Throw another move threat on the fire: Yesterday, Seattle Sonics minority owner (and billionaire natural gas mogul) Aubrey McClendon told the Oklahoma City Journal Record that he was “under a self-imposed gag order” regarding operations of the team – then yammered at length about it, including the statement: “We didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here. We know it’s a little more difficult financially here in Oklahoma City, but we think it’s great for the community and if we could break even we’d be thrilled.”
The Seattle media, predictably, blew a gasket, especially considering that the new Sonics owners promised to make a “good faith” effort for one year to keep the team in Seattle as part of their purchase agreement. “We should thank him for exposing chairman Clay Bennett as the duplicitous salesman he is,” wrote Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley. “The old owners were lying when they sold it, the new owners were lying when they bought it,” wrote Post-Intelligencer columnist Art Thiel, adding, “and who cares anyway because the NBA is crooked, thanks to a mobbed-up referee.” Ouch.
McClendon promptly issued a statement denying he’d said what he’d said:
“I was always aware and understood our number-one goal was to work with officials to build a new arena in the Seattle area. … The comment about my personal hopes cannot in any way be interpreted to mean the organization has not exhaustively pursued every reasonable avenue to get an arena deal done and keep the Sonics and Storm in Seattle.”
As for what it all means for the future of the Sonics, probably not squat – Bennett, after all, has threatened a move to Oklahoma City plenty of times. Nonetheless, Thiel suggests that this should give the city of Seattle increased leverage to keep the Sonics: “I’m not a lawyer, but I’m certain I could sue Bennett, the old ownership and probably the city for contract breach, tie up everyone for years and eventually win.”
More likely, McClendon’s words will just make it a bit more difficult for the NBA to okay a move of the team without running into criticism that it’s kowtowing to carpetbaggers. And who knows – maybe some harsh words from David Stern will even get Bennett to knock a few million off that $300 million asking price of his. A boy can dream, can’t he?