What Does the NBA Have Against the Seattle SuperSonics?
By Todd Pheifer
You ever have one of those situations where you feel like someone is mad at you? When you ask, they deny that there is any animosity but somehow you just get a sense that something is amiss.
When it comes to the beautiful city of Seattle, it feels like something is amiss between the PNW and the National Basketball Association. The NBA will claim that they love the Emerald City and the Seattle SuperSonics, but recent actions speak louder than words.
First, Clay Bennett lies to the city about his intentions for the SuperSonics and gets dragged into court for his troubles. Does the NBA punish him for his general lack of integrity? No. They make him the chair of the Relocation Committee. That would be funny if it weren’t ironically pathetic.
Then, the NBA has a golden opportunity to upgrade a Sacramento Kings franchise that is wasting away in their current locale. Instead of being consistent and allowing (an honest) Chris Hansen to buy and move the team, David Stern and his bruised ego steps in and makes sure that the (almost) SuperSonics stay in an inferior market. The thief gets a team. The honest buyer does not.
This feels personal.
Somewhere along the way, the city of Seattle apparently did not pay appropriate homage to the NBA royalty. That has apparently not been forgotten, and the SuperSonics remain in the archives.
The latest blow is Steve Ballmer, a guy who was supposed to be the money in the bring-back-the-Sonics campaign. Instead, he is awarded the Los Angeles Clippers after grossly overpaying for a franchise that is simply not worth $2 billion.
Do you think the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver iare going to encourage (or even allow) Ballmer to move the Clippers up north? Not a chance.
Instead, Seattle will be ongoing leverage against any owner who dares to challenge the NBA and any city that does not cough up vast amounts of public funding for “state-of-the-art” arenas. The NFL uses Los Angeles as a threat, and the NBA will continue to use Seattle as a threat.
Just a threat, and nothing more.
Maybe the Seattle SuperSonics return in a decade, but fans should not hold their breath. The NBA is holding a grudge against the city and have instead decided to keep franchises in bustling metropolitan areas like Sacramento and Milwaukee.
Haters gonna hate, and right now the NBA does not dig the city of Seattle.