Bennett Changes Tactics

After receiving a bit of a reprimand from David Stern - issued through intermediary Jim Gary - Clay Bennett - using his intermediary Jim Kneeland - is no longer using Las Vegas as an option for the Sonics. (The best quote was from Stern when Gray prompted him to comment on Bennett's Las Vegas comments. "I don't think he said that," sayeth David. When Gray pressed further, Stern revised his Moses-on-Mt.-Sinai attitude to one of, well, maybe he'll take it back.).

I never really believed Vegas was a likely choice; for the simple reasons that they don't have an arena and they haven't yet buckled under on eliminating betting on basketball. It's clear that Bennett was simply using Vegas as an excuse to extort the city/state into giving him what he wants - a beautiful stadium in King County, in which his only "investment" will be the money generated by naming rights.

The more I read about this story(ies), the more I begin to believe that Bennett might be between a rock and a hard place. His only real option at this point is Kansas City, and I can't imagine the league would rather have a team in K.C. rather than Seattle. While the legislature deserves some of the criticism it has been receiving for its Pollyanna attitude re the stadium, it warms my heart no small amount to think that a professional sports franchise is being forced to call its bluff.

Tale of Many Cities

The Sonics released yet another press release today (Team Motto: "Why talk when you can e-mail?") regarding the potential location(s) of the team in the future.

Not much in the way of news to be gleaned from the release. It concludes with this paragraph:

"At this time no one knows the confluence of events that could occur to land the teams in Oklahoma City. At this moment, everything is way too premature. While it looks bleak in Seattle, we are not ready to throw in the towel."

Wonder how the folks in OKC are going to enjoy being played against Kansas City and Las Vegas. Welcome to the show, Oklahoma, welcome to the show.

UPDATE! The Sonics have issued another press release!
This time, it's to state that yes, Lenny Wilkens is the official, fer-shure, no-foolin' President of Basketball Operations. Clay Bennett will remain President of Moving Operations. Nothing like making an announcement at quarter to 3 on a Friday to ensure that your team gets minimum exposure in the newspaper. Way to go, folks!

Despair

Anyone else beginning to feel a little queasy whenever the Sonics appear in the newspaper, or on the radio, or on television?

I lived through the Grizzlies’ departure from Vancouver, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that this situation is beginning to smell an awful lot like the stench that emanated from that one.

As Art Thiel points out today in the PI, Benikens is making it look as though Britney Spears is running the PR department. From the firing-by-telex, to Lenny Wilkens’ apparent screw up on anointing himself Team President, to Clay Bennett’s musings about Las Vegas, the Sonics are slowly descending into Clipperland, circa 1996, when a team routinely screws up everything it touches.

In fact, I think if you checked the “Robert Irsay Guide to Moving a Franchise,” you’d see that Bennett and Co. have gone according to plan:

STEP ONE - Check
Find team to purchase. This is important.

STEP TWO – Check
Attempt to put positive spin on non-local ownership taking over a beloved local institution. Make not-so-funny jokes about the differences between your hometown and your new team’s location.

STEP THREE – Check
Find some local types to put in “important” positions.

STEP FOUR – Check
Make obligatory efforts to keep team in town, keeping Commissioner and League happy, as well as intimating that you don’t want to move. Be sure that the requests you make would never be accepted by local government, though; you don’t want to screw up and not be able to move the team!

STEP FIVE – Check
Gut front office.

STEP SIX – Check
Start stonewalling media. Remember, no news is good news for your plan. The more you get people to hate you and your team, the easier it will be to move!

STEP SEVEN – TBD
Call Bekins.

Stay tuned.