Save the Sonics

I’m not that big of an NBA fan, but I can empathize with Seattle Sonics fans. I would be devastated if my favorite team were to go away and leave me.

So it’s great news that former Sonics owner Howard Schultz is suing current owner Clay Bennett for breach of contract. From the Seattle Times:

When Bennett purchased the Sonics and its sister franchise in the WNBA, the Storm, for $350 million, he agreed to a stipulation that he would make a good-faith effort to keep both teams in Seattle. He has since sold the Storm to four Seattle women who will keep the team here.

E-mails among the Oklahoma City owners, made public last week, paint a different picture of their intentions. In preparation for a June 16 trial in Seattle’s lawsuit, which seeks to hold the owners to the remaining two years of the team’s KeyArena lease, lawyers for the city obtained several e-mails in which owners expressed an intent to move to Oklahoma City shortly after the sale.

Wow. While Schultz probably should’ve held on to the team if he had any doubts, it’s good to see him try to keep the team in Seattle. Fans shouldn’t lose their team because the taxpayers won’t pay for a new stadium.

(Hat-tips to Sonics Central and Ballhype.)