Can I do an OT: Sonics, Balmer?

[SeattleCoug]

Am I the only one with zero interest in watching the NBA? Even if we did get a team, I won't watch.

Given the amount of responses to this thread since it was posted 2 days ago, you are probably in the minority.

I will still be a bigger Seahawk and Mariner fan and that was the case even when we had a team. However I think Seattle should have a winter sports team. I think the NBA and even NHL should be here.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Am I the only one with zero interest in watching the NBA? Even if we did get a team, I won't watch.

I use to think that also, I quit following the NBA long ago, but if we got a team...I think I would get back into it.

 

[Destroydacre]

Am I the only one with zero interest in watching the NBA? Even if we did get a team, I won't watch.

No, I only want the Sonics back so they can get that damn arena built and get an NHL team here. I couldn't care less about the NBA. The MOU requiring an NBA team first is beyond retarded. The NHL wants to put a team here now. But they can't because stupidity.

 

[Mariners_44]

No, I only want the Sonics back so they can get that damn arena built and get an NHL team here. I couldn't care less about the NBA. The MOU requiring an NBA team first is beyond retarded. The NHL wants to put a team here now. But they can't because stupidity.

I wouldn't say it's out of stupidity at all. The Hansen team is interested in owning a basketball team, and to do so they will have to provide a stadium for which they will play. They are all about having other tenants (NHL), concerts, motocross, etc., but they are not building the stadium for those other revenue sources. This group isn't building an arena for the sake of building an arena, they are building it for the team in which they will own. Period. Not stupid, just business.

 

[dude82]

My interest in all things NBA went down considerably when the Sonics were taken away and I don't think I've watched more than two full games in that time. I always supported the Sonics just as much as the M's and Seahawks, and if they were brought back I'd pick up where I left off, but basketball has always been my third favorite sport and unlike with baseball and football, I would only watch a non-Sonics NBA game if there was nothing else on. Let's put it this way... in the 5+ years since the Sonics were stolen, I've watched more non-Sounders MLS games than I have NBA games.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

but what everyone has failed to mention is that there is a relocation committee and there has to be a vote in that committee on wether they want to move the team and guess who is in charge of that committee CLAY BENNETT that was really the only reason why they didnt move the kings to seattle because the committee said no on the relocation. Mainly because they felt that sacramento put together an arena plan last second which is bullshit because even to this day they are still having problems getting that deal done in sacramento.

with how much money the league is making with the clippers I dont see them moving anywhere. I still dont see why the league would want the bucks if there was ever a waste of money/time it would be that franchise ballmer should have coughed up 1 billion for that team and try and move them

Dip Shit Bennet might be the head of the committee but he doesn't have the backing of David Stern anymore. What helps is the fact you have two owners that are Seattle based with NBA teams and a new commish that has already stated Seattle is next on the list to get a team through relocation or expansion. Clay Bennett better be more worried when is superstar leaves for FA after the end of next season.

 

[Doublejive]

I used to be a Sonic season ticket holder just like my father and at this point i do not wish to see an NBA team in Seattle ever again.

 

[Doublejive]

And before anyone says anything i was there when Sikma and DowTown Freddy played and then later Gary Payton etc etc,hell i used to go shoot pool with Payton back in the day.

 

[Doublejive]

Found some vid of Freddy,best 3 point shooter ever.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Found some vid of Freddy,best 3 point shooter ever.

I met Fred ... Always played Tennis at the pro club in Bellevue... Crazy part is the 3 point line wasn't around for so long in his career... Imagine how many points he could a had if it was... Also I think this was the start of the Lakers dynasty... I think Magic led them to the championship this year which was the year after we won it.. Once the Lakers drafted Magic it was trouble through the 80's ... Lakers owned it..

 

[Doublejive]

I met Fred ... Always played Tennis at the pro club in Bellevue... Crazy part is the 3 point line wasn't around for so long in his career... Imagine how many points he could a had if it was... Also I think this was the start of the Lakers dynasty... I think Magic led them to the championship this year which was the year after we won it.. Once the Lakers drafted Magic it was trouble through the 80's ... Lakers owned it..

Oh i know the line was not there JJ used to get all drunk in kirkland i had drive his ass home many times lol.

 

[jakedog56]

I used to play some ratball with Freddy Brown at the IMA/UW in the late 80's/early 90's. He was past his prime but still could shoot!

