Bad News: Schultz to sue Bennett

[Patrick]

There would've been nothing wrong with Bennett getting an arena and then flipping the team for bucks.

The only thing Bennett was asked to do was try to work with the city of Seattle on an arena deal to keep the team. He did that. It failed, thanks to Seattle.

[Blazerfan11]

two bald men fighting over a comb

I miss the Hornets

[Patrick]

Schulz traded his baseball card, and is now asking his mommy to step in to try to get it back.

[mmonroe]

Laramie, must you BOLD everything?!

[traxx]

Doesn't anybody use the phone anymore?!

1st rule of Professional Basketball Club: Don't leave a paper trail
2nd rule of Professional Basketball Club: Don't leave a paper trail

These guys are certainly rich enough to afford any long distance charges that might be incurred during these conversations.

On an interesting side note, someone on the OU insider boards said that the NBA would have to approve any sale. If Schultz wins and the NBA doesn't approve the sale to a local party then Schutlz is stuck with a BBall team he doesn't want that's losing money left and right. Good point, I thought.

[srkboy23]

Doesn't anybody use the phone anymore?!

1st rule of Professional Basketball Club: Don't leave a paper trail
2nd rule of Professional Basketball Club: Don't leave a paper trail

These guys are certainly rich enough to afford any long distance charges that might be incurred during these conversations.

On an interesting side note, someone on the OU insider boards said that the NBA would have to approve any sale. If Schultz wins and the NBA doesn't approve the sale to a local party then Schutlz is stuck with a BBall team he doesn't want that's losing money left and right. Good point, I thought.

If Bennett is ousted as owner, then to keep Schultz as owner would not be smart for the other owners. Why keep Schultz as the owner when you can allow him to sell to someone like Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, who would become the 2nd wealthiest owner in the NBA?

As for the e-mail, this and the side letter by themselves show that Bennett did not make a good faith effort. Bennett says in the side letter that his #1 goal is to keep the Sonics in Seattle. The e-mail proves this is a lie because in it he says his #1 goal is to move to OKC and if by some freak chance, his pathetic arena proposal is put into action, then he will sell.

But what this e-mail tells me more than anything is that there is more damning evidence against Bennett coming on the way. It shows there is more out there than what was in the original document of Bennett's e-mails, which is good for Sonics fans because it means the best is yet to come.

BTW, another e-mail is expected to be released tomorrow.

[mmonroe]

srkboy23, the side letter stated that he was keeping in good faith over the next coming year, and would keep the team there, if an arena was in the works. That was july 18th 2006, and he waited till the middle of october 2007. Try again, I bet you're from seattle.


But then again, why is seattle's lead attorney looking at a settlement from bennett?

[Patrick]

With the way things were going at the time, and the lack of support Seattle was showing, I think the emails were justified. The emails were just stating the obvious...that Seattle wasn't going to come through.

Bennett made a good faith effort to keep the team there. Had Seattle built an arena, Bennett wouldn't have moved the team. I don't see what else you could ask of him. He made a good attempt complete with deadlines to try to get the city of Seattle and the state of Washington to fund a new arena.

[edcrunk]

hey M, srkboy is from seattle... he's our pal that started the "board of governors vote is irrelevant" thread.

[mmonroe]

Ed, you can always pick who's from seattle just by there statements.

[srkboy23]

What do you guys have to say about the new e-mails? If I were you, I wouldn't begin to think that this is the end or that this is the worst it'll be, because there are plenty more on the way.

In any case, even if he gave up after a trying to make a good-faith effort after a couple months, he still broke the promise. He was supposed to make a good-faith effort for ALL 12 months and he didn't do that, as the e-mails clearly state.

I just wanted to congratulate you on realizing that I was from Seattle. That took a lot of hard thinking to figure out. It's probably easier to tell who is an Okie or from OKC, because they're the only people who actually think Bennett is an honest man.

[andy157]

What do you guys have to say about the new e-mails? If I were you, I wouldn't begin to think that this is the end or that this is the worst it'll be, because there are plenty more on the way.

In any case, even if he gave up after a trying to make a good-faith effort after a couple months, he still broke the promise. He was supposed to make a good-faith effort for ALL 12 months and he didn't do that, as the e-mails clearly state.

I just wanted to congratulate you on realizing that I was from Seattle. That took a lot of hard thinking to figure out. It's probably easier to tell who is an Okie or from OKC, because they're the only people who actually think Bennett is an honest man.

Haven't seen the new e-mails. I would like to. Where can I find them? Can you provide us with a link? Sounds like the plot has thickened.

[edcrunk]

my dear friend, and i say that to point out the difference between the folks in oklahoma and the people i've encountered in your fair city, i don't believe everyone is hanging on your every word. i merely answered a question a fellow poster asked. i think it's very evident you're from seattle.
anyways, we all know clay & co. wanted a team for here. and it was evident from the responses that schultz and stern had received that public money was not gonna be spent to build an arena or even upgrade key to current standards. clay gave seattle a whole year to figure something out. now anyone with a brain could see what was happening. i would reckon to say that few billionaires amassed their wealth without lying or exploiting the law thru high priced lawyers. do you think steve balmer is beyond reproach? i believe some courts in the EU would currently disagree. don't hate the player, hate the game... and i would put forth that clay is not the most skilled player. do i believe the sonics will end up in okc?
YES, i do.

