Day 2 of the trial between the City of Seattle and the Sonics over terms of the KeyArena lease focused mainly on the testimony of Sonics chairman Clay Bennett.

For most of the day in court Bennett answered questions from the city's lead attorney, Paul Lawrence, and Sonics attorney Brad Keller. And, of course, Lawrence asked Bennett to address those infamous emails that surfaced a couple months ago during the discovery process of the case.

Bennett maintained in his testimony that when he said he was "A man possessed ..." in an email to fellow owner Tom Ward that he was referring to the fact that he was even more energized to seek a solution to the arena issue in Seattle.

=> Read more!

Here's the AP story on some of Sonics owner Clay Bennett's testimony:

SuperSonics owner Clayton Bennett testified that he knew when he bought the team that it was losing money at KeyArena, but thought “perhaps we could turn that around.”

Under questioning from city of Seattle lawyer Paul Lawrence, Bennett said he was a “reasonably sophisticated” investor and diligently researched the team’s finances before his Professional Basketball Club bought it for $350 million in 2006.

Bennett characterized the team’s financial losses as “significant and ever-growing, but they would not significantly alter” his family’s lifestyle. He said he understood the Sonics would likely keep losing money as long as they played at KeyArena — the NBA’s smallest venue — but said he hoped a new arena deal would revive local interest in the team.

“We thought perhaps we could turn that around in the past year if in fact we had an arena development in process,” he said.

Lawrence asked him if he understood at the time that the team might not get a deal for a new arena.

“Didn’t understand it well enough,” Bennett quipped.

The city is asking a federal judge to force the Sonics to honor the final two years on the lease at KeyArena, saying the new owners were aware of the monetary risks when they purchased the Sonics and that they should not now be able to claim financial hardship to break the lease and move the team to Bennett’s hometown of Oklahoma City.

The team says it could lose $65 million if forced to keep playing at KeyArena for the next two seasons, but could make more than $18 million if allowed to play in Oklahoma.

Sonics chairman Clay Bennett took the stand at 9:40 this morning. City attorney Paul Lawrence is asking questions about Bennett's background and how he became interested in the Sonics.

An interesting note from that line of questioning is Bennett and his ownership group sought to purchase the New Orleans Hornets before the purchased the Sonics. However, Hornets owner George Shinn would not agree to give Bennett's group a future option to buy a majority share in the team, and Bennett's group moved on.

Lawrence is trying to show that Bennett is a sophisticated investor who has the ability to sustain losses the team has suffered over the last couple of years. He's also using documentation to show that NBA ownership group make money off the team by the team's valuation going up over time, and then selling the team to another group.

Essentially, Lawrence is countering attorneys for the Sonics arguments about the team's economic hardship, and showing the team will actually make their money back and then some once they sell the team.

Bennett seems composed and cooperative on the stand.

Currently, former KeyArena manager Joy Syngh is continuing his testimony on the witness stand. Sonics attorney Paul Taylor is asking specific questions regarding financial arrangements in the KeyArena lease.

It seems like Taylor is trying (I would say unsuccessfully) to show a dysfunctional relationship between KeyArena officials and team officials regarding the Sonics occupancy of KeyArena.

Sonics chairman Clay Bennett is expected to testify once Syngh is finished.

Left over from Monday, here’s Paul Lawrence, the city’s lead attorney, talking to the media.

Scheduled to testify today are Sonics chairman Clay Bennett, Sonics CEO Danny Barth and three expert witnesses for Andrew Zimbalist, Todd Meneberg and Lon Hatamiya.

Here's The Oklahoman’s coverage of the trial.

Who’s in and who’s out of the NBA draft after Monday’s deadline to withdraw passed? ESPN’s Chris Ford has the list.

Draft Express also weighs in.