Today the city of Seattle reached an agreement on their dispute with Supersonics owner Clay Bennett regarding the teams relocation to Oklahoma City. Bennett’s group is to pay $45 million to Seattle for the lease to Key Arena, among other expenditures, AND if the city does not have a new NBA franchise within the next 5 years he must fork over another $30 million, bringing the total buyout to $75 million on top of the $350 million Bennett paid to get the Sonics from Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz. Of course, there is still the independent lawsuit filed by Schultz, who alleges Bennett didn’t acknowledge their agreement by seeking modes of funding for a new Arena in Seattle for one year before deciding to relocate the team (this reflects the people’s view in Seattle that Bennett’s agenda since he bought the franchise has always been to move them to his hometown in Oklahoma City).

This leaves a bad taste in the mouths of anyone who calls themselves a die-hard fan of the NBA because the franchise IN SEATTLE has been a model representation of achievement and fandom (despite several recent losing seasons). Sure, Seattle has pro football and pro baseball franchises, but Basketball is an obsession in the Northwest, and I for one will greatly miss the I-5 rivalry between the Blazers and Sonics. Granted, this deal allows the city to retain the rights to the Sonics name, logo, and colors, as well as the history that includes an NBA championship, numerous All-Stars, and some fantastic basketball games. But this news still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Ever since the New Orleans Hornets played in OKC part-time, NBA commissioner David Stern has had an agenda to get whatever franchise he could into that city. It seems odd considering OKC will be the smallest basketball market in the league, but I suspect (for the sake of speculation) that this move is geared toward making Kevin Durant more visible to the national television audience on the East Coast. And to further stir the conspiracy stew, this may be part of a larger move to get another team to move (like Toronto, the last Canadian team, or Milwaulkee, who has about as undesirable a location for NBA stars as there can be—see Richard Jefferson this season; and sorry, Wisconsin, this isn’t a jab at you because I don’t have anything against your beer, Brewers, or Bucks). When you throw this together with the Tim Donaghy accusations of officials tampering with playoff games under Stern’s watch, and Stern’s ambivalent responses to those allegations, the comish is looking like a complete scumbag.

But Sternness aside, this is a sad day for basketball. Seattle is a basketball town. The Northwest is a basketball region. And the NBA is taking away one of the most entertaining rivalries in sports—Blazers-Sonics—at least that’s how it feels for someone like me in Portland. Clay Bennett is scum, dirt, and any other type of filth or excrement you can think of, but the NBA is worse for standing back and allowing him to steal this franchise like a corporate handout. Congratulations to Oklahoma City, you did deserve a franchise of your own, I just don’t think it should have been Seattle’s. It should have been New Orleans, which isn’t even a basketball town, it’s a football town. But that’s a whole ‘nother issue I should stay away from.

Post your thoughts about this topic. I’d like to hear what people have to say.