Sonics, governor declare two-minute warning

Not even four weeks after the Washington state legislature failed to approve the Seattle Sonics‘ demands for a state-subsidized $220 million renovation of the KeyArena, the pressure is on the city of Seattle to resolve the situation soon. Not pressure from the Sonics, mind you. Rather, it was Gov. Christine Gregoire who this week sent a letter to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels insisting: “”The Sonics and Storm deserve to know their status with the city so the team can decide whether or not to pursue other options. If the city intends to pursue a future for the area that does not include Sonics and Storm, it is time to communicate that to them so they may consider alternatives within Washington before contemplating a long-distance move.”

That penultimate phrase – “alternatives within Washington” – is key to why Gregoire is suddenly playing bagman (baglady? Bagelady?) for the Sonics’ arena demands. The team’s co-owner, Starbucks chief Howard Schultz, has claimed he has a “blank check” offer to move to an unnamed city (Oklahoma City and Kansas City, which have newly built, empty arenas to fill, are the rumored leading candidates, along with Las Vegas), and Gregoire is pushing for suburban Bellevue to head the out-of-towners off at the pass.

The Sonics would be fine with that, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, so long as Bellevue starts construction “almost immediately to build an arena in time to meet the Sonics’ needs.” (Somebody needs a primer on the meaning of “need.”) “It’s in the realm of possibilities,” team spokesperson Valerie O’Neil told the paper. “But it needs to be on the fast track.” To drive the point home, team president Wally Walker broke new ground in the art of oblique move threats, telling the Seattle Times: “The sale of the franchises has never been our preferred option, but given time running short on our current lease, we must contemplate all scenarios. This ownership group has no interest in owning professional basketball franchises outside of the state of Washington.” And to think, he just saved himself 6.99 Euro!

So far, the attempted hurry-up offense doesn’t appear to have had much effect, with Bellevue city leaders saying they haven’t talked to the Sonics lately, and Seattle officials saying they’re prepared to find other uses for KeyArena if the team insists on relocating. “The governor is an important political figure. Her statements always carry some weight,” Seattle city council president Nick Licata told the P-I. “But I’m not sure it’s enough to change the reality of people’s resistance to subsidizing the Sonics hundreds of millions of dollars. … I think [Gregoire is] trying to prod the city to agree to subsidize the Sonics and I think she’s going to find opposition to that in the state Legislature – not just in the city.”