Seattle fan gets NBA owner response

[SuperHornet]

An irate Sonics fan blew up the Twitter world today about the NBA's Relocation Committee's decision to recommend that the league keep the Kings in Sac. The owner of the Miami Heat said that per the NBA's bylaws, the FIRST decision to be made is if the current city is doing enough to keep their franchise; that is, how good is their current support, and are they viable to remain there? All other decisions come AFTER that, meaning that if the league decides that the current city is on the right track (as happened in the case of the Kings), then there IS no decision to be made about where to move them. Essentially, at that point, the Seattle (and all other, if there were any, like Anaheim, which went out the window a long time ago) question is moot.

This is in response to the frequent well-publicized perception of Sonics fans that the "NBA is out to get us." The owner of the Heat not only denied this (probably to be expected), but went on to say that he personally loves Seattle and would love to see them get a team again. BUT, he said, Sonic fans' behaviour (i.e. continuing to gripe about the OKC Thunder's move and harassing the league with what the league sees as childish name-calling) is making it VERY difficult for owners to support a Seattle bid. But, again, the main point is that an existing team must be approved to move BEFORE the question of WHERE they move can be answered. Therefore, the Seattle bid did not really exist past the point of the decision to decline the idea of the Kings moving.

So the decision was totally about the viability of the Kings to remain in Sac and not one iota about the quality of the Seattle bid (officially, anyway). One thing has become crystal clear, though: Seattle hoops fans had better clean up their behaviour before the NBA will even CONSIDER a franchise relocation or an expansion franchise for Seattle.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/05/ ... n-twitter/

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Yeah, because the comments of one owner to one fan can be generalized to all of the owners and the Commissioners' sentiments toward an entire city. Any more idiotic hyperbole?

[grizband]

Reports this afternoon of the Seattle group increasing their bid to $625 million...

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/92626 ... 25-million" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Reports this afternoon of the Seattle group increasing their bid to $625 million...

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/92626 ... 25-million" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spoiler: show

[kalm]

Yeah, I'm sure "fan behavior" is a part of the decision making process. 'We'd consider allowing the move but someone twittered something mean'

[JALMOND]

Yeah, I'm sure "fan behavior" is a part of the decision making process. 'We'd consider allowing the move but someone twittered something mean'

The bad blood with the former Sonic fans and the league has been going on longer than this. Five years after the Sonics left and people still are buying Sonic jerseys in Seattle. The study that came out this year showing the number of people in Seattle who "don't care" about the NBA was ranked third in the country, just behind Green Bay, WI (#1) and Scranton, PA (#2) (Ironically, the Spokane market was #7). The fact that the former Sonic fans have never embraced the Blazers as the Pacific NW team in the NBA, as evident by the comments made recently by a King County executive, even though Portland fully supports both the Seahawks and Mariners. And the fact that Stern attended a game late in the Sonics final season and was routinely booed and jeered by the Seattle crowd every chance they had. In business, if you are trying to keep your franchise, it is best to play nice with the president and not ridicule him, even if you want to.

A side note to this is the owners could approve the sale to the Seattle group, but bar them from moving the team there.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

The fact that the former Sonic fans have never embraced the Blazers as the Pacific NW team in the NBA, as evident by the comments made recently by a King County executive, even though Portland fully supports both the Seahawks and Mariners.

Apples and oranges. You think that if Raider fans lost their team, they would start rooting for the 49ers? Of course they wouldn't, the 49ers are a rival franchise. Portland supports the Seahawks and Mariners because Portland has never had an NFL or MLB franchise.

[JALMOND]

The fact that the former Sonic fans have never embraced the Blazers as the Pacific NW team in the NBA, as evident by the comments made recently by a King County executive, even though Portland fully supports both the Seahawks and Mariners.

Apples and oranges. You think that if Raider fans lost their team, they would start rooting for the 49ers? Of course they wouldn't, the 49ers are a rival franchise. Portland supports the Seahawks and Mariners because Portland has never had an NFL or MLB franchise.

And Seattle hasn't had an NBA franchise in 5 years. That is a long time. Also I doubt any civic leader in Oakland would make a ludicrous comment about the effort to return the NFL to the Bay Area, knowing full well that there would still be a team in the Bay Area.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Apples and oranges. You think that if Raider fans lost their team, they would start rooting for the 49ers? Of course they wouldn't, the 49ers are a rival franchise. Portland supports the Seahawks and Mariners because Portland has never had an NFL or MLB franchise.

And Seattle hasn't had an NBA franchise in 5 years. That is a long time. Also I doubt any civic leader in Oakland would make a ludicrous comment about the effort to return the NFL to the Bay Area, knowing full well that there would still be a team in the Bay Area.

It might be a long time for PDX fans who enjoy being the only team in the PNW and don't care to see the Sonics return to Seattle, but to Sonics fans it's only yesterday that their team was taken from them. Seems to me you're taking way too much offense to a comment that had nothing to do with Portland. I'm sure you would have quite the different perspective on all of this if it had been the Blazers that had been taken to OKC.

[kalm]

Yeah, I'm sure "fan behavior" is a part of the decision making process. 'We'd consider allowing the move but someone twittered something mean'

The bad blood with the former Sonic fans and the league has been going on longer than this. Five years after the Sonics left and people still are buying Sonic jerseys in Seattle. The study that came out this year showing the number of people in Seattle who "don't care" about the NBA was ranked third in the country, just behind Green Bay, WI (#1) and Scranton, PA (#2) (Ironically, the Spokane market was #7). The fact that the former Sonic fans have never embraced the Blazers as the Pacific NW team in the NBA, as evident by the comments made recently by a King County executive, even though Portland fully supports both the Seahawks and Mariners. And the fact that Stern attended a game late in the Sonics final season and was routinely booed and jeered by the Seattle crowd every chance they had. In business, if you are trying to keep your franchise, it is best to play nice with the president and not ridicule him, even if you want to.

A side note to this is the owners could approve the sale to the Seattle group, but bar them from moving the team there.

Then Stern and the rest of the NBA need to grow up. If their product was decent they'd have no problem in any market...the number of willing fans would far outweigh the critics. Yet here they are butt hurt about what random fans think on the interwebs. What a joke.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

---Phil Jackson's decision to return to the NBA is contingent on the resolution of the Sacramento Kings sale, ESPN.com reported Saturday.

Jackson, winner of 11 NBA titles as coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, has expressed interest in taking a front office job for a team.

Jackson reportedly wants to wait to see if the Kings get sold to the Seattle group that is looking to buy the team. ESPN.com recently reported that Jackson "hit it off" with Chris Hansen, who is leading the Seattle group.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-roundu ... --nba.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bonarae]

The Maloofs want to sell to the Seattle group ONLY...

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/92656 ... ento-kings