The Sonics' Pending Move

[cabbageboy 0]

When it comes to basketball in Memphis their college team will always be #1 in that area, and truth be told Memphis isn't really the most properous town in the country. Memphis had money in the right places (Fed Ex) and thus stuff like an arena wasn't a big problem.

 

There are various reasons why NBA fans are sickened by this Sonics move. It's no knock on OKC or the people, but it seems like a backwards move. A lot of people still remember the Sonics from their 1990s peak years, and probably think that OKC should have just shared the Hornets with New Orleans. Seattle will have to wait a few years, but eventually they will get either a new team or some disgruntled team will leave for Seattle.

 

[Damaramu 0]

I think Memphis becomes the Seattle Sonics.

 

Oklahoma Barons? I've seen a jersey for that, it looks pretty cool.

 

Barons doesn't sound like a bad name and I really liked that Durant jersey posted earlier.

 

It's a lot better than the other name thrown around: Thunderbirds.

[bob_barron 0]

Kinetic had a nice quote in the playoffs that applies well here to OKC.

 

Let me just say this: I don't care what anyone thinks about the Spurs. Hate them if you want. But please keep in mind that even if ABC gets blockbuster ratings for a Finals series, they will not be sending you a check. You have no vested interest in what those ratings look like.

 

What happened to the Sonics could happen to any team.

[Guest]

Well, that's not true

[bob_barron 0]

Well obviously not the elite teams like the Knicks, Celtics, Lakers, etc. but I don't see what happened to Seattle couldn't happen to another NBA franchise. They got fucked over by the NBA

[bob_barron 0]

Plus, NBA teams in one horse towns usually have pretty good fan support.

 

Memphis and Milwaukee beg to differ.

 

While they don't play in Milwaukee, there's also the Packers.

 

And Memphis is a horrible example, the Tigers overshadow everything there.

[Guest !!!]

The one-team-town model isn't anything certain. Sure, the Spurs and Jazz have devoted followings, but even the Trail Blazers were left for dead during their recent nadir, and I get the impression Orlando can pretty much take or leave the Magic with little consequence. The Memphis Grizzlies don't appear to be sustainable, And even if Byron was off on the numbers for Milwaukee--it's basically a three-team town, and the #1 team plays a few hours up the road--I don't think there's an NBA market in greater disrepair. But Bob is right: if the Seattle Supersonics can cease to exist in the middle of the summer, just like that (check out their site, it's all black), I don't see how the same thing couldn't happen to other teams at that tier of market size and historical cachet: your Kings, Warriors, Wizards, Pacers, Nuggets, or Bucks could wind up with the same fate, this time to the benefit of Kansas City, Las Vegas, or Seattle.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I could see the Kings moving soon. They want a new arena and I don't think much progress has been made between the Maloofs and Sacramento.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I may be the one Kings fan who couldn't care less whether the Kings moved or not... Of course, I've also never lived (or even been stationed, when I was on active duty) within five hundred miles of Sacramento and, while I've been to a couple dozen Kings games, none of them have actually been in ARCO.

[bob_barron 0]

I could see the Kings moving to Las Vegas, giving the Maloofs presence there. It's just a matter of whether they'd be willing to ban gambling on the NBA and if they have an NBA ready arena

[Maztinho 0]

The Thomas and Mack could host an NBA team _right_now_ until a NBA specific one was built and it's right off the strip so it's in perfect location.

 

There's no way that they'd get a team though, it'd be sweet, but I doubt Las Vegas ever has a professional team.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The Thomas and Mack could host an NBA team _right_now_ until a NBA specific one was built and it's right off the strip so it's in perfect location.

 

There's no way that they'd get a team though, it'd be sweet, but I doubt Las Vegas ever has a professional team.

 

 

Someone forgot:

 

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

What about the rumored teams playing in Europe deal thats been discussed? They were talking about creating 5 new teams to play in Europe, but the NBA expanding by 5 teams, all in Europe is absurd. I could see current teams (Memphis, Milwaukee to name 2) being teams that get moved to Europe and maybe they only expand by 2 teams or so.

 

 

[Maztinho 0]

The Thomas and Mack could host an NBA team _right_now_ until a NBA specific one was built and it's right off the strip so it's in perfect location.

 

There's no way that they'd get a team though, it'd be sweet, but I doubt Las Vegas ever has a professional team.

 

 

Someone forgot:

 

 

 

I meant _will_ ever... in a real league that means something for more than a season. And I can't forget He Hate Me, that's the name that makes no sense at all.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

What about the rumored teams playing in Europe deal thats been discussed? They were talking about creating 5 new teams to play in Europe, but the NBA expanding by 5 teams, all in Europe is absurd. I could see current teams (Memphis, Milwaukee to name 2) being teams that get moved to Europe and maybe they only expand by 2 teams or so.

 

If the European teams just played each other and had their own playoffs, which would play the North American champion for the NBA title. it could work. Traveling back and forth the Europe would be costly and time consuming.

[MrRant 0]

I'm not sure what it would feel like to have another team show up and take over the Sonics name. I guess I'd have to ask Browns fans.

[bob_barron 0]

Enough_of_this.

