A potential return of the Sonics is looking increasingly bleak these days as it seems that the NBA Owners are engaging in shenanigans to force the current owners of the Sacramento Kings to accept a low bid. I've been mildly interested in a possible return of the Sonics but I don't have all the details on the deal- but if Slate.com is to be believed, the Seattle deal would have had the Seattle bidders building a new arena for the team while the Sacramento deal has the City of Sacramento itself ponying up the cash for new digs.
Suddenly the picture becomes clearer... the owners don't want to set a precedent of paying for new arenas themselves when public money might be available. Plus they can essentially use Seattle as a whipping boy to cough up new arenas as needed (in much the same way the NFL uses Los Angeles). Why on Earth would they want to lose that? I'll believe in the Sonics when I see 'em again... until then, I'll just have those moments where I struggle to remember Shawn Kemp's name and think of the good times, when the NBA actually interested me far more than it does now.
(BTW: Seattle doesn't seem all that impressed by this- especially given the long, hard process of getting the deal together to begin with. Wonder if the NHL would move a team up there? It's always struck me as weird that the Northwest has been the one area of the country that doesn't really seem to have that many hockey teams. Other than the Canucks, I guess.)
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