schultz could be seattle's hero!

Howard lost his dignity when he sold the Sonics to outsiders and took the money. Now he has to prove his worh to the city of Seattle and has a chance to get his name back where it should be amongst the leaders of this city. He has local buyers that are interested in the team and even if he has to take less money for it, it is in his best interests, and the city's, to do so. It has been known hat Bennett and his cronies had no intent to keep the team in the city and his "good faith effort" to negotiate with law makers was just a smokecreen to cover his real intentions. What he didn't realize was that his recent e-mails are going to result in him giving us back the Supes. go Howard! Get back your dignity!!!!

What a wonderful turn of events. Let's hope that this lawsuit is enough to show the NBA Board of Governers that they should NOT vote to allow the move on Thursday. Thank goodness that Shultz is willing to step up to erase the awful mistake that he made in selling the team to out of state owners that are CLEARLY in breach of the good faith effort.

The Sonics will be back next year! This case will be filed so late in the NBA scheduling process that I don't see anyway they can make a schedule. Besides that there is the real chance that an injunction could be filed preventing the team from leaving during the course of the trial!

Even if the city loses it's case, the NBA still has to wait until this newest lawsuit is concluded, IMHO.

I almost fogot, I can get my Americano at Starbucks!!! I was getting so sick of Tully's. It just didn't do it for me.

If it is proven that Stern was in cahoots with Clay Bennett to move the team away from Seattle during the teams sale, then David Stern should resign before he is fired from his job by the board of governors for injustice given the state of keeping the team in Seattle. He was biased because of his closeness to Bennett which has no place in the basketball league. It is only now he has exposed himself as being partial to his selected group of friends and just shows he threatens the city of Seattle not to get another team, which is just one of his publicity stunts.

He will not last long in his position and should resign to give free reigns to the person replacing him. He had the first scandal of the referees betting, which he says he had no inkling of the happenings and now the biased sided to his friend, Clay Bennett!

Deplorable actions by David Stern to be one sided on the issues confronting the Sonics scenario. To be backing Clay Bennett's no interest from the very start only proves that this situation has a story that had an ending before it even started, that is, Stern already knew that the Sonics were moving on day one and wanted all the chips to fall into place, but that did not happen as the reports now begin to surface

In the first place, Clay was not truthfull on the matter that he was serious on letting the Sonics stay in Seattle and secondly, he never even attempted to negotiate any deals to settle the new arena situation, but always threaten to move the team, which was his original plan and so deceiving the former owners and fans of his true intentions!

Stern should resign now before the shit hits the fan!

howard has a soul!!!!!!!!!! this is incredible!

He has a soul or this is an attempt to regain the confidence of the city in which his business is based? Color me skeptical until this progresses. But it just seems too convenient.

That being said, it would be great if it could work.

OD

Schultz crying that he was mislead by Bennett& Co regarding their intentions to move the team sounds an awful lot like Hilary Clinton saying that she was mislead by Bush & Co about Iraq. Someone form another state wanting to keep the Sonics in Seattle & not move them to their own city? Phony claims of imminent danger from a country that we had been watching & bombing for a decade since we destroyed their military in a week or so?

I can't believe either Schultz or Clinton are actually stupid enough to have been tricked by such obvious lies, so I can only believe that Schultz is just trying to save face in Seattle & Clinton is trying to save her ass in the election.

Schultz crying that he was mislead by Bennett& Co regarding their intentions to move the team sounds an awful lot like Hilary Clinton saying that she was mislead by Bush & Co about Iraq.

Someone form another state wanting to keep the Sonics in Seattle & not move them to their own city? Phony claims of imminent danger from a country that we had been watching & bombing for a decade since we destroyed their military in a week or so?

I can't believe either Schultz or Clinton are actually stupid enough to have been tricked by such obvious lies, so I can only believe that Schultz is just trying to save face in Seattle & Clinton is trying to save her ass in the election.

