The Battle Of Seattle

Seattle basketball fans are fuming over NBA Commissioner David Stern’s remark November 8th that if the city loses the SuperSonics, it shouldn’t expect to get a replacement team in the foreseeable future.

Stern made the comments at a news conference in Phoenix shortly after Sonics owner Clay Bennett announced his intention to move the team to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Stern was in Phoenix to announce it will host the 2009 All-Star Game.

"I’d love to find a way to keep the team there," Stern 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."

While the Sonics have a lease to play in Seattle’s KeyArena through the 2009-10 season, Bennett is trying to get out of the lease via litigation.

Stern criticized Seattle’s City Council for promoting a measure requiring that any funds to help build a new arena earn money at the same rate as a treasury bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters.

Seattle officials in return criticized Stern for not taking the same hard line with Sacramento, Calif. Voters there have rejected two proposals to build a new arena for the city’s Kings, owned by the Maloof family of Palms Casino fame.

"Instead of firing verbal scuds at us, what we’d prefer is he take some of his own advice, sit down with us and work it out," Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis told the city’s Times newspaper.

"Here in Seattle, [Stern]’s doing everything he can to help Clay Bennett out the door," Ceis said. Despite the rancor, he added that Mayor Greg Nickels is willing to keep discussions open with Bennett or Stern.

Ceis told the paper the city will continue to pursue its lawsuit to force the Sonics to play out the KeyArena lease through 2010.

"We’ve got a lease, we’re in court on that lease and we hope that Mr. Stern is not suggesting he is going to aid and abet Mr. Bennett in breaking that lease, because if he is that should make every other NBA city very nervous," he said.