Sonics: Seattle Supersonics and Sonics Essay

Bringing the Sonics back to Seattle
On July 2nd 2008, the Seattle Supersonics left Seattle and were relocated to Oklahoma City. The fans of the Sonics were disappointed. The community of Seattle was also disappointed. When the Seattle Supersonics left, Seattle suffered a huge economic loss. The city of Seattle wasn’t making as much money as they had been while Sonics were here. Most importantly, the main reason why the Sonics left was because of the stadium. Seattle wasn’t able to give the Sonics the stadium they wanted and as a result, they left. I really believe the Seattle Supersonics were a big thing in Seattle and for that, I think they should come back.
The community of Seattle suffered a big loss when the Sonics left. The Seattle Supersonic fans and the people of Seattle were really sad. Basketball was a tradition and still is to Seattle. The fans of the Supersonics were magical and special. According to Slick Watts a former Seattle Supersonic player for six years, “Once you step on the court in front of Seattle fans they make you a Sonic for life. There’s something pretty magical and special about the Seattle fans”. Slick watts calls Seattle home even though he’s from the east coast in Mississippi. I want to bring Gary Payton. He played almost his whole career in Seattle and dedicated his life as a member of the Seattle Supersonics. He is the reason why the city of Seattle is attempting to make a comeback to the NBA. Gary played for the Sonics from 1990-2003. That’s a very long time! He dedicated his whole legacy to the Sonics. When the Sonics relocated to Oklahoma City, Gary didn’t want his jersey to be retired in Oklahoma because, he considered himself a member of the Seattle Sonics and not a member of the Oklahoma City thunder franchise. He then desired to not have his jersey retired until the city of Seattle got an NBA team back so he could have his jersey retired has a Seattle Supersonics member.
When the Seattle Supersonics were playing in Seattle our economy was through the roof. For example all the stores on Queen Anne benefited. Fans were stopping by before the game to buy candy, drinks, and food and team items. Our team was good and everything was going smoothly, until Clay Bennett bought the team. He decided that the team needed an environmental change because Clay Bennett believed the Seattle Supersonics owners were not doing a great job handling the team. Therefore, he relocated the Sonics to Oklahoma City. Since then Seattle’s has been economy was low. It has been low by stores on Queen Anne by not making money like they were before the Sonics left. Brad Humphreys, economics professor at the University of Alberta, even stated “Oklahoma City might be financially worse off if the Sonics move there”. (What Mr. Humphreys meant was that, his testimony was disputed by lawyers and experts that the Sonics shouldn’t leave Seattle until their lease is officially done in September of 2010). Former Mayor Greg Nickels said that he doesn’t attend Seattle Sonics basketball games. (“That he himself had said the lease was economically dysfunctional for the team admitting a team could not be successful long term under the current lease”.)
The main reason that the Seattle Supersonics left was that the city couldn’t give the Sonics a new arena that they could play and preform in regularly. Before the team moved the city was given a proposal where the Sonics would move away from Seattle, and move to Renton Washington for $500 million to rebuild a new arena but, the city denied it. They were going to use the public trust fund to renovate the new arena in Seattle but the city and the NBA couldn’t come to an agreement. Chris Hansen is the guy who’s been doing everything to bring the Sonics back to Seattle. A group led by Hansen reached a deal with the Maloof family (the owners of the Sacramento Kings) on April 29, 2013 to buy the Sacramento Kings and relocate them to Seattle for $500 million. The NBA governors voted

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