I am appalled by David Stern's ignorant dictatorship and complete disinterest in even trying to keep the team here. the fact that he said he has not even read the smoking gun emails form bennet & co shows a complete dis-association with the whole matter. um... david, arent you the commissioner of the league? isn't it YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to be up to date and gather ALL the facts on a matter as big as this???? Can you possibly turn a bigger more blind eye on this matter. Stern's action's are sickening

Schultz v. Bennett

The news that Howard Schultz intends to sue Clay Bennett for breach of contract - failure to make a good faith effort as required in his contract purchasing the Sonics - is, indeed, a stunning development that not only gives Howard a chance to recover is dignity, protect his interests - a boycott of Starbucks by Sonics fans - and, more importantly a chance to expose fraud and injustice stemming from the NBA and its partners. The evidence is clear and manifest, Clay Bennett lied to David Stern about his good faith effort to keep the Sonics in Seattle, but is this deceit all there is to this matter? It seems to me that reading between the lines, Clay and Dave are as thick as thieves. Clay tells his buddies, "I am a man possessed," thereby conveying his passion for an NBA in OKC, and responding to Dave with a smoochy - "you are my favorite friend in the whole wide world" motif. When did Bennett and Stern become so close? Best buddies in the whole wide world?

Reading behind the words, the evidence is apparent - Bennett purchased the Sonics with Stern's blessing and perhaps even at his behest. Stern responds to the email disclosure that Clay is blameless, yet he has fined Bennett's partner for the same kind of remarks about the intention of moving the Sonics to OKC from the start. Does he think no one can see his duplicity?

Ever since Howie and Wally failed to get their $200 million upgrade of Key Arena at the taxpayer's expense save a paltry $18 million, Stern has been bad mouthing the Key, the City of Seattle and politicians both local and in Olympia. What is Stern's motivation in creating this vilification of public officials and the Key. Lack all pro sports moguls and their league masters, there is the desire for a super cash cow stadium. Stern looks at Safeco and Quest Fields - sponsoring MLB and NFL teams with luxury while his NBA is related to the smallest arena in the league - with a case of green eyed envy and down right red eyed fury at being the league left out. Of course, he does not want to leave Seattle - he knows of the fan support and its depth as revealed by the Mariners and Seahawks, both very successful financial organizations - and he wants to tap that spring of excess cash for his ailing NBA. So he gets in bed with Clay, explaining their closest relationship in the whole wide world motif, suggests to Clay, who wants the NBA in OKC so bad he has to become demon possessed, the Sonics lease is near expired - Why don't you buy them? - the league won't stand in your way. But there is one thing you must do to make this deal work for us - Make a good faith effort to secure a new super arena in Seattle. Extort the city and state into building a new basketball palace. "Clay do this for me and you'll get your team for OKC." All along, Dave had a stadium in mind as he arranged for Clay to extort taxpayers.

In this age of the public's unwillingness to finance stadiums for billionaire owners and their millionaire players, the extortion techniques used by professional sports moguls such as Stern are escalated and increasingly more devious. Look, for example, the Hornets wanted a new arena in Charlotte, but no go until the owner threatened to move to New Orleans, after which the city, et al caved into the demand and razed the old and built a new NBA palace for which they were promptly rewarded an expansion franchise. After Katrina, the Hornets played temporarily in OKC, perhaps wetting Bennett's passion for a home town team, when it looked like they might up and move permanently to OKC, New Orleans struggling to rebuilt from the hurricane disaster built, you guessed it, a new super NBA palace. Its an old game called extortion, but Stern and Bennett have taken it to new heights in trampling on the people of Seattle and vicinity.

So, of course, David Stern will see no wrong doing in Clay Bennett's email disclosure. He has been Clay's partner in this extortion plan from the get go. The League cannot be looked to for justice, but they can be exposed and that's where Schultz's lawsuit comes into play. Already the city's lawsuit has begun to expose the underbelly of this extortion conspiracy plied against Seattle, now Schultz's can be an unlikely hero in the matter and his suit will further heighten discovery of the malfeasance manifest in Stern's and Bennett's plan.

In the meantime, Stern threatens to leave the city and return, what childish rantings are these? Stern is desperate for a new arena, all along the Sonics have been intended for OKC while he wanted to step in with a new expansion franchise, ala Charlotte, and save the day with an exceptionally favorable owner friendly lease of the new palace. Surely there are clever minds at work who can see beyond this conspiracy with its extortion implications. Pray they manage to hold Stern and Bennett to the fire for such malfeasance.

eh.. perhaps you skeptics could be right, but as long as it could keep the supes in town i do'nt care what schultz's motives are. in this case there is no harm in supporting this legal action. it can only help seattle!

