The battle of Seattle to bring back the Sonics never stopped: a chronology

The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings will play a pre-season basketball game on Friday at 7pm. – in Seattle.

This is the first time the northwest city has seen an NBA game being played in town since the SuperSonics were relocated and renamed more than ten years ago. This is also the first time Kevin Durant has returned to the city that has recruited him since the team was snatched from Seattle in 2008.

The preparatory match is a disturbing reminder of the city of Seattle and its supporters, whose team was sold and moved south. It's also a reminder of the city's long struggle to bring the NBA back to where it is.

The fight began when the property announced the sale of the team and is raging to this day. Here is a complete timeline of Seattle's loss and its struggle to recover basketball from the NBA.

July 18, 2006 – The sale

After failing to get funding from Washington State to update KeyArena in Seattle – a place deemed unacceptable by the NBA – Howard Schultz, then CEO and majority owner, sold $ 350 million to Super Professional, SuperSonics and Seattle Storm. PBC is composed of a group of businessmen from Oklahoma City led by Clay Bennett.

Bennett was one of the first owners of San Antonio Spurs. More importantly, he helped move the Hornets from New Orleans to OKC for two seasons after Hurricane Katrina.

Controversy

Schultz reportedly sold the franchise to Bennett with the assurance that Bennett would not move the SuperSonics out of the city.

At the time of the transaction, Bennett wrote in a letter to Schultz: "We want the Sonics and Storm to continue to exist in the Greater Seattle area. We do not intend to move or move the teams. so long of course, because we are able to negotiate an attractive successor and a lease. "

But in an email chain between Bennett and the other members of his Oklahoma City group later obtained by Seattle lawyers, his team purchase had other motives:

Tom Ward: "Is there a way to move here for next season or are we facing another season of lame ducks in Seattle?" Ward wrote.

Bennett: "I am a possessed man! Will do everything we can. Thanks for hanging out with me guys, the game begins!

Ward: "It's the spirit !! I am ready to help by any means possible to watch the ball here next year. "

Anthony McClendon: "Me too, thanks Clay!"

More controversy

In an interview a few months later, McClendon told the Oklahoma Journal-Record newspaper: "We did not ask the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here. We know it's a little more financially difficult here in Oklahoma City, but we think it's great for the community and if we could break even, we'd be happy. "

Then NBA commissioner David Stern was made aware of McClendon's comments and told Bennett that the fine would come back to him if his comments were true. Bennett later wrote to McClendon in an e-mail: "Yes sir, we are being killed for this one. I do not care about the ugliness of public relations (but I usually do), but I'm worried from a legal point of view that your statement may be undermining our basic premise of "best efforts in good faith" … "

Stern subsequently sentenced Bennett to a record at the time: $ 250,000.

November 2, 2007 – The announcement

Bennett was planning to build a $ 500 million arena complex in the Seattle suburb of Renton. He asked the Washington State government to pay $ 300 million, a bill that would have been passed on to the county taxpayers.

The state government decided not to finance the arena complex. On November 2, 2007, Bennett announced to Stern its intention to transfer SuperSonics to Oklahoma City once it would be out of its lease with KeyArena. Bennett continued to maintain his position that he would not move the SuperSonics out of Seattle if the city and its founders proposed "a solid plan and funding mechanism for a new arena". Residents of Oklahoma City had already agreed to a tax increase for a basketball team in their city.

"With less than 11 hours saved for Seattle," wrote Greg Jones of Seattle P-I on this date, "the decision of the Sonics could intervene as of the next season if the Oklahoma-based owners win their current lawsuit with the city".

April 16, 2007 – A last dance

The SuperSonics beat the Warriors, 126-121, in their last home game at KeyArena. Kevin Durant scored 42 points in 43 minutes. He did not have much help there either.

April 18, 2008 – The vote

The NBA's board of governors – made up of the owners of each NBA team – voted 28 votes to 2 in favor of Bennett's ownership group motion to move the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City. Mark Cuban, owner of Dallas Mavericks, and Paul Allen, owner of Portland Trail Blazers, are the only two to be the subject.

The city of Seattle has also filed a lawsuit against the Bennett ownership group to retain the SuperSonics in Seattle until the end of KeyArena's lease, which expired in 2010.

Seattle City Council has terminated the SuperSonics lease with KeyArena in exchange for a $ 45 million payment to the city.

"This is not the optimal solution we were hoping for," said Richard Conlin, Chairman of the Board. "The optimal solution would have been for the team to stay here, but that did not seem like an option."

The terms of the agreement also provided for Bennett to pay $ 30 million to the city of Seattle if a new NBA team had not moved to the city in the next five years.

"The city council is essentially put [between] a hard rock and a rock, "said Bruce Harrell, board member. "If we do not cancel the lease by today, we lose $ 45 million."

October 8, 2008 – The first appearance

The Oklahoma City Thunder played its first pre-season game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The game was played in Billings, Montana.

October 14, 2008 – The grand opening

The Thunder will play its first official home match against the Los Angeles Clippers in Oklahoma City at the Ford Center, which will be renamed Chesapeake Energy Arena in 2011. Title: "The Clippers ruin Thunder's debut in Oklahoma City."

