This blog takes material from an older entry...I just thought people need to know how much this sucks...It can happen to anybody, so keep hold of your team and expect to pay higher taxes to build a new stadium every 10-15 years...
I am blogging on this because I don't think this issue has gotten enough attention. I am in no way affiliated with the city of Seattle nor with the state of Washington. I feel this is highway robbery by corrupt officials who are in "The Club" and only look for themselves and close friends with money(lots of it). I don't see how David Stern can even comment on this because it is easy to see that he has personal interests in this issue. He is a close friend of the man who is at the forefront of this battle, Clay Bennett (insert derogatory statement here).
Clay Bennett bought the Sonics from the owner of the Starbucks with intentions of moving the franchise to Oklahoma City. Seattle Citizens protested the sale but were reassured that the team was staying in Seattle. What a crock of s***t. The new owner began cleaning house by getting rid of all the talent on the team (Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis), and then asking the city for money to build a new $500 million stadium not even 10 years after the citizens agreed to fund a renovation of Key Arena with a $200 million price tag. When the people said "Hell NO!!!", the owner stated that they don't support the team and he has his hands tied behind his back owning a franchise that was not making a profit. He then revealed to the suprise of no one, that he had intentions of moving the team to Oklahoma City.
David Stern remarked on the subject that he did not see Seattle having a team in the near future if they were to leave after 41 YEARS of NBA participation. He stated recently that he did not see a "miracle" that could stop the move of his long time compadre's new NBA franchise to Oklahoma. Now I know one friend scratches the back of the other, but what is David Stern getting out of this? It has to be a secret financial deal worth some serious coin because he is looking like the U.S. Gov't and Clay Bennett is Halliburton.
But the whole thing of it is who believes Clay Bennett enough to the point where he can have you thinking Seattle doesn't "NBA Cares". He has to be extremely greedy or think the people of Seattle are idiotic when he asked for the new stadium. The whole fact that he's a billionaire and didn't even offer to match the city dollar for dollar on the new stadium speaks volumes to the fact that he was moving anyway. David Stern is enabling franchises to rob tax dollars from State and local jurisdictions to build new and "improved" stadiums while schools, crime, and the overall infrastructure could use those tax dollars for something else.
"The NBA, where tax dollars for school funding are used to whipe our A$$es."
