Earlier in the week, the NBA announced that the league was purchasing the New Orleans Hornets franchise from George Shinn—who had owned the team since their first days in Charlotte. Speculation of a relocation began almost immediately.
The Hornets are approximately $83 million in debt and have some of the lowest attendance figures in the NBA despite the presence of superstar Chris Paul. Attendance is so poor that it threatens to trigger a relocation clause in the team's lease with the New Orleans Arena.
Seattle was one of the first cities to come up as a potential destination, and for good reason.
The city supported the Sonics for 40 years, were regarded as one of the NBA's most passionate fan bases (that is, before the well was poisoned), and is regarded as one of the country's most international cities and a prime jumping-off point to the NBA's desired markets in Asia.
Seattle also has a ready-made NBA owner in Steve Ballmer, the current CEO of Microsoft, who tried to purchase the Sonics in 2008 in order to keep them in town.
On the other hand, I speak for a lot of Sonics fans (we ne ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Joe Halverson
New Orleans Hornets To Seattle: Thoughts From a Sonics Fan
December 10th, 2010 by Joe Halverson Leave a reply »
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