It's crazy to me that the owners are going to force the Kings to stay, despite a better sales pitch and a better arena situation. What is their motivation here?
Sucks for Seattle. Stay strong Seattle! Maybe you'll get Jordan's mess or who knows(but I doubt), a brand new team of your own.
I think that concerns about "dilution" are massively overstated, and largely a product of nostalgia because no one has a reason to remember the 80s and 90s equivalent of the Bobcats or the pre-Randolph Grizzlies. When you consider the fact that the US population is bigger than it was during the 90s and the fact that there are far more overseas talent than in the past, there's plenty of room for expansion, much less not eliminating teams. The fact is that there will always be good teams and ****ty teams, no matter how few or many teams there are. If there were only two teams in the league, Miami and Houston, and Miami naturally won 90% of their games, does that mean that Houston is now the equivalent of the Bobcats? Of course not.
Wow. I'm pretty surprised by this. Guess I'll be driving down to Portland again next year to catch the rockets there. David Stern should probably avoid Seattle in his post retirement travel plans.
The owners were just complaining about losing money. Charlotte and New Orleans should be gone, IMO. Moving from Charlotte to Seattle would have to boost the value of that franchise.
Good Lord does Clay Bennett HATE Seattle. I have absolutely no idea how he managed to become the chair of the relocation committee, but because Seattle is not receiving a new team this year, he must fork over $30M to the city as part of breaking the lease when he murdered basketball in Seattle. Additionally, he's devaluing his own franchise by agreeing to a 10% lower valuation, and throwing away millions more in revenue sharing, since the TV deal the new Sonics could have struck by going in on a regional sports network with the Mariners would easily dwarf what the Kings get right now. If anything, the fans in Oklahoma City should blame their ownership group for the loss of Westbrook and Harden; it is absolute karmic justice that their title hopes have been dashed, and if the universe is just and fair, they won't win a championship until whichever team Seattle gets wins one first, like in the NFL: Colts vs Ravens, Titans vs Texas (hopefully). I really feel for Seattle, the NBA has probably killed the market entirely; if they can't get a city with no lease, no future, no talent, no GM, no coach, and the two worst owners in the NBA (and that's saying a lot, considering this club includes a certified racist who wouldn't rent to minorities, the pioneer of fracking in the United States, and a guy who lost an $11M sexual harassment suit filed by an executive in his organization), along with an extremely aggressive bid and a stadium plan ready to go, what team are they going to get? The Kings should have been the team to move; that is the destiny and history of the club, having already moved 3(!) times, and almost assuredly going to move again out to Anaheim or San Jose. It has always been their modus operandi to be nomads, it was their destiny to resettle the nuclear crater that David Stern and Clay Bennett left in the Emerald City. Very sad day for the NBA and the Rockets; like it or not, Seattle is deeply ingrained into the tapestry of this franchise's glory years, the nemesis and foil to Hakeem.
I find it ironic that you are posting this on a site that was created with the sole purpose of saving the Rockets from moving to another city.
I'm shocked at this. If the NBA thinks another team might move to Seattle (like the Bobcats), the city might tell them to forget it.
This could have been solved with an expansion team. I'd love to see the Sonics back, but not at the expense of the Kings- those fans are way too loyal to deserve this (so were Seattle's, but two wrongs don't make a right).
Wow. I'm really shocked at this. I really hope seattle gets an expansion team soon. Very very surprised.
Wouldn't be surprised if two teams are added within the next five years. Seattle will probably get one, and an eastern city will get another.
Your points about nostalgia, the 80s and 90s, US population growth and overseas talent are all fine and well. But if you skimmed off the bottom 30 (or even 60) players from the NBA talent pool, the product would improve. If you don't agree, so be it. Of course there will be good teams and bad teams. Who said there wouldn't be?
Seattle is a no-brainer but there really arent any Eastern markets that make a ton of sense for the NBA. Growth potential still exists mainly in the West.
