What's that? Oh, Clay Bennett was not actually negotiating in good faith with the city of Seattle and the Washington State Legislature to work out a deal to get a new building for the Sonics in the Emerald City? Oh, that's surprising. Really surprising.
The Seattle Times has released emails from the Sonics owner indicating that no, Bennett did not want to find a workable solution in Seattle and yes, Oklahoma City was the destination all along. Jim Brunner's story is rather damning and pretty fantastic. Do read. (Via TrueHoop, of course.)
The clearest example of how much of a two-faced liar Bennett within the documents involves an exchange with commissioner David Stern. This is Bennett to Stern, last August, after Sonics minority owner Aubrey McClendon said something in the OKC press about bringing the team there ASAP:
"Aubrey and I have NEVER discussed moving the Sonics to Oklahoma City, nor have I discussed it with ANY other member of the ownership group."And here is part of an exchange between Bennett and minority owner Tom Ward, with McClendon CCed, from last April.
Ward: Is there any way to move here for next season or are we doomed to have another lame duck season in Seattle?They wanted to take the team before this season. We all knew the whole kit and kaboodle was a sham as of last summer; that the fools would be so careless to lie directly to the commissioner borders on the surreal.
Bennett: I am a man possessed! Will do everything we can. Thanks for hanging with me boys, the game is getting started!
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. What an utter embarrassment for the NBA. Their commissioner is satan, several of their owners are crooks, many of the players are criminals, the refs are crooked.
What a "NBA-is" Fantastic league you got there. Time to throw out Stern, deny this raping of Seattle (and future raping of other cities), and clean up the NBA image.
What a disgrace!
Posted at 5:50PM on Apr 10th 2008 by Jameson
2. It is really a shame that David Stern has done NOTHING to keep the Supersonics in Seattle after 41 years and a championship. Now, his good friend, has made him look stupid - very stupid.
Will the owners make the NBA stay in Seattle? I doubt it, but if they knew what was good for their sport they would work to keep them in Seattle.
Posted at 6:40PM on Apr 10th 2008 by scott curtis
3. Jameson, you don't even know what you are talking about. I might even agree about Stern and a couple of owners, but you are going too far saying that many players are criminals. This is a LIE. Most of the players are not criminals. It's only a handful of players who create troubles and, sadly to say, those are the ones who make news. Good guys don't get into the news too often.
And yes, Sonics aside (and half the Eastern Conference for that matter) the NBA is fantastic. If maybe you watched it you would know it, since this is one of the best seasons ever and the playoffs race in the western conference is the wildest in history. TV ratings are very good this year, merchandise sales are through the roof and the league had its highest attendance ever in March. So, the NBA is doing fine, surely better than you think.
Get your facts STRAIGHT before trashing something you don't watch or barely watch.
Besides, I love how people are so hypocrits. They trash the NBA for every little thing, yet baseball and football have FAR WORSE problems than basketball and those same people don't seem to mind. Pathetic.
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=397633
^ proof about what great season the NBA is having. If you don't think so, it's because you don't watch it or because your favorite team (provided you have one, but I doubt it) sucks.
Posted at 8:45PM on Apr 10th 2008 by NBA fan
4. as far as the refs are crooked comments, please don't make me laugh. I hope you realize you are accusing people (innocent people who just happen to officiate basketball games) to be criminals. What a bad person you must be, Jameson. I mean, let's suppose a co-worker of yours gets arrested because he killed someone. Would you like that people called you and all the other co-workers criminals because of the actions of one person? I doubt it. So, just because a referee made something illegal, it doesn't mean every one else does the same.
If more people realized how hard officiating basketball games is (and people weren't as biased as many fans are), maybe we wouldn't hear this crap about refs all the times. True fans don't make excuses about refs.
Also, I wish people who don't like the NBA or don't understand the game of basketball stopped from posting here. Go post somewhere else if the NBA is not your thing. You don't know much about it anyway. Why do you have to ruin it for everyone else with your IGNORANT posts?
Posted at 8:51PM on Apr 10th 2008 by NBA fan
5. What a bunch of hype. All the city of Seattle had to do was build an arena for the Sonics and Clay Bennett would have been forced to stay in Seattle. It didn't matter what he wanted to do, because all the onus was on the city of Seattle. Build an arena and he would stay, just as he promised David Stern and Howard Schultz. The city of Seattle knew that, was told that on the date of purchase. He actually gave them more than a year to come up with plans to build an arena, because he bought the team in July, and his deadline ended November 1st. Who is surprised he prefered the team in Oklahoma? I'm sure David Stern wasn't. But, since he kept it all quiet except for a few e-mails (not many considering how long this process went on), it doesn't matter what he wanted. All that mattered was what he did. He found a supporter in Margarita Prentice, and she should have had enough political clout to get something done in the Senate if anyone could. He spent money on a plan, and he spoke to the legislature on it's behalf. From what I could tell, they ignored him. So did the mayor and the city council of Seattle. Now they're all up in arms about a few e-mails that had no bearing. Build an arena, Mr. Mayor, and Clay Bennett and the Sonics would have stayed. The ball was always in your court.
