For those wondering just how it feels to be on the receiving end of David Stern’s destructive manipulation, take a look at the above video, which chronicles the June 2007 implosion of the Charlotte Colisseum.
In the ensuing years since the Hornets moved to New Orleans (and Oklahoma City, and then New Orleans once again), Charlotte has gotten themselves a new team, seen that team hire a legend as general manager, then see that legend hire another legend as coach.
All the while, one aspect of being a Bobcat fan has not changed – the team’s about as interesting to watch as a Juwan Howard fast break opportunity. Charlotte’s recent winning skein notwithstanding, the Bobcats continue to live in that no man’s land between playoff contender and lottery regular, a land of Bucks, Clippers, and Kings, a land in which no fan wants to live.
In fact, the Bobcats have received more notoriety for their off-court action (or inaction) than for their on-court play. It’s no secret that owner Robert Johnson is looking to sell, and Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports commented that, “Several NBA executives laughed over Charlotte Bobcats owner Robert Johnson’s insistence … he has no interest in selling his failing franchise. Sources say that there have already been overtures made to prospective buyers in recent months.”
Brett Hainline of Queen City Hoops knows how it looks from the outside, and he knows how it feels to be in Charlotte these days.
“People were angry that taxpayer money was used to build the new arena,” Hainline said. “People were frustrated by Johnson and the horrible television contracts the team played under the first few seasons. People were annoyed when Johnson chastised Charlotte business leaders for not doing enough to support the team last year.”
Hainline is right, the Bobcats’ original television package was probably the NBA’s worst, and kept a huge portion of the population from ever seeing a game. When combined with Johnson’s inability to sell naming rights to the building (only rectified this past spring), horrible attendance figures, and some of the lowest ticket prices, it was no surprise that the franchise was considered to be likely to leave town.
With a somewhat-improved team this season, and an improved TV package, one would think the Bobcats would be starting to see some better numbers in the bank account, but that’s not the case. According to a News Observer story Wednesday, the team’s ticket revenue is off 10 percent from last year, when it was already one of the worst in the league. Further, sponsorship revenue has not increased, which, as is the ticket revenue, is attributable as much to the miserable economy as it is to the team.
As Tom Sorensen’s amusing “Q & No A” with Johnson last October illustrates, the city is less than thrilled with his ownership of the team, and that irritation with Johnson, combined with the economy and Charlotte’s previous, failed, dalliance with the NBA, has created a perfect storm of disinterest.
That disinterest, mind you, is a breeding ground for relocation rumors, as any Sonic fan will attest. While it starts out as mild frustration, it can grow into flat-out hostility, and judging by the comments Bobcat fans make about Johnson, very little growth is needed for that hostility to blossom.
Still, what does that mean for Seattle? Are the Bobcats “in play?” And how does it feel in Charlotte knowing that your team is being bandied about?
“Every time I read an article/post/whatever suggesting that Seattle should just get the Bobcats, it makes me angry,” Hainline said. “This is my team and while some in the region have not fully accepted the team, I (and a growing number of others) have and I do not like the idea of them being taken from us.”
In the short term, it would appear unlikely that the Bobcats would be leaving town, but, hypothetically speaking, what if the team struggles on the court for the next two or three years? At that point, the lease becomes less prohibitive, and the timing would coincide quite nicely with a redeveloped KeyArena.
Just don’t expect Hainline to throw a party for Sonic fans when it happens.
“As for Seattle being ready to poach the Cats – I understand it and I can see how they would think that our losing the team would be less painful, with the shorter history.
“But I would boycott Seattle if it happened.”
Wednesday, January 28
Coming to Seattle: Part II
Monday, January 26
Coming To Seattle: Part I
Six months ago, the SuperSonics became an artifact of history, seemingly as relevant to modern Seattle life as a Seattle Pilots pocket schedule.
In the ensuing half-year, discussion about NBA basketball in Seattle has focused upon renovations to KeyArena, motivating area politicians, and the neverending debate as to whether Danny Vranes’ skin was, in fact, so pale that it could be used in lieu of lighthouses on the Washington coastline.
Important machinations aside, little has been spent discussing just which team would inhabit the new arena supporters are intent on building. Commissioner David Stern has left no vocal chord untrembled in his confident assertions that expansion will not happen, leaving Seattle in the unenviable position of waiting for another city to suffer through what it just went through.
Like the family of a potential kidney recipient waiting for a donor, Seattlites are playing a ghoulish waiting game. We study the attendance figures in Memphis, read the tea leaves in New Orleans, and parse the words of Robert Johnson in Charlotte, attempting to decipher if one of those franchises will soon be partaking in David Stern’s perpetual game of musical franchises.
Left out of the conversation – as always – are the fans in those cities. Just as Seattle fans were belittled by the national media as unsupportive, Memphis and Charlotte fans hear the bells beginning to toll for them. Their lack of support for franchises in so much disarray it seems as if they are run by a consortium of schizophrenics has given the green light to speculation about relocation.
How do the fans of those teams feel about these rumors, though? Have they adopted the Nussbaum Style of Ignorance, wherein they ignore the talk and try to focus on the games? Do they believe that any of this is actually going to take place, that their team(s) will leave town, forcing them to engage in the pitiable self-flagellation seen so much from sites like, well, ours?
