SEATTLE (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — NBA Commish David Stern has upped the ante in the contentious and ongoing negotiations with Seattle over the future home of the NBA team The Supersonics.
Last Thursday, Stern stirred the pot when he stated that if Seattle loses the 'Sonics, that they shouldn't expect another NBA franchise in the future, if he has anything to say about it.
Sonics owner Clay Bennett announced last Friday that he'd like to move the team to Oklahoma City. This move would be complicated by the fact that the team has a lease for their current home, the KeyArena until after the 2009-2010 season and even more so by the ongoing litigation between the city and the team over the lease.
The contratemps are focused over the fact that a measure, widely-supported by voters that would prevent city money from being used to finance a new arena but the level of current acrimony makes it hard to determine if the NBA's position is merely a hardball bargaining ploy at this point.
"Instead of firing verbal scuds at us, what we'd prefer is he take some of his own advice, sit down with us and work it out," Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis told the Seattle Times, adding that Mayor Greg Nickel's door is wide open to discussing possible plans to resolve the arena situation. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