Did anyone notice that David Stern yesterday attempted to distance the minority partners from Bennett'. He is saying that Bennett is the "managing partner" and the one "making policy" for the team and Aubrey is not. I want to know what the agreement between the new owners and past owners read. Did it separate Clay Bennett the way David Stern is?

Full disclosure:

I hate the NBA and I couldn't care less if we have it in Seattle. (Loved the NBA 15+ years ago, but I can't stand it now.)

But, that being said, I AM a fan of justice. And what Bennett and Stern tried to pull with stealing the Sonics isn't right. Frankly, their actions reflect very poorly on both of them.

I always thought David Stern was a schmuck, but this whole thing proves it. He's a arrogant, soul-less scum who has a vendetta against Seattle because we didn't bow and scrape his feet when he came to Olympia a few years ago.

And Bennett? He is an example of what is wrong with some big business men. His arrogance and willful disregard for dignity, integrity (words like that) is stunning. He may have a lot of money, but he's a chump and a loser. He might be able to buy a lot of neat stuff, but he'll never be able to buy a soul, honor, or people's respect.

That's all. I just feel like Stern and Bennett are a pair of sleazy crooks who just happen to have money and power. But at the end of the day, neither of them is better or has more honor than the creep boosting a car from the street. Scumbags, all of 'em.

We just want you to know that people as far as Miami care deeply about the Sonics:

http://thesouthfloridafan.blogspot.com/2008/04/we-support-seattle-sonics.html

We wish you the best of luck in staving off this injustice.

We just want you to know that people as far as Miami care deeply about the Sonics:

http://thesouthfloridafan.blogspot.com/2008/04/we-support-seattle-sonics.html

We wish you the best of luck in staving off this injustice.

Where does David "Fallen Legacy" Stern fall into all of this? Since he's obviously been in bed with Bennett from the start and has always wanted his good buddy to have a team in Oklahoma City, how much pull and power will he have?

Sorry Percy, actually, this IS a joke. Schultz can't handle the (warranted) criticism so he pulls this stunt. Lets just imagine for a moment and say he wins (no chance), he'll just turn around and sell the team to Ballmer's group and maybe even make more $. He's not doing this due to breach - he's doing it to save face and make money.

Sorry Percy, actually, this IS a joke. Schultz can't handle the (warranted) criticism so he pulls this stunt. Lets just imagine for a moment and say he wins (no chance), he'll just turn around and sell the team to Ballmer's group and maybe even make more $. He's not doing this due to breach - he's doing it to save face and make money.

Who cares what Howard's motivation is? He is stepping up and keeping his word to keep the Sonics in Seattle.

That is the point that matters.

Go Howard!

Some rescue. Schultz getting back the Sonics?? What's Worse??? He's the one that (with Wally Walker) turned the team against the city. For Schultz to pull this latest stunt is a step in the wrong direction. He has already proven he knows nothing of owning a basketball team, and if he ends up getting the team back, it's not going to make any difference.

Schultz is the reason the team value went so low for Bennett to buy it. Bennett then took this past season to field the worse team to lose city support so he could move them to OC. Well, it worked. Don't blame Bennett for being an opportunistic business man. Blame Schultz and Walker for putting the team in such a lousy situation in the first place.

How could Schultz possibly save this situation??? He can't. In fact, this just might expedite the move to OC.

Some rescue. Schultz getting back the Sonics?? What's Worse??? He's the one that (with Wally Walker) turned the team against the city. For Schultz to pull this latest stunt is a step in the wrong direction. He has already proven he knows nothing of owning a basketball team, and if he ends up getting the team back, it's not going to make any difference.

Schultz is the reason the team value went so low for Bennett to buy it. Bennett then took this past season to field the worse team to lose city support so he could move them to OC. Well, it worked. Don't blame Bennett for being an opportunistic business man. Blame Schultz and Walker for putting the team in such a lousy situation in the first place.

How could Schultz possibly save this situation??? He can't. In fact, this just might expedite the move to OC.