The Clipper

Issue date: 1/29/10 Section: Opinion

Kemp, Payton, Sikma, Wilkens, Haywood, McMillan, the list could go on for days. These are just a few of the names that many of us grew up with during the chilly winter months and into spring while watching professional basketball in the Seattle area.

Sonicsgate is a documentary film by the Seattle SuperSonics Historical Preservation Society that showcases the team's rise to local prominence and its painful departure to Oklahoma in 2008. Released as an online premiere in October, 2009, Sonicsgate has received rave reviews nationwide and it can be viewed for free at sonicsgate.org.

The film was featured in the Dec. 21, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated with the advice, "Don't be fooled by the price tag: This pitch-perfect documentary shows the collateral damage when a team leaves town."

Narrated by Almost Live alum John Keister, Sonicsgate features interviews by a slew of current and former NBA players, fans, journalists and local politicians as they weigh in on exactly what led to the team exiting the Emerald City after 41 years of history, passion and devotion. Much like a film that depicts a historic event, you know the general premise of the film, but aren't sure how it will be presented.

It fluently moves from one era of Sonics basketball to the next, from the announcement Seattle would be getting an expansion team in 1966, to the 1979 championship, to the dominance that was displayed nightly during the '90s. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine what the 2000's would bring, especially with the success of the franchise and the undying passion of the fans. This was Sonics basketball, and this was, and always will be, our team.

In 2001, longtime owner Barry Ackerley sold the team to Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz. Schultz, a New York-born coffee mogul, spelled the beginning of the end for basketball in Seattle. First there was the very public feud with fan favorite Gary Payton that led to the eventual trade with Milwaukee for All-Star Ray Allen, followed up by Schultz threatening to relocate the team himself, citing the need for arena improvements. Those events pale in comparison to Schultz's defining moment as chairman for the Basketball Club of Seattle, LLC. That was when he sold the team for way over market value to a group of Oklahoma based businessmen led by Clay Bennett in 2006.

At that moment, we all knew what was inevitable: these men were going to pack up and take the Sonics with them. After all, Oklahoma City had just been teased with professional basketball after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Hornets were forced to find a temporary home while their arena was being repaired. Bennett was the man who offered to house the displaced team. And when he became part of the ownership group, I knew he only wanted to steal them away from us.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools