Seattle SuperSonics Thread

[dmbrhs]

To be fair, they were the ones who basically led the charge to drive the Sonics out of town. Nick Licata (city council member) deemed the Sonics had no cultural value (he still doesn't, he voted against this new arena) and made sure they left town thanks to legislation like I-91. They ran a fear campaign that tax payers would be on the hook for a new arena, and it passed easily. But this lawsuit is sour grapes. It'll get tossed out. Hell, the guy who CREATED I-91 said it falls within the lines as set forth by the initiative. Even the Mariners have caved and support an NBA team coming now. The anti-arena crowd (really, just a crowd looking for a handout) is losing support.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

That's good. I don't understand how local govt can ever be against anything that contributes to, at the very least, civic pride. Sports means so much more to the local social fabric, than a lot of those *** backwards, narrowminded politicians know. Can you imagine Seattle with zero sports? Thinking about our own former Sac councilwomen Sheedy, grinds my gears still 

 luckily she accomplished absolutely nothing in trying to get the Kings out..... the Maloofs are doing fine on their own 

 

[lightweight champion]

Licata must not know what culture is, sounds like he's done a sheedy job.

 

[dmbrhs]

We had an awful mayor at the time the Sonics left. And I mean, truly awful. He was a gutless clown. At least the current mayor, who probably won't get re-elected (for other reasons), fought to get Hansen's deal to go through. The city council doesn't like him, and he managed to convince them to get on board. That's a damn miracle around here. If we'd had somebody like that in office in 2008, yeah, maybe the Sonics would still be in OKC, but the move would have been delayed until 2010. And by then, the OKC ownership group would have bled so much money because of the recession and two more lame duck seasons, it would have been very interesting to see what might have happened. Anyway, I don't have the energy to go more in depth right now.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

We had an awful mayor at the time the Sonics left. And I mean, truly awful. He was a gutless clown. At least the current mayor, who probably won't get re-elected (for other reasons), fought to get Hansen's deal to go through. The city council doesn't like him, and he managed to convince them to get on board. That's a damn miracle around here. If we'd had somebody like that in office in 2008, yeah, maybe the Sonics would still be in OKC, but the move would have been delayed until 2010. And by then, the OKC ownership group would have bled so much money because of the recession and two more lame duck seasons, it would have been very interesting to see what might have happened. Anyway, I don't have the energy to go more in depth right now.

That sounds alot like Heather Fargo, the mayor before KJ.... 

If KJ wasn't mayor, the team would be (probably) playing in Anaheim now ....and Sac and Seattle both wouldn't have a team  

 

[dmbrhs]

Speaking of clowns, who the hell is this dude lol?

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/fyi-g...an-spokane-can-seattle-get-its-nba-mojo-back/

 

[frink85]

that article...how would the Maloofs sell the team (majority ownership) and retain control? Is it like...they want to keep a minority stake and/or stay on as CEO/COO/whatever? Who the hell would agree to buying the team on those terms?! Please tell me im misinterpreting that point.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

that article...how would the Maloofs sell the team (majority ownership) and retain control? Is it like...they want to keep a minority stake and/or stay on as CEO/COO/whatever? Who the hell would agree to buying the team on those terms?! Please tell me im misinterpreting that point.

you nailed it 

when they sold most of the Palms, they retained 2% while George still managed the place... they were trying to get the same out of Seattle, but I'm pretty sure they've backed off it since. Although, KJ did mention something about keeping the Maloofs around if that meant keeping the Kings in Sac, but I'm not entirely sure if it meant giving them control while maintaining a minority role... I doubt it.

 

[dmbrhs]

you nailed it 

when they sold most of the Palms, they retained 2% while George still managed the place... they were trying to get the same out of Seattle, but I'm pretty sure they've backed off it since. Although, KJ did mention something about keeping the Maloofs around if that meant keeping the Kings in Sac, but I'm not entirely sure if it meant giving them control while maintaining a minority role... I doubt it.

Yep. As soon as the first mention of them retaining say in day-to-day operations came out, I knew they were trying to strike some sort of Palms-type deal. Problem is, pro sports don't work like that. I really just can't imagine a scenario (for either city) where the Maloofs are still involved.

 

[dmbrhs]

we can probably dismiss this

Somebody else filed a SECOND lawsuit claiming the same thing. And you wonder why we lost the Sonics in the first place.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Not trying to make this Seattle VS Sac... but this is one of the reasons that will piss me off if we lose the Kings.

Our local govt is going above and beyond to try and keep this team here

 

[dmbrhs]

Not trying to make this Seattle VS Sac... but this is one of the reasons that will piss me off if we lose the Kings.

