I will miss the Sonics in Seattle. Some of my best childhood memories involve going to Sonics games. I remember my FIRST NBA game, I watched Michael Jordan’s Bulls take on the Sonics in the old Kingdome. I can’t blame Oklahoma City and its residence for wanting NBA basketball in their town, they did nothing wrong and are fantastic people. There really is only three entities to blame; David Stern, Clay Bennett, and our very own Washington State Legislature. David Stern should have never allowed the sale of the Sonics to non-local owners, especially owners who he knew wanted to relocate the team to begin with. Clay Bennett for going after a team that didn’t need to be relocated, dismantling it completely to discourage fans from going to games to strengthen his argument, for lying to Howard Schultz about selling the team, and for not just taking a profit and selling it to the Steve Ballmer ownership group. He could have taken the Grizzlies, Hornets, or even the Kings.

Our state legislature really dropped the ball, all they had to do was provide financing for a new building like they did for the Seahawks and Mariners with no questions asked ( I believe they even scheduled a special session for each of those teams.) They are up again this year and lets hope they do the right thing for not only the City of Seattle, but for the state of Washington.

I think the worst part about this settlement is the stranglehold on the history, leave it in Seattle and start your own.