First, let’s get something straight.
The NBA is David Stern’s baby because owners allow it to be. Even though it’s never reached the same popularity since Michael Jordan finally retired for good, even though its All-Star weekend was a colossal bore and even though Stern wants to stick his hands into every little issue, such as players’ off-court attire, hey, he can run it the way he wants.
Stern is no different than any other major-league sports commissioner. He works for the owners. Most of the teams enjoy hefty returns. One, the Seattle Sonics, is dyed a deep red.
As far as the rest of the owners are concerned, that’s a perfectly acceptable state of affairs. They’ve got theirs.
It’s puzzling, though. As much as Stern preaches stability within the ranks, he has done zero in helping to find a financial solution to prevent the Sonics, a team definitive in its stability by way of its more than 40 years of service in the same city, from making the hike to Oklahoma City.
Stern ruffled more than a few feathers this weekend during his annual address at the All-Star game in New Orleans by revealing that the city of Seattle rejected a $26.5 million offer from the Sonics’ ownership group to buy out the last two years of the KeyArena lease.
Stern’s disclosure was met by the predictable outrage by Seattle officials, who questioned Stern’s integrity and asserted that he co-piloted Clay Bennett’s hijacking of the team to the Midwest.
To which we say: What else is new?
And one more thing: What are you going to do about it?
The latest flurry is part of a familiar pattern since Bennett bought the team from caffeine pusher Howard Schultz in 2006: Lots of screaming, but that’s about it.
Oh, sure, the city sued the Sonics to hold them to their lease. The sides have a June 16 trial date to determine whether the team will be bound to KeyArena through the 2009-2010 season.
In this corner, the city of Seattle, holding a signed lease. In the opposite corner, Bennett, holding a franchise dripping in red ink.
Even if the city wins the trial, what then? What happens after 2010? Stern says he sees nothing that could keep the Sonics from leaving, either now or later.
Unlike the darkest days of the seemingly inevitable moves by the Mariners and the Seahawks, no Knight in Shining Armor appears on the horizon to yank the Sonics from Bennett’s clutches, negotiate a lease favorable to both the city and the NBA and keep the team in Seattle.
At least, not yet.
The last thing the taxpaying public wants is to again bankroll another megastadium. Yet, even though Stern insists that such a structure should be publicly financed, four stadiums in major Western cities are privately funded — the Rose Garden in Portland; GM Place in Vancouver, B.C.; Staples Center in Los Angeles; and Pepsi Center in Denver.
Will it happen in Seattle? Possibly, but not with Bennett. Bennett has burned his bridges in the Northwest. No potential stadium investor wants name attachment with him.
Several things must happen.
One, the city has to win the suit and keep the team in Seattle. That, in turn, means Bennett and his clan lose millions for another two years. As the team plunges deeper into debt, might Bennett’s partners jump ship? Might Bennett, himself?
And now, since the New Orleans Hornets have an escape clause linked to attendance after next season, would they become the new favorite to move to the state that gave us the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Garth Brooks and the movie “Twister?”
A lot has to happen. It doesn’t look particularly favorable. And Lord knows we can’t count on Stern’s help.
But at least the pre-trial screaming will end.
Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com. To reach Sleeper’s blog, “Dangling Participles,” go to www.heraldnet.com/danglingparticiples.
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