Our local govt is going above and beyond to try and keep this team here

This isn't government though. This is a very small group of "activists” that has been completely inactive since the Sonics left. The Citizens for More Important Things (in all fairness, Licata was the original leader of the movement, but he has nothing to do with these lawsuits other than this is part of his legacy) have actually been around for almost 20 years. But they only crawl out of their cave when people start talking about sports teams and stadiums.

There’s actually more support for the arena on the political level than I ever thought was possible. As I said before, just getting the mayor and city council to agree on something (and have only two “No” votes) is amazing, especially considering a couple current council members are running against the current mayor this fall. Licata was never going to vote for it, because he’s a troll. Richard Conlin’s vote was bought and paid for by the Mariners (the pictures of his daughter, who I’m friends with on FB, in the owner’s box at Safeco three days before the final vote was all I needed to know). Ironically, the Mariners have done an about-face and now (probably reluctantly) support an NBA team coming here. The county, who is actually on the hook for less in all this, turned out to be a bit tougher (6-3 in favor). There will always be dissenters though. Comes with the territory. I imagine there’s one or two people on the Sacramento CC who are completely out to lunch as well.

That being said, these types of lawsuits are for sore losers who are scared of reality. If they really thought they had a case, they’d have filed it the day after the city council approved the MOU. But they didn’t, which is telling. This is their desperation heave, because they’re convinced this is now all happening. It’s no different than the lawsuits over the new liquor sales law that was passed in 2011. The state was removed from the liquor business, but the state liquor store employees were unionized (state) employees, and they wanted to preserve their precious union status. So they latched onto one element of initiative law and tried to have the whole thing overturned. Multiple judges laughed them out of court.

 

[two.oh.6]

my twitter TL is blowing up.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8864092/kings-owners-reach-agreement-seattle-group-sources-say

 

[Deleted member 38182]

As a Kings fan this was expected, but its far from official since it still has to hit the BoG and KJ still has his standing meeting with them to make his case for Sac.

 

[checks grossman]

I'm not popping any corks just yet.

Though the perrier jouet is indeed on ice.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

I respect that

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

If Stern wants the move to happen, it'll happen. I'm sorry for Sacramento's loss. My brother is a very serious Kings fan and I gingerly suggested he buy the last home tickets while he could.

 

[dakid23]

Not getting to excited.....


Phil Jackson going to be part of the front office?

 

[Sinner]

More "rumors" from "sources"... from Wojnarowski...

Sources: Kings to play in Seattle next season

 

[elpablo21]

Serious question, is this news any different than whats been put out at this point?

I still need video evidence of papers being signed or something

 

[gaseousfashion]

It would be sort of weird seeing the Seattle Supersonics again.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Serious question, is this news any different than whats been put out at this point?

I still need video evidence of papers being signed or something

Technically no I guess since it was initially reported by Woj that the deal was finalized

 

[dmbrhs]

Technically no I guess since it was initially reported by Woj that the deal was finalized

I think the only difference is that the BoG was notified and a deal for a sale has been submitted. Before, it was just reports of a pending agreement. Stern even said they hadn't received anything. But with so many people reporting, there must be something in the BoG's hands now (or they've been notified, at least).

 

[dmbrhs]

I'm just going to keep this in this thread, but interesting info from Aldridge:

The source said the Maloofs, as late as a month ago, were in negotiations with a single, unnamed buyer who was prepared to keep the team in Sacramento for at least two more years. But the deal could not be consummated and the family turned back to Hansen last month.

There were other potential investors over the last couple of years as well, according to the source, but they ultimately didn't have the money or changed their minds. The Maloofs didn't have a "vendetta" against Sacramento or a desire to move, the source said.

 

[Sinner]

Who's following the Tweets!? 

Seattle SuperSonics ‏@SeattleSonics

The Maloofs have released a statement confirming the sale of the Kings: "Chris will be a great steward for the franchise." #sonics

Statement:

The Maloof family announced today that an executed purchase and sale agreement has been reached to sell the family’s interest in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Sacramento Kings to a group led by investor Chris Hansen. The transaction requires approval by the NBA's Board of Governors and therefore no comments or details regarding the agreement will be released. 

“We have always appreciated and treasured our ownership of the Kings and have had a great admiration for the fans and our team members. We would also like thank Chris Hansen for his professionalism during our negotiation. Chris will be a great steward for the franchise,” said Gavin Maloof, Kings co-owner speaking on behalf of the Maloof family.

Eric W. Rose

Maloof Family Spokesperson