Posted at 10:19PM on Apr 10th 2008 by hoodoo
6. What is interesting is that Clay Bennett promised Howard Schultz that he would make a concerted effort to keep the Sonics in Seattle....part of the sales deal...so it seems to me Schultz could put the kibosh on the whole sale if he really wanted to...?
The guy has been such a blatant liar! How can David Stern endorse this now?
Posted at 11:24PM on Apr 10th 2008 by steve
7. NBA Fan (or should I say Stern Jr.?), how much of a moron can you actually be?
Let me count the ways:
1) Criminals - Duuuuhhhh! I know there are players who aren't criminals. That is why I said "MANY PLAYERS". Are you a dunce?
Further, you say that it is a LIE that many are criminals. Are you blind? Take one minute right now and do an internet search for "nba arrest" and see what you get. How many does it take before you consider it MANY? Idiot.
2) Fantastic - Where did I say anything about playoffs, TV ratings, merchandise sales, and attendance? Sounds like you are really trying hard to defend the NBA even against accusations that were never made. Telling.
3) Baseball and Football are far worse - Why would I talk about the NFL or MLB in a comment thread concerning the NBA? I'm not an imbecile. Too bad you can't say the same. Let me make it clear for you NBA Fan. The Sonics, David Stern, Clay Bennett and Co., the court case, the emails, etc. all have to do with the NBA. Spygate and Steroids have nothing to do with them.
4) You don't watch or your team sucks - Why don't YOU get YOUR facts STRAIGHT before trashing someone you don't know? I am a 13 year season ticket holder for an NBA team in this years playoffs with more than one championship trophy.
5) Refs are crooked - One ref was fired, several were "talked to", and I guarantee they weren't alone. Aside from the obvious crooked cases, I make the case that to a lesser degree EVERY ref is messed up in some way. Any ref that will make a call against a rookie or nobody but not make the same call against a superstar is suspect. Period. Oh yeah, true fans don't blindly make excuses FOR refs.
6) Ignorant posts - I think I've shown who makes ignorant posts. NBA Fan, ladies and gentleman.
Posted at 12:29AM on Apr 11th 2008 by Jameson
8. Bennett never wanted to keep the Sonics in Seattle, and I don't blame him at all for wanting to move the team, but his blatant lying is pretty embarassing. Everyone knows the real jerk in this whole thing, Howard F. Schultz! No one in Sea-Town should ever forgive him or forget what he did knowing full well that Bennett was moving the team.
Posted at 1:37AM on Apr 11th 2008 by Gern Wormstead
9. hoodoo, are you serious? "All Seattle had to do was build an arena." It is clear that you know little about the situation here in Seattle, or economics in general...if you do, thank God you are not in a position of power.
"What's that Mr. Bennett, you want $500 million for a new arena. Why sure, anything you say Mr. Bennett. What's that Mr. Bennett, you want the state to pay the players salary, sure thing Mr. Bennett, we'll just cut our education and transportation budgets. What's that, you want a back rub, sure thing Mr. Bennett."
Bennett never wanted to stay in Seattle, that's why he DEMANDED $500 million for the new arena. No politician in their right mind would allocate those kind of funds for an arena...especially for a team that is no good, and Bennett knew that.
And as for the state and city not wanting to negotiate...how can you negotiate with someone who lies? You can't.
Posted at 4:16AM on Apr 11th 2008 by Adam
10. Mr. Bennet came in, and did every possible thing that he could to disconnect the team from the city. (ie-getting rid of every person involved with the team that had history...Lenny Wilkens, Jack Sikma, Detlef Shrempf...not to mention trading away the only two stars of the team). He and David Stern are both slimeballs...I hope that the board of owners choose to wait on their vote until the three lawsuits against him are settled. I have a feeling that this may be bigger than anyone realizes, and that the team could in fact end up staying here!
OH, and NBA Fan...Two years ago when Howard Schultz owned the arena, David Stern told the city of Seattle that our arena needed to be remodeled in order to stay current with todays NBA arenas. Fast-forward two years, and now David Stern is saying that a remodel (Which the city has offered to help out with), isn't good enough. What's up with that? The truth of the matter is, is that Clay-Clay and David Stern are in bed together, and have since day one. I believe that with these lawsuits, that there are going to be some documents, and financial reports that are going to show some questionable dealings!
Posted at 5:02PM on Apr 16th 2008 by jaydub