Clay Bennett Gladly Forks Over 75$ Mil to Leave Seattle
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| ballerblogger.com found this 7/3/2008 on slamonline.com [flag] |
by Marcel Mutoni
Clay Bennett’s master plan has been fulfilled. The Seattle Sonics will play in Oklahoma starting next season, and Bennett was only too happy to pay the price to make it happen yesterday.
In Oklahoma City, Bennett announced the settlement to applause: “We made it. Congratulations…. The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season, playing their ...
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The Fundamentals
Published 7/3/2008 by Hoffman at ballerblogger.com
... (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) A look back at better days in Seattle , featuring Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp (from Marcel Mutoni of SLAM) Warning: this video contains foul language. Free Agency ...
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The unofficial blog of the SEATTLE Supersonics. Oklahoma is not OK.
SeaTown Sports found this 6/26/2008 on www.supersonicsoul.com
This Thursday, arguments between the City of Seattle and the Sonics come to a close, and the decision as to whether the team remains in Seattle for the foreseeable future falls into the hands of Judge Marsha Pechman. There are other factors involved ...Sonics Trial Is Done Son
heitner posted 6/29/2008 from www.sportsagentblog.com
After six days of draining testimony, the heated trial between the Seattle Sonics owner Clay Bennett and the City of Seattle officially ended Thursday, just hours prior to the NBA Draft. Judge Marsha Pechman announced she will issue a ruling by Wednesday of this coming week.Sonics Pay Seattle $75 Million, Leave for OKC
Rover found this 7/2/2008 on sports.aol.com
The Seattle Times reports U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman has announced there will be no decision in the Sonics-Seattle lawsuit because a settlement has been reached . The Times quotes sources saying the settlement includes a $75 million buy-out from Clay Bennett , but apparently no NBA promises of a new team in Seattle. And oh yeah, the Sonics are gone. Greg Johns of the Seattle ...Team Leaving
And One posted 7/3/2008 from www.supersonicsoul.com
Well, it appears that $75 million is the magic number. The City of Seattle accepted a cash payout of $75 million from the PBC to allow the Sonics to leave their home of 41 years and move to Oklahoma City. That amount may or may not be repaid by Clay Bennett, et al if the city were to receive another team in the Sonics' stead. As you would imagine, more to come.Grand Theft Hoops
Ball Don't Lie found this 7/3/2008 on slamonline.com
by Dave Zirin Kevin Durant, we hardly knew ya. Goodbye Slick Watts. Farewell Gary Payton. And Tom Chambers’ mullet can find somewhere else to call home. Two contemptible men named Clay Bennett and Aubrey McClendon — who in their ...Grand Theft Hoops: The Stealing of the Sonics
Mizzo posted 7/3/2008 from thestartingfive.net
Dave Zirin brings the force on TSF with this one.... Kevin Durant, we hardly knew ya. Goodbye Slick Watts. Farewell Gary Payton. And Tom Chambers’ mullet can find somewhere else to call home. Two contemptible men named Clay Bennett and Aubrey McClendon....Let the Seattle-OKC Healing Begin, Part 1
SeaTown Sports found this 7/4/2008 on www.sportingnews.com
Clay Bennett is the devil. The city of Seattle decided to play chicken rather than admit that Key Arena is a high school gym. They deserve each other, but please fans, let not the seeds of hatred be sown between thee. You are all just fine men and ...Clay Bennett Didn't Exactly Give Up that Sonic Legacy
SeaTown Sports found this 7/4/2008 on myespn.go.com
It has been widely reported that the City of Seattle gets to keep all the Sonics name, history, banners, colors, and all that. Not exactly. The name, colors, and the uniforms, they're safe. But the other stuff? That's trickier. The evidence ...
