A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… there was a team called the Seattle SuperSonics.
Well it wasn’t that long ago and unless you live light-years from Seattle it wasn’t in another galaxy either. But the Sonics are inching closer to returning. Yesterday news broke that the Sacramento Kings franchise have applied to the NBA for relocation to Seattle.
Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer weren’t the ones to file the application with the league. They can’t really do that since they don’t own the team just yet. That would be the equivalent of me walking into the NBA offices and handing in my paperwork for me to move the Kings to Seattle. The Maloof brothers were the ones to request the move.
This is obviously huge news because it gets the ball rolling with a little more momentum. Without this step being submitted by March 1st, there was no chance at the Sonics beginning play in Seattle next season.
Yet another bright spot for Sonics fans and a not-so-happy moment for Kings fans, NBA commissioner David Stern called the Seattle-led group of Hansen and Ballmer “very strong.” And I don’t think he was talking about their physical strength.
The next step is for the NBA to approve the sale of the Kings. As of now there is only group that has made a serious offer. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, and unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll know he’s a former NBA player, is working hard to not allow that to happen. Sacramento officials and the residents don’t want to see what happened to us happen to them. Unfortunately, it may be to late.
Johnson still needs to find potential owners wealthy enough to spend at least $340 million on the franchise. To make the situation even more complicated, they’ll have to figure out a way to build a brand new NBA arena as well. Those don’t run cheap folks. To keep the Kings in Sacramento a total of at least $800 million will have to be spent to prevent Seattle from getting their Sonics back.
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Paul Novak
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