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E-mails Reveal Intentions of Sonics’ Owners
by
findingDulcinea Staff
E-mails between owners of the Seattle SuperSonics show they intended to move the team to Oklahoma City as far back as April 2007, which would violate their good-faith agreement to try to keep the team in Seattle.
30-Second Summary
In e-mails obtained by Seattle officials, Sonics majority owner Clay Bennett says that the Sonics owners are doing “everything we can” to make the move after the 2007-08 season.
The news comes as little surprise to Sonics fans, who have suspected since Bennett bought the team in July 2006 that the Oklahoma City–based businessman never intended to keep the team in Seattle. With the team playing in the aging KeyArena and a larger, modern arena waiting in Oklahoma City, it was clear that moving was an option.
Bennett began negotiations with the city of Seattle to build a new, taxpayer-funded arena. He maintained that he was committed to keeping the Sonics in Seattle and would leave for Oklahoma City only if negotiations fell through. He set a deadline of October 31, 2007 for approval of a new arena.
In August 2007, co-owner Aubrey McClendon was quoted as saying, “we didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle.” Bennett claimed at the time that the other owners did not share this opinion. Now, with the release of the e-mails, it appears that McClendon was speaking truthfully and in line with the other owners.
Some Seattle officials hope the e-mails will be enough to prove that the ownership violated the “good faith” agreement it made with former owner Howard Schultz and the NBA, which could force the Sonics to stay in Seattle at least through 2010.
Schultz is considering filing a lawsuit to reclaim the team, though there is little chance he will be successful.
The news comes as little surprise to Sonics fans, who have suspected since Bennett bought the team in July 2006 that the Oklahoma City–based businessman never intended to keep the team in Seattle. With the team playing in the aging KeyArena and a larger, modern arena waiting in Oklahoma City, it was clear that moving was an option.
Bennett began negotiations with the city of Seattle to build a new, taxpayer-funded arena. He maintained that he was committed to keeping the Sonics in Seattle and would leave for Oklahoma City only if negotiations fell through. He set a deadline of October 31, 2007 for approval of a new arena.
In August 2007, co-owner Aubrey McClendon was quoted as saying, “we didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle.” Bennett claimed at the time that the other owners did not share this opinion. Now, with the release of the e-mails, it appears that McClendon was speaking truthfully and in line with the other owners.
Some Seattle officials hope the e-mails will be enough to prove that the ownership violated the “good faith” agreement it made with former owner Howard Schultz and the NBA, which could force the Sonics to stay in Seattle at least through 2010.
Schultz is considering filing a lawsuit to reclaim the team, though there is little chance he will be successful.
Headline Link: Seattle officials obtain e-mails
In a series of three e-mails (available in PDF format), Bennett assures co-owner Tom Ward that they will be moving to Oklahoma City after the season. The e-mails were obtained as part of a federal lawsuit filed by Seattle officials against the ownership group, which seeks to enforce the Sonics’ lease agreement with the KeyArena through 2010. Seattle officials will use the e-mails as leverage in their negotiations with the owners, hoping to either keep the Sonics through 2010 or to increase the price of the buyout.
Source: Seattle Times
Background: Owners look to relocate
The e-mails were exchanged shortly after the team’s $500 million arena proposal was turned down by Seattle officials, prompting Bennett to state that there was “little hope” the Sonics would stay.
Source: Seattle Times
On August 13, 2007, co-owner Aubrey McClendon told The Journal Record in Oklahoma that the ownership group bought the team to move it to Oklahoma City. Bennett released a statement saying McClendon was “not speaking on behalf of the ownership group” and the NBA fined McClendon $250,000.
Source: ESPN
On November 2, after the October 31st deadline had passed, Bennett announced that the team would seek a move to Oklahoma City after the season.
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Reactions: Stern defends Bennett and Schultz tries to reclaim team
Howard Schultz has announced that he may sue to reclaim control of the team. His lawyer, Richard Yarmuth explains, “The damages that are being sought is to rescind, unwind the transaction. It's not money damage. It's to have the team returned.”
Source: Seattle Times
NBA commissioner David Stern, who has been supportive of Bennett throughout the moving process, doesn’t believe the emails violate the good-faith agreement. “I haven’t studied them,” he said. “But my sense of it was that Clay … is operating in good faith under the agreement that he made with Howard Schultz.”
Source: News Tribune
Opinions & Analysis: Sonics are still doomed
The Seattle Times asks how the Sonics could possibly be moving after 41 years in Seattle, reviewing the series of events that have led to the current situation. It assesses blame to Bennett and his co-owners as well as former owner Howard Schultz, a Seattle businessman who sold the team knowing that it would likely be moved.
Source: Seattle Times
Brian Hendrickson of The Columbian doesn’t think the e-mails help the situation. They reveal nothing Sonics fans didn’t already know about Bennett’s intentions, only emphasizing how dedicated he is to moving the team.
Source: The Columbian
ESPN’s Bomani Jones admires Bennett’s dedication to moving an NBA team to his hometown, even if his actions are admirable. “Bennett's audacity, all the way down to the bald-faced whoppers he's told since he bought the team, have a quality that isn't entirely repulsive. This probably isn't Bennett's dream, but it's certainly his wish, and it's amazing that he has come so close to making it come true.”
Source: ESPN
The Seattle Times’ Jerry Brewer recognizes Schultz’s lawsuit is motivated more by public relations than by a genuine desire to regain the team. Many Sonics fans have blamed Schultz for selling the team to out-of-town owners and by making an attempt—however feeble it may be—to save the team, he is trying to avoid “being cast as a gluttonous villain who jumped on the best deal possible.”
Source: Seattle Times
Reference: Save our Sonics
Save our Sonics is a grassroots organization dedicated to keeping the Sonics in Seattle. Its Web site features information on how to become involved, including writing letters to local officials and donating money to the organization.
Source: Save our Sonics
ESPN’s Bill Simmons invited Sonics fans to voice their feelings in a special edition of his mailbag feature. In dozens of letters, the fans express their memories of watching the team, their dejection in losing it and their anger toward Bennett and NBA Commissioner David Stern.
Source: ESPN
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