As the trial regarding the Seattle Sonics continues I am again infuriated at the whole situation. Most of my frustration is not with Clay Bennett though. Although he is most likely taking our Sonics away he is a business man with interests of his own. I am more frustrated with David Stern and the NBA.
The NBA is on the verge of losing a franchise in a top 15 media market to one just outside the top 45. There is a reason there is not an NBA team in Oklahoma City. Nobody outside of Oklahoma City cares about Oklahoma City. It's smaller, more isolated than Seattle and would be the third smallest market in the NBA (New Orleans and Memphis are smaller). You cannot honestly tell me the NBA is better off in Oklahoma City than it is in Seattle.
It is funny that this trial is occurring at the same time as the NBA’s most mouth-watering finals in decades. Stern and the NBA couldn’t wait to get Boston and Los Angeles back to the finals, but now they want an NBA team in Oklahoma City as opposed to Seattle? I propose this scenario. Let’s say that in the next five years the Sonics move to Oklahoma City, build a strong roster and make it to the NBA Finals. Wouldn't you rather have that finals team be from Seattle? Or are you going to keep telling the public you don't really care who makes the finals as long as they earn it? Because everybody knows how awesome an Oklahoma City/Charlotte Bobcats finals would be.
Perhaps what bothers me the most though is that it comes down to the Sonics not being good basketball team right now. If the Sonics were making the playoffs or at least playing exciting basketball, Stern would not let Bennett move the team. He wouldn’t. My point is illustrated perfectly by the situation with the New Orleans Hornets. A few years ago they were nothing special and their home city had just been ravaged by a hurricane. At that point it looked Oklahoma City was going to be the new home of the Hornets. But then what happened? After splitting two seasons between New Orleans and Oklahoma City the team got good. Now, I feel for the people of New Orleans and would love for the city to get back to what it once was, but unfortunately the city is still not fully recovered. Yet, the NBA seems to be staying in New Orleans despite the cities continued issues.
I held out a lot of hope for a long, long time. I believed Stern and the NBA would step in and prevent the move from happening. Now though, as much of an optimist I normally am, and have been regarding this subject, I’ve lost most of my belief and will offer another plea. Keep the Sonics in Seattle. I don’t want them in Oklahoma City and you don’t want them in Oklahoma City. Save our Sonics.
Keywords: NBA, Seattle Sonics