 

I don't see how NBA Europe is even logistically possible.

 

Why do the Charlotte Bobcats even exist anyway?

[MrRant 0]

Because a guy named Bob wanted an NBA team.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Charlotte was a GREAT NBA city before George Shinn decided that he was going to extort the city to build him a new arena, and started screwing the team and the city over when they wouldn't cave in. They earned the privilege of another NBA team, it's just that between the way that Shinn left town and the fact that the Bobcats aren't any good, people don't seem to want to come back out to support them.

 

A shame, too. After the Kings, they're my second favorite team; if I lived closer than three hundred miles away, I'd totally buy season tickets.

[Guest !!!]

Charlotte was a GREAT NBA city before George Shinn decided that he was going to extort the city to build him a new arena, and started screwing the team and the city over when they wouldn't cave in. They earned the privilege of another NBA team, it's just that between the way that Shinn left town and the fact that the Bobcats aren't any good, people don't seem to want to come back out to support them.

 

Seattle was a GREAT NBA city before a cadre of carpetbagging fuckheads decided that they were going to extort the city to build them a new arena, and started screwing the team and the city over when they wouldn't cave in. They earned the privilege of another NBA team, it's just that between the way that the CofCFs left town and the fact that the Not-Quite-Supersonics aren't any good, people don't seem to want to come back out to support them.

This is what's going to happen, at best. For all of Bud Selig's failings, he never allowed bad ideas like the Northern Virginia Astros and Winston-Salem Twins to happen, while Stern has been overseeing a shuffle of mediocrity through this decade.

[Maztinho 0]

Does my underscoring bother you Bob? Sorry, e-fed habit since I'm too lazy to use HTML so I emphasize _like_this_ when in a hurry.

 

Charlotte should pick up some if they can build a solid roster. Even the original Hornets took some time before they could get Larry Johnson and Zo on the same team and make some noise.

 

 

[MrRant 0]

 

 

Seeing Kemp dunk was what brought me into basketball as a lad. I still have a poster signed by him when he did a signing up at JCPenny in Bellingham. I remember shaking his hand as a small little white boy. Hand as big as my face.

[bob_barron 0]

Does my underscoring bother you Bob? Sorry, e-fed habit since I'm too lazy to use HTML so I emphasize _like_this_ when in a hurry.

 

Charlotte should pick up some if they can build a solid roster. Even the original Hornets took some time before they could get Larry Johnson and Zo on the same team and make some noise.

 

It does bother me, but it's one of my little idiosyncracies and neuroses.

 

Charlotte was a GREAT NBA city before George Shinn decided that he was going to extort the city to build him a new arena, and started screwing the team and the city over when they wouldn't cave in. They earned the privilege of another NBA team, it's just that between the way that Shinn left town and the fact that the Bobcats aren't any good, people don't seem to want to come back out to support them.

 

A shame, too. After the Kings, they're my second favorite team

 

Who likes the Charlotte Bobcats? The NBA didn't need 30 teams, and I don't think the league is any better now that Charlotte got another team.

 

 

[Brett Favre 0]

So I heard it's the OKC Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats! Hooooooooooooooeee!

[Golgo 13 0]

Thunder would be so minor league.

 

Oh. You really meant Thundercats. If Thunder is bad, then Thundercats is even worse. It sounds like a WNBA or NBADL team.

[Maztinho 0]

 

If they buy the rights for that as a the logo I'll be a fan for life.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Who likes the Charlotte Bobcats?

 

I do! In theory, at least. Any team with Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson and Raymond Felton on it should be fun to watch. Larry Brown will probably ruin everything, though.

[alfdogg 0]

It's actually Thunderbirds, not Thundercats.

 

The names being considered are that one, along with simply Thunder, Barons, and Outlaws. They're having a contest in some newspaper in OK.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Charlotte was a GREAT NBA city before George Shinn decided that he was going to extort the city to build him a new arena, and started screwing the team and the city over when they wouldn't cave in. They earned the privilege of another NBA team, it's just that between the way that Shinn left town and the fact that the Bobcats aren't any good, people don't seem to want to come back out to support them.

 

Seattle was a GREAT NBA city before a cadre of carpetbagging fuckheads decided that they were going to extort the city to build them a new arena, and started screwing the team and the city over when they wouldn't cave in. They earned the privilege of another NBA team, it's just that between the way that the CofCFs left town and the fact that the Not-Quite-Supersonics aren't any good, people don't seem to want to come back out to support them.

This is what's going to happen, at best. For all of Bud Selig's failings, he never allowed bad ideas like the Northern Virginia Astros and Winston-Salem Twins to happen, while Stern has been overseeing a shuffle of mediocrity through this decade.

 

 

And given Selig's push for contraction (which served to further enable Pohlad's continual griping about the Metrodome) from a few years ago, I don't think the absence of the Winston-Salem Twins was from a lack of trying either.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Who likes the Charlotte Bobcats?

Fuck you.

 

The NBA didn't need 30 teams, and I don't think the league is any better now that Charlotte got another team.

So? How often does expansion make any league "better?" Expansion hasn't made the NBA "better" since the ABA merger.