 

[jakedog56]

I feel dirty now and I still blame the NBA for the entire mess!

At this point I am actually rooting for Donald Sterling to be sucessful in his lawsuit to keep the Clips. This would not only hurt Adam Silver and the NBA image, but it would also bring Balmer back into the Hansen group and again swing public sympathy toward the Sonics and Seattle.

I already actively root against Kevin Durant, whom I think is a great player and a good person, just because I never want OKC to win a championship and now I am rooting for racist Sterling to win. Ugh! I hate myself!

 

[dude82]

Was anybody else not surprised that Sterling changed his mind about Ballmer and his group buying the Clippers before deciding to pursue his lawsuit against the league again? It took a little longer than I thought it would, but I didn't think he'd give up on it that easily.

 

[Mariners_44]

What's even more odd is that not only did an investor interested in bringing the NHL to Seattle buy a huge parcel of land in SoDo, but now Chris Hansen just purchased an additional five acres in the same area. Something is going on behind the scenes here, but what is it exactly? Either way, hopefully the Sonics are home soon!

 

[HaroldSeattle]

What's even more odd is that not only did an investor interested in bringing the NHL to Seattle buy a huge parcel of land in SoDo, but now Chris Hansen just purchased an additional five acres in the same area. Something is going on behind the scenes here, but what is it exactly? Either way, hopefully the Sonics are home soon!

Link to any of this info?

 

[Perpetual_Beast_Mode]

Link to any of this info?

I learned about this link on my Facebook page:

Hansen Doubles Down on SoDo Land - Sonics Rising

 

[dude82]

It'd be weird, after seeing the Kingdome serve as the one-stop shop, at one time or another, for almost all major league sporting events in Seattle for decades (remember that there was a time when the Sonics played in the Kingdome), to see what could be as many as four different buildings hosting five major league Seattle men's sports teams, and all within a pretty short distance from each other too.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

Does it seem like Ballmer and Hanson are still working with each other? I think so. Hanson buys the land to get the NBA/NHL arena built which he'll make a profit off of once the land is developed and maybe own part of the arena too, and Ballmer makes sure to outbid everybody to buy the Clippers and also gets the sale without having a clause to keep them in L.A. I feel since they got screwed out of buying the Kings, this is plan B on getting a franchise back to Seattle.

 

[dude82]

Does it seem like Ballmer and Hanson are still working with each other? I think so. Hanson buys the land to get the NBA/NHL arena built which he'll make a profit off of once the land is developed and maybe own part of the arena too, and Ballmer makes sure to outbid everybody to buy the Clippers and also gets the sale without having a clause to keep them in L.A. I feel since they got screwed out of buying the Kings, this is plan B on getting a franchise back to Seattle.

The Clippers sale isn't a done deal yet, and it probably won't be as long as Sterling intends to fight it. I also still very much doubt that the NBA would allow a team to be moved out of L.A. to pretty much any other market, whether that's what a prospective buyer wants to do or not. I've also heard conflicting information about whether he agreed to something to keep the Clippers in L.A. or just stated publicly that those were his intentions. Yes, the league allowed the Sonics to be moved from Seattle to a much smaller market, but I don't think Ballmer and Silver are best friends like Stern and Bennett were, the league isn't playing chicken with L.A. lawmakers like they were with Seattle/King County lawmakers and I don't think the lease situation in L.A. is anywhere near as tenuous, or easy to get out of, as it was here.

The inevitable loss of Ballmer (assuming Sterling doesn't pull a court victory out of his ass) as a prospective buyer is a big one, but not an impossible one to overcome. I've said a few times that just having him in the fraternity of owners, even if it isn't here, helps our cause by being another advocate in that fraternity for having the NBA back in Seattle (along with Paul Allen). It's also not like Ballmer was the last remaining really rich guy in the area. This region is home to one of the highest, if not the highest, concentrations of really rich people in the country, so whether Hansen finds one person to make the kind of financial commitment that Ballmer was willing to make or several people, I believe he can make it happen. You can't shake a tree on the east side without a multi, multi-millionaire or billionaire falling out of it. That's why I think that Hansen could confidently come to an agreement on that option to buy more land in SODO despite what looks like the loss of his biggest fellow investor. He knows he has options even if Ballmer is no longer one of them.