Post-Sonics Watch
Feeling lost without your Seattle SuperSonics? Seattle-area NBA fans face their first season without an NBA team in 41 years. Primarily, our coverage here will focus on the City of Seattle’s attempt to bring the NBA back to Seattle. But we also will provide updates on the Portland Trail Blazers, the Oklahoma City Thunder and area players plying their trade for other teams in the NBA.

Eric Williams covered the Sonics' last season in Seattle. A Tacoma native, Eric graduated from Mount Tahoma High and the University of Puget Sound.

Other sites of interest:

Hoopshype.com

Sonicscentral

SuperSonicssoul

Blazersedge

Blazersblog

BehindtheBlazers

Barrett'sBlazerblog

Blazerbanter

ThunderRumblings

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Keeping an eye on the NBA and Seattle's efforts to get back into the game
Sunday, August 12th, 2007
Posted by Eric Williams @ 10:42:49 pm

Thanks to the news tip from one of the blog readers, here's the story I'll have for Monday. Look for a follow tomorrow once I'm able to contact more people.

Aubrey McClendon, one of the partners in the Professional Basketball Club LLC, the group that purchased the Seattle SuperSonics last year, said in a newspaper report that his preference would be to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

McClendon, a billionaire from his stake in Chesapeake Energy Co., made the comments in a story published in today’s edition of The Journal Record, a daily newspaper that focuses on business in Oklahoma City.

His comments contradict Sonics chairman Clay Bennett’s previous statements since he led the purchase of the Sonics.

Since buying the team in July 2006, Bennett has maintained that his first priority is to keep the team in Seattle, where it just completed its 40th season in the NBA.

In the report, McClendon admitted the team would make more money in Seattle, but indicated the group would like to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

“But we didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here,” McClendon told The Journal Record. “We know it’s a little more difficult financially here in Oklahoma City, but we think it’s great for the community and if we could break even we’d be thrilled.”

McClendon’s comments come a little over a month after Bennett asked Seattle mayor Greg Nickels and other area government and business leaders to renew efforts to put together a new arena deal for the Sonics in the Seattle area.

Bennett and Nickels traded barbs in the media more than a week ago over the potential of remodeling KeyArena. They have not met since Bennett’s attempt to renew talks in July.

According to Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, Gov. Chris Gregoire plans to set up a meeting with Bennett to discuss prospects for a new arena against a backdrop of Bennett’s Oct. 31 deadline for an arena deal.

There has been no word of the meeting, while Bennett has said he intends to file relocation papers if no deal is in place by the deadline, with Oklahoma City the intended destination.

Categories: NBA