NBA Commissioner David Stern said Saturday that the city of Seattle rejected an offer approaching $30 million from the Sonics’ ownership group to buy out the remaining two years of the KeyArena lease.Stern, at his annual news conference on All-Star weekend in New Orleans, said he was resigned to the Sonics leaving Seattle.“It’s apparent to all who are watching that the Sonics are heading out of Seattle,” said Stern, who added that he encouraged the ownership headed by Clay Bennett to make the offer.“I accept that inevitability at this point,” Stern said. “There is no miracle here.”Tim Ceis, Seattle’s deputy mayor, responded strongly when told of Stern’s comments.
“If Mr. Stern had any kind of integrity, he wouldn’t be trying to hijack this team out of Seattle,” Ceis said. “David Stern hasn’t lifted one finger since Clay Bennett bought this team to do anything to try and keep it in Seattle. It’s been an ongoing conspiracy between the league and Clay Bennett to hijack this franchise out of Seattle.”
Stern said he expects the Sonics to leave the city this year or when their lease expires in 2010. He called the city’s rejection of the offer “bad public policy” because it would retire the debt on the 1995 renovation of KeyArena.
The NBA commissioner also said he didn’t believed the city’s rejection of the bid was because of Bennett.
“They’re equal opportunities deniers of aid,” Stern said. “Howard Schultz, who was a resident of Seattle, who owned the team previously, who invested time and energy leading lobbying efforts at the city council, at the county level and at the state level, was unsuccessful. Clay Bennett actually spent more money, developed more plans, made more visits, and the answer was no, no, a thousand times no.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
How did you become the Commissioner of the NBA when you have no care in the world for a very established team. You have done nothing to help this team that was heartlessly sold to out of towners whose intentions were from the beginning to leave Seattle, no good will agreement happened here. This is something you seem to have been a part of, and now endorse. Seems strange that the commish of the NBA would make such careless comments, making us believe that you were in on this scheme all along. Why would we take an offer to get rid of the Sonics? OH yeah maybe because the city does care and wants to try and keep them here? How is that the not obvious at this point? Would we be going through this trial to keep them here if we didn’t want them to stay? Did the scumhead of Starbucks call you before he sold to your friend or did your Bennett himself convince you to betray a team that has 40 years of history in Seattle… It really makes me wonder… A lot of people care Mark Cuban, David Stern, other NBA owners take note that the fans do care about the SEATTLE Supersonics. I go to Sonics games on a regular basis and i see the fans, i hear and feel the love for the team, i sit and join in on the “SAVE OUR SONICS” chants that go on and i know this city does care. Oddly enough we don’t control or know what even goes on at those City Council meetings. Did i send i emails to my representatives, yes and a lot of other fans did too. Do we, as fans, have a say in what gets presented before those members NO we don’t..yeah you OKC (insert bad word of choice) pityed the Hornets for a while but really, OKC and New Orleans combined are not a larger market then seattle and you will eventually fail like the Hornets are doing attendance-wise now even though they are a great team..i am not hating either i’m from a city in the midwest, i have love for the small towns.. But your not getting our SEATTLE Sonics.. end of story..
