Seattle Times' Steve Kelley, "David Stern says he expects Seattle to get another NBA team"

Let's recap David Stern's position, and observation of the two meaningful facts, arena+Steve Ballmer=Sonics 2.0
The fans will show up in Seattle to watch THEIR team, they did, they will again, or at lease some of the 1.2 million people expected to move into the Seattle metropolitan area over the next ten years will (isn't that roughly the size of the Oklahoma City media market?). Showing up, or not, to a meaningless preseason game between the hated Portland Trailblazers (you miss being hated, don't ya) and the Phoenix Suns (the home and away, back to back games with GP facing Jason Kidd were epic contests set in the dead of Winter).
Show up, don't, it does not matter to the Sonics chances. The Blazers would get more respect if they just showed up at Green Lake and played there for an hour, a preseason grab for fans - not so much.

From Steve Kelley's Seattle Times column are three things everybody should hold in their heads when when others around you are imagineering a different picture of the Sonics rising again.

"The next step is really the right putative owner, who really wants to have a team and is prepared to do what it takes, working together with the city, the state to get an arena and get the job done," he said. "I think ultimately there will be [another team in Seattle]. I really do."
. . .
"I don't want to put the whammy on him [Steve Ballmer]," Stern said, "but he'd be a hell of an owner."
. . .
I asked Stern if this could be considered a hopeful sign for those of us who want the league in our town.

"I think it's just an attempt by Portland to do the right thing and show fans a good time," Stern said.

He was asked if he was concerned about a possible boycott of that game.

"I think the fans are entitled to do whatever they want to do," he said, beginning to move away. "It is an independent city. It always has been and I hope it always will be."
Steve Kelley gets the point here!

Here was my email that I fired of AT Steve Kelley when he whined about a possible boycott of a possible meaningless Blazer game:
Mr. Kelley,
When you end your column with, 
"And look at it as a very small, but necessary, first step to welcoming back the NBA.", it capped so much that is wrong with your story.

The only first, and necessary first stem is to secure funding to remodel KeyArena. No matter how many fans attended games, protests, courtrooms, it will always and only come back to the arena.

You can call the Blazers your home team all you want, but the NBA will never call that arena a home in its current condition.

This game is no help to Seattle, just to Paul Allen's Portland Trailblazers, and sports writers.

Good luck putting lipstick on that pig.

Mike Baker
Seattle, Wa
Sonics fan

So, I will not expect Steve Balmer to Facebook Friend me anytime soon to lobby for that Blazer game.

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

Sent from my iPhone
Visit me here:
http://ManyWordsForRain.blogspot.com

SeattlePI: Stern denies threatening Schultz over lawsuit

As reported by Greg Johns, of the Seattle PI, David Stern formally denied that he did not threaten Howard Schultz. He did admit that he said what Mr Schultz claimed he said, including the part about the added expense of the lawsuit, but denied he threatened Schultz.

Perception is reality Stern.

The NBA answered Schultz's motion to deny the NBA the right to join, or limit the NBA's involvement to the potential remedy proposed by Schultz, that is to transfer the team to an honest owner. The NBA insists on being part of the liability phase of the case because the PBC could not fully represent the NBA's interest as a signing party of the Reception signing paper transfering ownership. That is like having an escrow company join in a lawsuit over the sale of a property to protect the integrity of its Notary stamp. The claim and liability rests on the fraud to induce the signing and sale.

It is telling that the NBA makes no claims on behalf of PBC as to the honesty, or contest that Bennett committed fraud. Their interest in the first part is pretty thin, and ignores the nature of the claim, Bennett lied in order to get the sale to happen.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ Greg John's story here.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone