Sadly, the residents of Seattle no longer warrant our sympathy. Those days are gone with the SuperSonics. The once-supersize franchise is off to Oklahoma City, under an assumed name, with its carpet-bagging owner leading the procession of moving vans.
This is the time to lock the shop. The hunted have become the hunters.
The grieving, seething, contemplative residents of Seattle were left without their basketball team, but with a settlement that provides financial, political and emotional incentives to press forward with the renovation of KeyArena — presumably to house another team in the near future.
Memphis. New Orleans. Charlotte. Milwaukee. Sacramento.
Don’t sleep now. The endangered franchise list includes you. If it can happen in Seattle, one of the nation’s top-15 markets, it will take more than a deadbolt to secure a franchise.
“The downside of this is that Seattle is going to be the new Oklahoma City,” said Brian Robinson, co-founder of the Save Our Sonics grass roots movement. “We’re going to take a break, take a deep breath, and then start looking for a team via expansion or relocation. I don’t think anybody feels that Sacramento is going to leave. But you could see it being used as leverage.”
Isn’t that just swell? How much more of this nonsense are fans willing to take?
The league’s chronic venue shopping — in sharp contrast to the more stable Major League Baseball and, increasingly, the NFL — only furthers the NBA’s reputation as a troubled, second-tier sport. There is something to be said for a rich tradition, say, for 41 years and a championship (1978-79 Sonics), for Lenny Wilkens, Gus Williams, Paul Silas, Freddie Brown, Tom Chambers, Gary Payton, Jack Sikma, Kevin Durant. For the late, great Dennis Johnson.
Get over it? Just like that?
They can’t. They won’t.
“Seattle has no idea what they have lost,” e-mailed Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, one of two league owners who voted against the Sonics’ relocation. “It’s something that $75 million (the lease settlement between the city and Sonics owner Clay Bennett) will never be able to buy. The Seattle situation makes the point that communities truly own their teams, and it’s not until it’s too late that politicians, economists and even owners truly understand that.”
The NBA is truly becoming the Balkans. No sports map should require a decade-by-decade revision, no matter the issues. While every arena deal is a bruising, complex undertaking, with elements unique to individual markets, many situations (see Seattle) deteriorate because of similar factors, fractured relationships among them. Might something finally be learned from this latest embarrassment?
A few thoughts come to mind:
— Fans need to engage earlier in the process, asking questions, demanding answers and listening intently. This is like taking a combined course in economics, political science, psychology, land use and environmental science.
— Politicians should be reminded that they will be held accountable; another election always awaits.
— Owners and league officials could more effectively articulate the reasons — the basics, really — for replacing or renovating existing structures. Instead of issuing threats about relocation, they could explain that the maligned KeyArena, for instance, still must be modernized to remain competitive as a sports, cultural and entertainment venue. (And by the way Kings fans: KeyArena is a symphony hall compared to Arco Arena).
— Stern and the Board of Governors might more closely scrutinize prospective owners. The league has one Donald Sterling. It doesn’t need two. And the next time someone wants to purchase a franchise located outside his time zone and commits to a commuter marriage, he should be escorted to the elevator tout de suite.
But the most pragmatic solution — the one that would alleviate much of the constant angst — would require hiring a full-time arena/stadium expert to study NBA markets, establish relationships within the communities, determine where to locate and how to finance a facility, and eventually put forth a detailed plan with the greatest chance of success.
John Moag. He’s working on Sacramento. Why not Seattle and Milwaukee?
“That actually might be a good idea,” Kings co-owner Joe Maloof replied, when asked his thoughts. “We’re really grateful to the league for bringing him (Moag) in. We still have a long way to go, but we feel like we’re all on the same page, that we have an opportunity to get something accomplished in Sacramento that will be good for everybody.
“These things are just so hard. The hardest thing … what people don’t understand … I can’t speak for (former Sonics owner) Howard Schultz about what happened in Seattle, but when you’re losing $25-30 million a year, you reach a point where you have to reassess the viability of your franchise. The Sonics had the worst, the absolute worst lease in the league. There should have been a way for everyone to get together and say, ‘OK, this isn’t working. Let’s work something out.’ But you don’t sense that happened.”
No, you don’t.
Well, maybe you should.
(Contact Ailene Voisin at avoisinsacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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