04-13-2006, 09:13 PM
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#1
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Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Nowhere
Posts: 40,924
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Stern - Seattle doesn't want the Sonics
"... They're not interested in having the NBA there. ... we understand that there are competing issues, and the mayor is free to make whatever decisions he needs to make and I support that. But that's a pretty strong signal and I think that the existing ownership has said they don't want to own a team that's not in Seattle, so I know what they're in the process of doing. "
-- NBA Commissioner David Stern
NEW YORK -- David Stern gave another warning that the SuperSonics could eventually leave Seattle, saying Thursday that the city is, "not interested in having the NBA there."
The NBA commissioner also touched on the situations regarding the Trail Blazers and Hornets during a conference call, but his strongest words were saved for the Sonics' future in Seattle.
Stern has said the Sonics' lease with the city is the worst in the NBA, and he went to Seattle in February to ask Washington state lawmakers for tax money to renovate Key Arena.
Sonics owner Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks Corp., has threatened to move or sell the team if state lawmakers don't approve a sales-tax package to pay for a new or renovated arena. But state lawmakers last month said there would be no deal this year.
"I would say that the city is making it pretty clear of what they want us to do, and we'll accommodate them," Stern said.
Asked what that meant, Stern responded: "What I mean is they're not interested in having the NBA there. We understand that, we understand that there are competing issues, and the mayor is free to make whatever decisions he needs to make and I support that.
"But that's a pretty strong signal and I think that the existing ownership has said they don't want to own a team that's not in Seattle, so I know what they're in the process of doing. So we'll just see how this play ends."
Marianne Bichsel, spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Nickels, said the city wants the Sonics to remain in Seattle.
"The mayor has made it perfectly clear in several interviews given, the Sonics have been in Seattle for 40-plus years, and we would like them around another 40-plus years and we'd like them at Key Arena," she said. "We're in discussions with the Sonics a lot about the situation, but we have a lease through 2010 and we fully expect that the lease will be honored."
The Sonics declined comment on Stern's quotes.
But once the lease expires in 2010, it doesn't sound as if the league would stand in the way if ownership wants to move the franchise.
"It's not a very good lease, to say the least it's the worst in the league," Stern said. "The city says they're not prepared to do anything to improve it. I don't think this is a difficult choice."
Also, Stern said he would "never say never" to getting involved again in the situation in Portland. The NBA recently pulled out of the process of trying to help find one buyer for both the Trail Blazers and the Rose Garden because it was frustrated by Portland Arena Management, the lenders who now own the arena.
And he repeated that the Hornets will return to New Orleans, even if investors from Oklahoma buy a minority share of the team from George Shinn, saying that he didn't even know how the Hornets would get out of their lease with the city.
"I have no idea," he said, "because we're not planning to break it."
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04-13-2006, 09:19 PM
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#2
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Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
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The Oklahoma City Sonics! Hmm...has a ring to it.
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"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’
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04-14-2006, 12:28 AM
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#3
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Platinum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Merced CA
Posts: 2,338
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What the hell is going on in the Pacific Northwest?
No Jailblazers
No Stonics
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04-14-2006, 01:57 AM
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#4
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Cowboys Country
Posts: 23,336
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The Blazers have the worst arena deal in the league--in that they receive NO monies from gameday revenues. That's why whoever buys the Blazers has to buy the Rose Garden as well. You just can't make money any other way.
Hell with the northwest. I don't care for them anyway. Let the teams move to Saint Louis or Kansas City and Las Vegas. The northwest doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with the rest of the nation, so I don't know why the NBA should want to have anything to do with them.
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05-31-2007, 10:04 AM
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#5
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Platinum Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 2,313
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05-31-2007, 10:08 AM
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#6
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 19,413
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Why would he wait till November to ask for a move? You would think the offseason would be the perfect time.
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05-31-2007, 11:36 AM
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#7
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 7,031
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its too far away anyway....honestly i couldn't even find it on a map.
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05-31-2007, 02:18 PM
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#8
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 376
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lol you guys suck.
i live in the pacific northwest in the seattle area. I am beyond pissed about this. how in the bloody hell am I ever going to see a Mavs game now?!
i'm not sure about the comment that the NW doesn't want to have anything to do with the rest of the nation...that doesn't make any sense...not that I care. I just live here but I'm a Texas born and raised.
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05-31-2007, 02:24 PM
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#9
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 9,216
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dude1394
The Oklahoma City Sonics! Hmm...has a ring to it.
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You mean the Oklahoma City Supersonics?
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05-31-2007, 05:36 PM
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#10
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Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 617
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SeattleMavsFan
lol you guys suck.
i live in the pacific northwest in the seattle area. I am beyond pissed about this. how in the bloody hell am I ever going to see a Mavs game now?!
i'm not sure about the comment that the NW doesn't want to have anything to do with the rest of the nation...that doesn't make any sense...not that I care. I just live here but I'm a Texas born and raised.
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You'll have to make roadtrips to Portland to see the Mavs. At least you'll get to see Oden too.
__________________
Harris is no stranger to the first team, having started 61 times last year. “I want that full 82,” he said.
--NBA.com, 9/12/07
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05-31-2007, 05:38 PM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 642
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What's wrong with Key Arena?
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05-31-2007, 06:06 PM
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#12
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 376
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vjz
What's wrong with Key Arena?
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key arena is a piece of shit arena. It's worse than a "high school gym" I would say. It's definatley not up to NBA standards, that's for damn sure.
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06-01-2007, 04:42 AM
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#13
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Guru
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 15,241
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Gates should just buy the team and build a new arena
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06-01-2007, 02:11 PM
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#14
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 376
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alby
Gates should just buy the team and build a new arena
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i wish...
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06-01-2007, 02:49 PM
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#15
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 565
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alby
Gates should just buy the team and build a new arena
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I think Gate's buddy Paul Allen is much more likely to buy them, but he has to dump the 'Blazers first
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Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. It bears a very close resemblance to the first.
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
- John Adams
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