I decided to talk to those fans to get a feel for what they’re going through. After all, who better than a crusty, bitter old Sonic fan to gauge the feelings of other bitter NBA fans?
NEW ORLEANS
The New Orleans Hornets, more than any team perhaps, embody the vagabond nature of today’s NBA franchises. In the span of a decade the team has resided in no less than three cities, and its owner, George Shinn, shamelessly flirts with other cities like a trophy wife with the club tennis pro.
So it is no surprise to hear Seattle fans aim their sights at the Hornets as a tenant of the prospective new KeyArena. Sure, the Hornets are popular at the moment, but how does that stack up with the Saints, or high school football, or beignets?
“Everybody loves the Hornets,” says Niall Doherty, of Hornets 247. “They have a bunch of likable players, they do lots of good work in the community, Chris Paul can do no wrong, we've got the cheapest ticket prices in the NBA, and there's been plenty of winning since the team came back from [Oklahoma City].”
Doherty’s faith is well placed. With an attendance mark of near capacity, a team living in the penthouse of the Western Conference standings, and a superstar in Paul, the thought that the team is not long for the Crescent City – so prevalent less than 12 months ago – has disappeared more quickly than Mike Brown from George Bush’s rolodex.
Add in the fact that Shinn would have to pay minority owner Gary Chouest close to $100 million if the team moved, and the possibilities of seeing Chris Paul in a Sonics’ jersey grow slimmer still.
“I think the Hornets are New Orleans' team to lose,” Doherty explained. “If anyone in Seattle wants the Hornets, I say do what you gotta do. I can understand the desperation to get another team. I'm sure there were hoop heads in New Orleans licking their chops when the Hornets started wearing out their welcome in Charlotte. But the fate of the franchise is in our hands, not yours.”
NEXT: Charlotte, Memphis, and David Stern’s Brave New World
In the ensuing half-year, discussion about NBA basketball in Seattle has focused upon renovations to KeyArena, motivating area politicians, and the neverending debate as to whether Danny Vranes’ skin was, in fact, so pale that it could be used in lieu of lighthouses on the Washington coastline.
Important machinations aside, little has been spent discussing just which team would inhabit the new arena supporters are intent on building. Commissioner David Stern has left no vocal chord untrembled in his confident assertions that expansion will not happen, leaving Seattle in the unenviable position of waiting for another city to suffer through what it just went through.
Like the family of a potential kidney recipient waiting for a donor, Seattlites are playing a ghoulish waiting game. We study the attendance figures in Memphis, read the tea leaves in New Orleans, and parse the words of Robert Johnson in Charlotte, attempting to decipher if one of those franchises will soon be partaking in David Stern’s perpetual game of musical franchises.
Left out of the conversation – as always – are the fans in those cities. Just as Seattle fans were belittled by the national media as unsupportive, Memphis and Charlotte fans hear the bells beginning to toll for them. Their lack of support for franchises in so much disarray it seems as if they are run by a consortium of schizophrenics has given the green light to speculation about relocation.
How do the fans of those teams feel about these rumors, though? Have they adopted the Nussbaum Style of Ignorance, wherein they ignore the talk and try to focus on the games? Do they believe that any of this is actually going to take place, that their team(s) will leave town, forcing them to engage in the pitiable self-flagellation seen so much from sites like, well, ours?
I decided to talk to those fans to get a feel for what they’re going through. After all, who better than a crusty, bitter old Sonic fan to gauge the feelings of other bitter NBA fans?
NEW ORLEANS
The New Orleans Hornets, more than any team perhaps, embody the vagabond nature of today’s NBA franchises. In the span of a decade the team has resided in no less than three cities, and its owner, George Shinn, shamelessly flirts with other cities like a trophy wife with the club tennis pro.
So it is no surprise to hear Seattle fans aim their sights at the Hornets as a tenant of the prospective new KeyArena. Sure, the Hornets are popular at the moment, but how does that stack up with the Saints, or high school football, or beignets?
“Everybody loves the Hornets,” says Niall Doherty, of Hornets 247. “They have a bunch of likable players, they do lots of good work in the community, Chris Paul can do no wrong, we've got the cheapest ticket prices in the NBA, and there's been plenty of winning since the team came back from [Oklahoma City].”
Doherty’s faith is well placed. With an attendance mark of near capacity, a team living in the penthouse of the Western Conference standings, and a superstar in Paul, the thought that the team is not long for the Crescent City – so prevalent less than 12 months ago – has disappeared more quickly than Mike Brown from George Bush’s rolodex.
Add in the fact that Shinn would have to pay minority owner Gary Chouest close to $100 million if the team moved, and the possibilities of seeing Chris Paul in a Sonics’ jersey grow slimmer still.
“I think the Hornets are New Orleans' team to lose,” Doherty explained. “If anyone in Seattle wants the Hornets, I say do what you gotta do. I can understand the desperation to get another team. I'm sure there were hoop heads in New Orleans licking their chops when the Hornets started wearing out their welcome in Charlotte. But the fate of the franchise is in our hands, not yours.”
NEXT: Charlotte, Memphis, and David Stern’s Brave New World
Wednesday, January 21
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