the Kings fans but equally excited to have hoops back in Seattle.
I don't know, but Sacramento can have the Suns as long as they promise to take the owners and upper management with them.
It would work out nicely in theory if Suns owners moved to Sacramento and changed their franchise name to the Kings, Seattle will rename their team the Sonics, Phoenix will come up with a new franchise and name them the Suns.
After this scenario will have unfolded, owners will have blamed the coaches that didn't bring in the players, then blame the players, then blame the city and then leave. Meanwhile, taxpayers in each new city will have paid for their new stadium subsidies and then the owners a free to again overcharge for ticketprices and make bad decisions.
With public funding of new stadiums, it's no wonder why teams might consider moving. Why not get an upgrade at the expense of taxpayers in a different city who really want to have a sports team?
I'm only half joking, but I'm just trying to think of a way to make it work out for all of the fans.
Your assessment isn't correct. To begin with not only did bennett directly tell the team he wasn't going to move them and had no plans to do so, but so did the mayor of OKC. Easy records to look up. They made it crystal clear they were looking to invest in the team and leave it where it was. This is clear fact.
Why was the group lead by Schultz looking to sell? This isn't like Sacramento where the facility the team is playing in is a total pile of garbage. Key Arena was brand new in like the '96 or '97 season and at the time David Stern called it one of the best places in the country to watch basketball. Less than 10 years later and not even half way through their signed lease the owners decided Key Arena lacked enough premium facilities. They didn't have enough suites and other amenities geared toward corporate sponsorship. They asked the city to make upgrades to the facility and wanted the city to pay for it. Again, this is the very same facility already praised by the league and not even 10 years old from the time it was built. Why should the city be held to make changes to a facility that is in good working order that the team found fit enough to sign a long term contract to use?
OKC fans find it easy to tell us we need to blame our own and trust me we do, but why you all insist on removing any blame from your own owner and mayor is really beyond me. Schultz attempted to sue him as being in breech of contract due to the lies and the city of seattle had many law suites against them on their way out.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett was quoted as saying "I think it's presumptuous to assume that Clay Bennett and his ownership group won't own that Seattle team for a long, long time in Seattle or somewhere else. It's presumptuous to assume they're going to move that franchise to Oklahoma City,"
It was quotes like these prior to the sale that were made to attempt to calm the worries that this team was indeed being purchased with intent to move it.
In months prior to the settlement, Seattle publicly released email conversations that took place within Bennett's ownership group and alleged that they indicated at least some members of the group had a desire to move the team to Oklahoma City prior to the purchase in 2006. Before that, Sonics co-owner Aubrey McClendon told an Oklahoma City newspaper "we didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here," although Bennett denied knowledge of this. Seattle used these incidents to argue that the ownership failed to negotiate in good faith, prompting Schultz to file a lawsuit seeking to rescind the sale of the team and transfer the ownership to a court-appointed receiver. The NBA claimed Schultz' lawsuit was void because Schultz signed a release forbidding himself to sue Bennett's group, but also argued that the proposal would have violated league ownership rules. Schultz dropped the case before the start of the 2008–09 NBA season.
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This was a messy affair with an incoming group looking to get a team for its city and was willing to lie to get it. To minimize this or dismiss it shows homerism. To say it is the victims fault because they should have known better is more of the same. It was dirty and underhanded. There is no way in the world anyone in this town would ever support OKC in any way. We have rooted hard against them in their post season runs and have celebrated loudly when they fall short. Again, this has nothing to do with your fans. But would you support a team ran by a person with such low class and lack of morals who lied and stole your team? Yeah, you can pull for this guy because he brought you a present, but you don't care from under whos tree it was stolen from.
City officials who couldn't get something done to help the team with the financial issues and the Schultz lead group who were stupid enough to believe that slimball have been dragged through the mud here ever since. No one lets them off the hook.
The current situation with the Kings is quite different. Their city has had years to do something about the current owners and their lack of ability to run that team as well as the facility which I understand has rusty falling apart fixtures in the bathrooms and other signs the building has not been kept up. Further the group buying it never gave any false promises and have been very upfront and respectible in every phase of operation. They are a group you can be proud of as a fan base. They are as far removed from the Bennett group as you can get.
And again, fans up here will be very understanding of what fans of the Kings go through and can commiserate with their loss. This too will be a big departure from what I at least saw of the new OKC fans who basically told us all to sit down, shut up, and get over it. I saw no class from either that ownership group, nor the fans I had exposure to. I know the sample set was too small to say all fans felt that way so I don't make blanket statements about your fan base. I save my hatred for the team itself and its owner.
Well after 25 years of Being a Kings fan because of their Kansas City/Omaha connection. I will be renouncing my Kings fanship. Next closest team to my general Are would be Chicago or Minnesota. So come on BullsIt shouldn't be that easy to follow another team, especially after 25 years. I tried to with the Suns after the Sonics left, but hated them from the 90's so it wouldn't work. Could only root against the Thunder (not their fans, so hold the comments), otherwise, the NBA has been dead to me. Pretty hard actually.
I don't blame the Kings for moving to Seattle and I wish nothing but the best for the fans in Washington and I hope that the Kings can do better there. The only thing I really don't get is how can the Kings call themselves the Supersonics when clearly they are not the same team as the Supersonics was a decade ago. Personally I would want to bury that name and make a fresh start with a new team, new owner and a new arena