2011 – Lockout NBA

The 2011 NBA lockout was a work stoppage that brought the NBA season from 82 games to just 60. But this also created a decisive contract for NBA owners by increasing the overall value of NBA franchises. . After this increase in value, the owners began to hang on to their franchises.

February 2012 – Who is Chris Hansen?

In the months leading up to February, a hedge fund manager bought a lot south of Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. His name was Chris Hansen and he told Seattle officials that an arena could be built on this land without involving heavy taxes for its residents.

In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, David Stern said shortly afterwards, "Everyone is telling us," Well, would you consider coming back? Of course, if they have a building. And that's where it stays. We have no involvement, "Stern said [to the Salt Lake City Tribune]. "But we certainly are – if anyone asks us, we tell them what we know and we are happy to talk to them. … Potential sites are not lacking, but funding is a huge problem. "

Hansen, however, targeted the Sacramento Kings as a team to uproot and bring back to his hometown. Kings fans were not happy:

On behalf of the 99% of us who make up the wonderful mosaic of the great city of Sacramento, we have a message to send to 1 / 10th of the top 1% who engage in actions harmful to our community:

KEEP YOUR HANDS OF OUR KINGS.

March 2012 – Short of options

The Seattle owners were looking for a team in danger of losing their lease. The pelicans of New Orleans (the Hornets at the time) were running at the time, but the city agreed to spend $ 50 million to improve the arenas. Their lease runs until 2024.

The Bucks were also pressured to build a new arena. In 2012, they signed a six-year lease at the BMO Bradley Center, giving them time to raise funds for the new location. But in 2015, there were growing fears that the city might not find enough funding to build a new location. And under the property agreement between Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry, the NBA could buy out his team if a) agreement on the arena was not concluded in November 2017 and b) the arena was not under construction at the end. of 2015.

The Bucks, however, eventually reached an agreement and moved this year to the newly built Fiserv Forum.

September 2013 – Sale of Kings

In the middle of the 2012-13 season, the Maloof family decided to sell the Sacramento Kings. But they almost sold the franchise to Chris Hansen, who was planning to transfer it to Seattle.

Hansen, however, was fined US $ 50,000 for his role in stifling the city's efforts to build a new arena in downtown Sacramento. The NBA then rejected Hansen's $ 625 million bid for the purchase of the Kings. The Maloofs then sold the franchise to Vivek Ranadive for $ 535 million – an NBA record at the time.

2013 to 2016 – The Hansen affair is breaking

Seattle City Council members, according to The Seattle Times, did not believe that Chris Hansen would be able to be part of an NBA team before December 2017. He was also asking the city up to $ 200 million and council members were not sure that this money was really necessary. In addition to all this, the port of Seattle threatened to sue if the vote to sell Hansen land for the arena was to his advantage.

"There was a lot of feeling at the time that we should not be voting at all," said Seattle Mayor and Tim Burgess. "That we should just wait and there was no reason to continue."

Hansen's motion to buy the land he needed was rejected by 5-4.

But a new group with private funds for a new arena came shortly after. Oak View Group (OVG) already had the necessary funds to finance itself a new arena. And he did not bet on the SuperSonics extension, he wanted to attract the National Hockey League to the northwest.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and OVG Founder Tim Lieweke signed a $ 660 million memorandum of understanding. This paved the way for a privately financed arena by 2020.

According to reports, at one point in the conference, Durkan tore his jacket and revealed a Seattle SuperSonics jersey inside.

August 1, 2018 – Center stage

After almost a decade without an NBA team – the reason being an extremely antiquated home court arena – the Oak View Group (OVG) and Seattle Hockey Partners (SHP) have agreed to donate $ 700 million for the renovation of KeyArena. According to OVG, it is "the largest private investment in the history of sport and entertainment in the Pacific Northwest".

Seattle City Council unanimously approved $ 700 million in private funding for the renovation of KeyArena. With this agreement, the National Hockey League could expand to Seattle in the 2020-21 season.

It also meant that KeyArena would be updated to NBA standards. If the league were to develop again, Seattle would have cleared the way to welcome a team.

Prior to the October 4 game between the Warriors and the Kings in Seattle, Kevin Durant was asked to say he thought the city would again host an NBA team.

"Of course," Durant said ESPN. "Most definitely, it's a basketball town, it's a sports town … They have a good representation of basketball in the NBA from Seattle-born players, born in the state of Washington. And I feel that the whole brand deserves an NBA team, just as the Golden State Warriors deserve a team or the Los Angeles Lakers deserve a team, Seattle is the same. [A team] has the same kind of impact in the community. So [we have] a lot of time in life before it's all over, and I'm sure we'll see a team before the time. "

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The NBA does not plan an expansion in the immediate future, but when it does, Commissioner Adam Silver says that Seattle is one of the cities where the league will pay a lot of attention. Sonics fans deserve NBA basketball, perhaps more than any other city. And with the renovation of the new arena, they put themselves in a position to recover it.