[Nathaniele]

More news on this:

ESPN - Newly revealed e-mails could cause headaches for Sonics owner - NBA

n court documents provided Thursday by attorneys representing the city, Bennett stated in an e-mail to Sonics co-owner Aubrey McClendon last Aug. 13 that the NBA was looking into issues "relative to certain documents that we signed at closing that may have been breached."

Bennett wrote that president of league and basketball operations Joel Litvin was looking into the possible breach.

Earlier that day, Bennett had written an e-mail to McClendon referring to the fallout from McClendon's comments to an Oklahoma business publication that "we didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle, we hoped to come here."

"Yes sir we get killed on this one," Bennett wrote to McClendon. "I don't mind the PR ugliness [pretty used to it], but I am concerned from a legal standpoint that your statement could perhaps undermine our basic premise of 'good faith best efforts.'"

NBA commissioner David Stern fined McClendon $250,000 for his comment. The city is citing it as evidence Sonics owners lied to Seattle when asserting they weren't trying to move the team.

[Nathaniele]

More news from ESPN

ESPN - E-mails key in Schultz's suit to reverse Sonics sale - NBA

Here are a couple of the Question & Answers with ESPN, see the link for more.

Q: Schultz has been reviled in Seattle since he sold the team. Isn't this just a public relations stunt to allow Schultz to improve his public image?

A: The lawsuit is more than a public relations stunt. The allegations against Bennett and his group are serious and seem to indicate a fraud at the time of the sale. The chronology of the e-mails is compelling evidence that will allow Schultz to push Bennett and his group into a bad corner. If it were a PR stunt, both Schultz and Yarmuth would be holding press conferences and making dramatic statements. Neither would comment to ESPN.com beyond what is said in the lawsuit. The language of the suit is lean and spare. If anything, it understates the case. Their conduct and their lawsuit are clear indications they are serious about their allegations and their attempt to undo the sale.


Q: How does Schultz's suit relate to the city of Seattle's lawsuit to bind Bennett to the KeyArena lease, which is scheduled to go to trial June 16?

A: Both lawsuits are in the same courthouse and could easily end up before the same judge. The lease litigation led to the discovery of the damning e-mails that are the basis for Schultz's case. The cases, added together, present Bennett with serious problems. Both jeopardize his bid to move the team to Oklahoma City. If he loses the lease case, he can still try to buy his way out of the lease by increasing his offer beyond the $26 million bid that the city rejected. If he offered $50 million or a bit more, the city would likely be obligated to give it serious consideration. Even if the city were to reach a buyout agreement with Bennett before the six-day trial begins in June, the Sonics owner will still need to deal with Schultz's suit. If Bennett loses the Schultz case, he loses the franchise.

If either suit is successful in postponing the Sonics' move beyond the start of the 2008-09 season, according to the NBA Constitution, Bennett's group will need to reapply for relocation before the NBA Board of Governors.

[Nathaniele]

and still more from ESPN

In the nba espn chat

ESPN's legal expert, Munson, thinks that Schultz will win the lawsuit and the Sonics will stay in Seattle, he gives it a 55-60 percent chance of going in Schutlz's favor.

[flintysooner]

Just quickly reading the suit it seems that the desired result is to force the current owners to sell the team. I think that would be interesting. If it were me I'd try to sell to Larry Ellison or at least get Ellison in a bidding war of some kind against the Microsoft group. Ellison would probably prefer to have the team in his town but it probably wouldn't bother him much to have it in Microsoft's town. Should be able to get a reasonably good price I suspect.

Really seems like a bad deal for the team itself regardless of the way it goes though and not a very good deal for Seattle. Kind of makes me feel sorry for them.

Scorched earth stuff can have unpredictable consequences.

Oklahoma City and the owners here might have to wait a bit longer for a team but that's true in any event. Just doesn't seem like such a terrible outcome to me in the big scheme of things. There will be other teams available eventually for sure.

[metro]

Nathaniele, just a helpful hint, this isn't the Seattle Times, we're civil here at OKCTalk, you don't need to post the exact same thing in 3 different threads.

[mmonroe]

STORM: Season Tickets


WNBA already starting to sell season tickets?

[Watson410]

WNBA already starting to sell season tickets?

Why wouldn't they be selling season tickets right now? Their season starts in less than a month.

[Nathaniele]

Nathaniele, just a helpful hint, this isn't the Seattle Times, we're civil here at OKCTalk, you don't need to post the exact same thing in 3 different threads.

Total of 2 threads, this one when I posted took almost 15 hours to show, so I ended up posting the other thread which I started with this:

"Sorry if I am double posting, I am a new user (gold) and never saw my posts reply on another thread, thought I would try posting a new one to see if its now showing."

Reading comprehension for the win!

[mmonroe]

Why wouldn't they be selling season tickets right now? Their season starts in less than a month.

22 days to be exact.

[jbrown84]

mmonroe, Bennett sold the Storm to a Seattle group months ago.