I've heard it from Northwest sports fans for 10 years, "I hate the NBA!" And for 10 years I haven't understood it. Ok, maybe initially it was fair to expect that anyone even remotely involved in relocation of the Sonics to OKC should be in our firing line. But after some time to cool off I would have hoped the sports fans in this city would be savvy enough to isolate the true villains.
Evidently 10 years isn't enough time to acquire that savvy for many. Let me just remind you of a few facts. Our state government laughed in the face of David Stern and Coward Schultz when they went to Olympia. Neither the city nor the county cared enough to save the team to step up financially, and when the city DID have a chance to fight, they sold out. Whether you agree or disagree with state, city or county funding of an arena doesn't matter in this conversation. What does matter is that they didn't care, leading Schultz to sell out and be hoodwinked by a businessman taking advantage of a sweetheart of a deal. Should the NBA have done more to save the Sonics, possibly. But what would you have done if you were the NBA? On one hand you have an owner at his wits end with local government and is unwilling to really finance the deal himself, and on the other an owner who is ready-made to give the team a brand new palace. It's a tougher dilemma when you take your green and gold goggles off. Not that I completely absolve David Stern, I don't. But you know who I do absolve? The current commissioner of the NBA who is not named David Stern.
Ok, now that I have that off my chest and we have refreshed the facts in your memory, lets let the past be the past. We are now 10 years removed from that "transaction". I hear more and more people getting excited about the prospects of an NBA team coming back to Seattle and yet when the league has the "audacity" to bring an exhibition game to our still decrepit arena, we bring out the torches and rail against it on social media. Which is it Seattle, do you want a team back or are you going to let your pettiness cost yourself the opportunity to right a wrong? Why should anyone be upset about the Warriors and Kings playing an exhibition game at Key Arena? Furthermore, shouldn't Kings fans be more upset with Seattle than Seattle is with the Kings? After all, it was OUR ownership group that tried to take the Kings out of Sacramento, not the other way around.
If you don't care about two NBA teams coming and playing a meaningless game in our city I can fully understand that. October basketball is even more worthless than November thru April basketball (which is pretty meaningless), but being outraged at the mere thought of it occurring? That I can't buy, and please, if you are one that is outraged, then don't tell me you really want the NBA back.