Why did Kohl approve the Sonics relocation?

drew881 · Post #1 » by **drew881** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:27 pm

So this post is somewhat off topic, but today the owners voted 28-2 in favor of relocating the Sonics to OKC. The two owner's votes dissenting were Dallas and Portland.

Cuban is suspect that OKC is a large enough market, while Portland did not give a reason.

I am curious why Kohl would approve this vote, specifically when he wants to sell his team to an owner who will keep the team in Milwaukee. The current situation in Seattle all but resembles the Bucks situation: 1) An arena that needs renovations/new arena 2) finding an owner that will make an honest attempt to keep the team in the current city.

Shouldn't Kohl be aware of t his, or is playing along with the majority of other owners just standard practice. Would Kohl look bad standing up for his team by voting no? Any better insight on this?

Post #2 » by **ReasonablySober** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:28 pm

Maybe he didn't want his Bucks to be the team to move to OKC someday in the near future.

Post #3 » by **MickeyDavis** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:33 pm

Kohl has no spine. He goes along with whatever the rest of them wants to do.

LISTEN2JAZZ · Post #4 » by **LISTEN2JAZZ** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:34 pm

I'm surprised Kohl voted that way, especially with his colleagues in the Senate asking him not to.

gobbler · Post #5 » by **gobbler** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:36 pm

DrugBust wrote:Maybe he didn't want his Bucks to be the team to move to OKC someday in the near future.

Quite possibly. Or that when not playing the good old man senator role he is a businessman like the rest of them.

Andrew34r · Post #6 » by **Andrew34r** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:37 pm

MickeyDavis wrote:Kohl has no spine. He goes along with whatever the rest of them wants to do.

That was what I wanted to say but didnt know how to word it.

Thunder Muscle · Post #7 » by **Thunder Muscle** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:38 pm

Takes away a place the Bucks can move to. Stern said Seattle will never get a team again if they move. That's probably true. With Oklahoma City possible out of the picture. There aren't many other markets right now that seem suitable for NBA basketball beside maybe OKC. I think Las Vegas hurt its chances when they hosted the All-Star game and it was marred with violence. Maybe Columbus, Ohio or something, but this definitely eliminates the hot city to get an NBA team.

xTitan · Post #8 » by **xTitan** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:38 pm

Good one Cuban, my guess is that the Mavs get the most run in the state of Oklahoma right now, a nice, untapped revenue stream for Markie, he wanted to keep it that way, good business sense.

Rockmaninoff · Post #9 » by **Rockmaninoff** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:40 pm

Because he is a fraud.

WEFFPIM · Post #10 » by **WEFFPIM** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:51 pm

DrugBust wrote:Maybe he didn't want his Bucks to be the team to move to OKC someday in the near future.

This was my thought, too.

Post #11 » by **MickeyDavis** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:03 pm

Despite what Stern says now if Seattle builds an arena they can be an NBA city again. Louisville is building a state of the art building right now. Vegas will absolutely be getting an NBA team. There are plenty of options out there.

It's just the usual Herb Kohl following along nicely.

BucksRuleAll22 · Post #12 » by **BucksRuleAll22** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:16 pm

Kohl doesn't know anything about basketball. 28-2 is a land slide. I would of never voted for the move. Very sad what is happening with the Sonics. Samething has a good chance of happening to the Bucks down the road.

Diggr14 · Post #13 » by **Diggr14** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:28 pm

Stern has pictures of Kohl with another man..... has to be. If a guy like Kohl is so adamant about keeping this team in Milwaukee, shouldn't he understand the same sentiment from the Seattle fan base who are having their team hi-jacked by some billionaire tool from OK?

Stern owns Herb. There has to be something there. Also, isn't it hilarious that Stern got "full assurances" from Clay Bennett that they are doing everything possible to keep them in Seattle... yet a couple months later e-mails surface in which he is basically leading the charge for a move to OKC? What a joke. Stern is either lying through his teeth to us, or receiving alot of money under the table for this. This is the same David Stern who has fined Mark Cuban a half-mil for making comments about the NBA/Refs. This guy is blatantly lying about taking a team from a longstanding NBA city and the 14th biggest market in the USA. How is this guy not getting fined. HE LIED TO STERN TOO....

Stern is probably the biggest crook in all of professional sports, there is NO DOUBT.

Licensed to Il · Post #14 » by **Licensed to Il** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:48 pm

Over all, Stern is one of the all time great league commishioners. But no one is perfect, and this Seattle relocation (with long time friend Clay Bennet) is one of his darkest hours.

But one guy that should get more blame is Starbucks shiester Howard Shultz, who arrogantly thought his business accumen selling coffee for $4 a cup would translate in to owning a NBA club. When it finally dawned on him that he was in over his head (and he was losing money) he quit on the fans and the ongoing legal battle with the state for a new arena, and sold to a guy THAT EVERYONE IN THE LEAGUE knew was going to move the team to OK the first chance he got.

So shame on Stern, shame on Bennet, but shame on Shultz too... the world buys his coffee for $4 a cup, but he couldn't get Washington to build him a stadium for free so he sold the team to an Okie dieing to bring a team to the heartland.

zizek · Post #15 » by **zizek** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:30 pm

Kohl, like the other owners, probably wanted to send governments the message that if you don't build us new arenas you may lose your teams.

St. Louis, Kansas City, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Cincinnatti, San Diego, Las Vegas, Columbus, Tampa Bay, the Virginia Beach area, Nasville and Buffalo are some of the metropolitan areas about as large or larger than the smaller NBA cities that don't have NBA teams and with new arenas might look attractive for moves (some would require other moves first). If Memphis and OKC can get teams a lot of places are candidates.

Cuban is afraid OKC can support an NBA team and, as has been said, cost him money. By voting against the move Portland looks like a good guy to the new fans they're getting with the move.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

Post #16 » by **Tommy Udo 6** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:53 pm

Cuban is opposed because the team is moving too close to his territory

Portland is opposed because they want their rivalry with Sonics to continue

unklchuk · Post #17 » by **unklchuk** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:01 am

Kohl could hardly vote against the move to OKC since he's already agreed to sell the bucks to Beijing.

The fact that I have no evidence or even rumor to support that assertion matters little in the long arc of time.

asdfgh · Post #18 » by **asdfgh** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:04 am

Paul Allen was born in Seattle and has lived there all his life. Did you really expect him to vote Yes?

jokeboy86 · Post #19 » by **jokeboy86** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 5:18 am

asdfgh wrote:Paul Allen was born in Seattle and has lived there all his life. Did you really expect him to vote Yes?

If it wasn't against the rules Allen would've have tried to buy the Sonics. As for Kohl this proves he is not as noble as people make him out to be like he's this great owner who isn't greedy. He can't stop talking about keeping the team in Milwaukee, but votes against Seattle? Him voting against Seattle proves he is a hypocrite. This also might give us a hint, that just maybe Kohl will start asking for a new arena soon cause why else would he vote for the very thing that he is proud that he stands for.

Neapolitan Buck · Post #20 » by **Neapolitan Buck** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:09 pm

I believe Cuban dissented because there are already 3 teams (HOU, SA, DAL) in a little geographic area, and it is not good for them to relocate another franchise in their same area. Portland's owner maybe dissented because for the same reason you wanted Kohl to dissent. Why Kohl agreed? I don't know... he wanted to mantain a good relationship with Clay Bennett?