I hope Durant and Westbrook leave when their contracts are up, it's hard for me to NOT to root for them.
Sonicsgate: Requim For a Team is a great documentary for any true NBA fan! I found myself locked in within the first 10-15 minutes. It was a great recount of everything that was the Seattle SuperSonics, and the second half of the documentary is the final season and a horrific way to end a 41 year old franchise. It’s been little while since it happened, and my memories of it were starting to get a little foggy, so I’m glad this little refresher came out. It’s depressing for any fan of the NBA to see just how powerless we are over the future of our teams. It’s also very frightening how easily any owner like Clay Bennet can come in and hi-jack a team like the Sonics and transplant them in Oklahoma City.
Save your time, Commissioner Stern and Clay Bennet weren't going to listen.
It just shows you how a few retards that have way too much money can ruin years and years of history in a great sports city. The league pretty much proved that it doesn’t even care what the fans want, which is even more sad. Not that I’m an expert about rooting for teams with competent management, but I couldn’t imagine going through an ordeal like they did, and hope I never have to.
Here are a couple of things from the video I forgot about;
- Stern’s homo erotic sounding e-mails to Bennet (about the 7:10 mark on part 2). It’s amazing that these two actually can say they cherish each other! I wish there were more owners that had a relationship with Stern that mirrored his and Mark Cubans.
- David Stern’s comically awkward answers after announcing the Sonics would move to Oaklahoma City. I remember seeing the interview, and not thinking much of it at the time. Stern really did avoid every question they threw at him which only made him look more guilty.
- Mark Cuban (Mavericks Owner) and Paul Allen (Blazers Owner) were the only two that voted against letting the Sonics relocate to Oklahoma City. It’s good at least two guys had the balls to see that this was a jack move, too bad the other revenue sharing money grubbers wouldn’t do the same.
Too bad they had to reign in the Jordan era, they were a great duo.
- How bad the deal was that the city of Seattle took before the ruling was read by the judge(36 minutes in part 2)! I can’t believe a Sonics fan didn’t assassinate him.
- My one lingering question at the end of this video is will Gary Payton allow Oklahoma City put his jersey in the rafters? Of all the players that seemed to stand up for keeping the team there The Glove was on the front line leading the charge. I’d love to see him snub them in OKC on his jersey retirement night! That might be the last possible jab the Sonics have left to throw at the Thunder.
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
October 14th, 2009 at 10:08 am
chappy
To see this Sonics’ franchise fall this far because of the mismanagement is merely an indication of
how bad things can become when you have an owner
whose mind is elsewhere. From Schultz to now , Clay
Bennett. There isn’t much that can be said.
I just hope now that with them now being in Oklahoma , the fans will be appreciative of what they now have.
The next franchise that may well be on the move could well be the Sacramento Kings . They’re in a complete financial mess at present. And it’s no fault of the Maloof brothers. As they’ve tried their very best to do what’s right. For NBA player Kevin Johnson who’s now the mayor of Sacramento is trying to do his very best to make sure they remain in the city. But I for one, don’t know whether or not he’ll prove to be successful in that endeavor.
The Kings were recipients of tens of millions of dollars that the NBA made sure that several franchises around the league received by way of their own bailout. It was part of a $200 million loan from Bank of America – shared amongst a dozen teams within the NBA. That’s allowed to happen but yet a small business owner can’t be tied over with a damn bridging loan in order to keep his company afloat.
Alan Parkins
October 14th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
The Oklahoma fans better be happy with what they have. They have a great core of young guys to be excited about! I wish I could be more excited about them, but because of the way they moved, I don’t think I can ever root for them!
Yeah, the Kings situation is pretty bad. It’s a stalemate on getting a new stadium. I know the Maloofs aren’t nearly as shady as Bennet and Co. Their stadium proposals sound 100 times better than what the Oklahoma group put out in Seattle. Plus, they haven’t diminished any of their marketing/advertising, it’s just that the team sucks so nobody goes… I hope KJ finds a way to convince the city to build a new arena for them. I remember the bailout, but I think that was just to keep some teams operating day to day. Some teams were reportedly not being able to pay their employees, and that was the major reason for the bailout!
October 14th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
chappy
A lot of what took place in Seattle was because of the stupidity of Schultz , his lawyers and indeed the municipality itself. Then bear in mind a contract was in place that neither side wanted to live up to. And then you had Stern as the commissioner intervening and allowing Bennett to induce breaking the contract between the two parties.
That’s why I for one don’t wholeheartedly trust David Stern. The man can’t be taken at his word.
The bailout went way beyond that as many of the franchises lived well beyond their means. They were spending money and they didn’t have the revenue streams coming in. How the hell can you run a business like that. It’s just common sense more than anything else. It’s not friggin’ rocket science !
Dropped this piece on A-Rod and the talk of him being referred to as Mr October. The statement was made by ESPN’s John Kruk. For the life of me what the hell are these guys imbibing before they go infront of the camera ? If they’re takin’ to crack pipe, barbituates or heroin. They could learn something from DJ Am. Cause it killed him.
Mr October ……Blah , Blah , Blah …..A-Rod Ain’t It !
Alan Parkins
October 14th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Nope, never trust Stern or any commissioner for that matter. Schultz should take some of the blame as he clearly could see what they were going to eventually do. In the end I wish there were more owners that actually cared.
October 14th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Let’s not forget that they couldn’t even come up with an original team name…. they had to take the Warriors’ mascot’s name! They even paid the W’s a nice little chunk of change for the inconvenience. It’s not even a cool name!
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