Quote:
Originally Posted by KillerLeft
Why the league let them move the franchise from SEATLE to Oklahoma City, I'll truly never understand.
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I actually listened to an entire podcast series about this and it was pretty interesting. "Sonic Boom" is the name if you're interested.
David Stern tried very hard to make that NOT happen, but there were no buyers for the team in the Seattle area and to make it a lot worse, the city basically dared them to leave.
Basically the old Key Arena was practically delapitated and they team was losing money staying there. They needed a new arena, but the political climate in the city was not just unwilling but openly hostile to the idea of devoting taxpayer dollars to a new arena, having very recently funded new stadiums for both the Seahawks and the Mariners. Howard Schultz had owned the team for a few years but apparently had soured on the whole experience, apparently finding it a lot harder not nearly as fun as he thought it would be. So he wanted out, but apparently after trying for months, he just could not find a buyer in the Seattle area. The OKC ownership group basically lied through their teeth and said they would do everything they could to keep the team in Seattle, but literally nobody actually believed this. They were essentially just some rich good ol' boys that wanted an NBA team in their home town, and didn't give a crap that Seattle is a far bigger sports market. Some poor Sonics fans deluded themselves into thinking that the new owners were just using the threat of an OKC relocation to leverage Seattle into ponying up for a new arena, but nope. In the end, there was nothing Stern or anyone else could do to keep the team in Seattle.
It's kind of a sad story, really. RIP Seattle Supersonics.