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The Seattle Sonics Could Not Be Saved [NBA]
Posted 7/3/2008 on Deadspin
Sonics Owner Clay Bennett is a jowly-faced bastard. I'm doing him a favor by calling him that because that’ s probably one of the kinder things he'll be called from now on by heartbroken Seattle residents , who after two years of thinking their beloved 41-year-old franchise would stick around if they lobbied hard enough , now get to watch Kevin Durant play in Oklahoma City next season, even ...Well, That Sucked: Clay Bennett Era in Seattle Ends with Buyout, General Sense of Having Been Effed
Posted 7/3/2008 on Can't Stop The Bleeding
I keep reading that Clay Bennett is great friends with David Stern, and it kind of baffles me. It’s not that I don’t think a suspiciously tan Jewish authoritarian commissioner guy and an ultra-crude Bush Ranger Oklahoman with a head that looks like a boiled ham wouldn’t have anything in common, but…I mean, what do they have in common? Do they just raise jewel-encrusted ...Seattle Sonics And Clay Bennett Officially Moving To Oklahoma City
Posted 7/3/2008 on FanIQ Blog
The Sonics are now officially free to move to Oklahoma, and just to rub it in they're already stating that they're going to Oklahoma next season on their web site . In case you missed it, Seattle will be paid $45 million up front and Sonics owner Clay Bennet will pay an additional $30 million in five years if the city is unable to secure another NBA team. Dictator Stern released a ...The Sonics Move
Posted 7/3/2008 on Sports Frog
Off to Oklahoma, where the wind sweeps and all that, fucking over yet another city that had committed to caring about the games grown men play. Art Thiel and Jim Moore in the Seattle PI feel for the fans. As is always the case when this happens, we all do. As near as I can tell, David Stern played a massive part in bending Seattle over a table and helping Clay Bennett have his way with it. ...A Disgusting Display Comes To An Ignominious End
Posted 7/3/2008 on Signal to Noise
So Clay Bennett , for $45 million now and possibly another $30 million down the road, gets to move his NBA team to the relative backwater that is Oklahoma City next season , thanks to a settlement agreed upon with Seattle mayor Greg Nickels just before the judge’s decision in the legal battle between the sides was supposed to be handed down. Seattle gets to keep the Sonics’ ...R.I.P. Seattle Sonics
Posted 7/3/2008 on RedsArmy.com: The Voice Of Celtics Fans
Clay Bennett got what he wanted all along… The Sonics are leaving Seattle . And David Stern sat back and watched. “We made it,” Bennett said after stepping to an Oklahoma City podium featuring the NBA logo and the letters OKC. “The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season.” The settlement calls for Bennett and his Professional Basketball Club LLC to pay ...R.I.P. Seattle Supersonics
Posted 7/3/2008 on SeaTown Sports
I guess I gotta face that fact that it's over. It really did not hit me until I heard Clay Bennett speak at his press conference. I don't know what to be most disappointed about, but it probably is that we will never see Kevin Durant reach his full potential. And don't think I have forgotten you Gary Payton, I don't care how big headed you are, you deserve it just as much as you deserve to ...ESPN: Clay Bennett On The Sonics’ Move
Posted 7/3/2008 on Slam Dunk Central
Sonics are gone and the city hopes you’re hoping
Posted 7/3/2008 on Assist by The Mitten
The city of Seattle would like you to cross your fingers and start hoping. Mayor Greg Nickels announced this afternoon that the city reached a settlement with Sonics owner Clay Bennett. Ownership agreed to pay the city of Seattle $45 million in exchange for leaving town. Bennett will have to pay another $30 million if the city doesn’t find another basketball team and renovate KeyArena by 2013. ...Bennett settles with Seattle...
Posted 7/3/2008 on The Rip City Project
Clay Bennett will reportedly pay the city of Seattle up to $75 million dollars to end the Key Arena lease and move to Oklahoma City. I don't use this term lightly, but I find this all so disgusting I think it's better to talk about it another time. Sonics fans, we're sorry.Don't Put Stock in Sonics Settlement Reports
Posted 7/2/2008 on Enjoy the Enjoyment
If you've seen the news from The Oklahoman today that the city has been exploring a settlement with Clay Bennett , consider the article's source. The only source for the report is councilmember Richard McIver, who is facing ethics charges for allegedly awarding a no-bid contract, and is said to be stepping down next year . If the city and Bennett were having talks, McIver would be the last to ...Decision Afoot on the 'Seattle' SuperSonics
Posted 7/2/2008 on FanHouse
This evening, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman is expected to render her decision in the case of the City of Seattle vs. Professional Basketball Club LLC , the owners of the SuperSonics. In her judgment, Pechman can either tell Seattle it has no authority to force Clay Bennett to keep his business in Seattle for the next two seasons, or she can tell Bennett's he has to keep Kevin Durant ...Grand Theft Hoops: The Stealing of the Sonics
Posted 7/2/2008 on Edge of Sports Recent Columns
This is an outrage. The Seattle SuperSonics are no more, caught between a vice of greed and cowardice. David Stern and Clay Bennett should be ashamed. Somewhere Xavier McDaniel is crying.Still Pickin'?
Posted 6/27/2008 on Supersonicsoul - The Sonics Blog!
No Sonic trades to report as of yet, and with the #24 pick looming, will the Sonics go for foreign-born talent here, just to help Clay Bennett avoid spending more than $0.01 more than he has to while he's in Seattle? DeAndre Jordan is still hanging around (please no, please, please, please), as is Kosta Koufos. Three names stand out for me: CDR, Courtney Lee, and Nicolas Batum. I know ...
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Sonics settlement leaves former owner Howard Schultz alone in court battle
Published 7/4/2008 on The Seattle Times: Sports
Shortly after Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels outlined the parameters of the 11th-hour deal with team owner Clay Bennett, Howard Schultz indicated he would continue fighting on behalf of the Sonics' former owners, the defunct Basketball Club of Seattle. ...He's a man possessed to lead the league
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Clay Bennett, NBA commissioner? Don't laugh. History says it might happen. After all, the last carpetbagger to successfully spirit a team...Divorce done, Seattle cruising for new NBA love
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What a sweetheart: Clay Bennett left the SuperSonics name, championship banners and 41 years of memo...Sonics' closing arguments harp on city's "Poisoned Well" scheme
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In Thursday's closing arguments in Seattle's lawsuit against the Sonics, team owner Clay Bennett's lead attorney focused on efforts by civic leaders to wield the city's lease lawsuit as part of a "Poisoned Well" scheme to pressure Bennett to sell the ...Deputy mayor's testimony barred in Sonics trial
Published 6/26/2008 on ESPN.com - NBA
A federal judge denied a request Thursday to allow Seattle's deputy mayor testify in court that he and the mayor's office had no direct knowledge of a plan to inflict financial pain on SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett.
