RealGM

"I haven't studied them but my sense of it was that Clay, as the managing partner and the driving force of the group, was operating in good faith under the agreement that had been made with [previous owner] Howard Schultz," Stern said on a conference call Monday. "His straight and narrow path may not have been shared by all of his partners in their views, but Clay was the one that was making policy for the partnership."

"I think it's fair to say that extraordinary efforts were made to seek ownership interests when Howard sold the team, including from people who became involved in the effort -- the recently unsuccessful effort -- to get the state to extend the sales tax for the purposes of retiring the arena debt," Stern said.

"It happened already. There was no one who was interested in buying the team, including the very people who stepped forward at the last minute."

"I would say that we don't ever like to leave a city," Stern said. "We don't like to leave a city as robust as Seattle, but the Asian cities that we're tending to focus more on have names like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

"It's disheartening simply to leave the city, as it would be to leave any city."

Stern: Bennett made 'good faith' effort to keep Sonics in Seattle

So he's not studied those e-mails but still believes everything his buddy Clay Clay tells him.

What a tool that guy is.

haha first thing I thought when I read the topic quote, "bull".

I would relish being a lawyer working on the city's case. I really hope they pursue this all the way and expose all the lies.

I'm really hoping Stern gets fired.

What else is there for you to do in a day Stern?

What a douchebag.

Stern is pure weasel. I despise him.

He just doesn't care about Seattle. His buddy Clay is more important to him than the Seattle fan base.

"I would say that we don't ever like to leave a city," Stern said. "We don't like to leave a city as robust as Seattle, but the Asian cities that we're tending to focus more on have names like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Did No one catch this???

is that all Seattle is to the NBA, an "Asian" city? both the Asian AND Caucasian citizens of Seattle should be up in arms!

that's like saying the NBA should be more interested in Cape Town and Johannesburg than Atlanta, because they are the "black cities"

this blatant racial profiling is absolutely appalling.

I was looking at the power rating on ESPN site

the first thing said was that this is Sterns wet dream because the Lakers and Celtics are rated 1 and 2

who made the celtics happens Bendict Arnold owner of the Oakies

now we see the payment!

FARMERMAN10 wrote:

"I would say that we don't ever like to leave a city," Stern said. "We don't like to leave a city as robust as Seattle, but the Asian cities that we're tending to focus more on have names like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Did No one catch this???

is that all Seattle is to the NBA, an "Asian" city? both the Asian AND Caucasian citizens of Seattle should be up in arms!

that's like saying the NBA should be more interested in Cape Town and Johannesburg than Atlanta, because they are the "black cities"

this blatant racial profiling is absolutely appalling.

MGD did the same thing a few years back .... advertising to the african american in white dominated areas .... it killed there sales

FARMERMAN10 wrote:

"I would say that we don't ever like to leave a city," Stern said. "We don't like to leave a city as robust as Seattle, but the Asian cities that we're tending to focus more on have names like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Did No one catch this???

is that all Seattle is to the NBA, an "Asian" city? both the Asian AND Caucasian citizens of Seattle should be up in arms!

that's like saying the NBA should be more interested in Cape Town and Johannesburg than Atlanta, because they are the "black cities"

this blatant racial profiling is absolutely appalling.

Wow Stern is racist against Asian people in America?

Seriously the guy is a d-bag, I hope you guys don't lose your team. Good luck. It's pretty obvious none of your players want to go to OKC anyway.

i have been thinking about this all day, and this is my take:

does this really suprise anyone? what did you expect stern to say? of course this is bull sh*t.

when you lie and get caught, you have 3 choices.

1. admit it and say you are sorry.

2. deny everything. (it wasn't me, i was taken out of context, i never said that, etc.)

3. just keep on lying.

stern has chosen option number 3. keep on lying and hope someone buys it. he knows there is a court case coming up. if he comes clean now he is screwed. so he just keeps on lying, sticks to the story. if he admits anything now he is finished. he is just trying to muddy the waters a bit more, thats all. this really doen't suprise me. i had HOPED he would tell the truth, but now that he is perpetuating the lie, he has boxed himself in. he has chosen sides once and for all.

I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE TRIAL.

This is one NBA and Hawks fan that would not be upset to see Stern go.

He did a lot to grow the league into what it is, and was, but it's beyond time for him to step aside and allow new leadership to step in.

D5150 wrote:i have been thinking about this all day, and this is my take:

does this really suprise anyone? what did you expect stern to say? of course this is bull sh*t.

when you lie and get caught, you have 3 choices.

1. admit it and say you are sorry.

2. deny everything. (it wasn't me, i was taken out of context, i never said that, etc.)

3. just keep on lying.

stern has chosen option number 3. keep on lying and hope someone buys it. he knows there is a court case coming up. if he comes clean now he is screwed. so he just keeps on lying, sticks to the story. if he admits anything now he is finished. he is just trying to muddy the waters a bit more, thats all. this really doen't suprise me. i had HOPED he would tell the truth, but now that he is perpetuating the lie, he has boxed himself in. he has chosen sides once and for all.

I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE TRIAL.

+1

Given the way he's handling this situation, i think he still believes that the city will cave in, after the BOG votes yes on the move(which would be a really dumb thing to do, before the trial), and that he and Bennett will be able to buy themselves out of this mess, before it gets really ugly.

btw det:

if i have not already said it or if i have i will say it again.
thank you for all of your work on the game threads. i am looking forward to next year and beyond. keep it up my friend.

D5150 wrote:btw det:

if i have not already said it or if i have i will say it again.
thank you for all of your work on the game threads. i am looking forward to next year and beyond. keep it up my friend.

Second that...I really appreciate it, and wish this season had been deserving of the effort you put into making those threads. Quite often they went seemingly ignored by a lot of people, including myself...but there were certainly noticed, even in a season where there was very little to root for and a number of fans tried to keep their distance because of the uncertain future of this franchise.

Hope we can do it all again next year.

I'm really surprised Stern is willing to let his reputation get destroyed by sticking up for Bennett through all the lies. He's done a few positive things for the league, a few negatives, but this episode is really creating his legacy in this Detroit Pistons fan's opinion.

I won't even watch a Bennett-owned team on TV (not that I can in Japan) - I wouldn't give him one advertising dollar.

Thanks from me as well Det. The game threads definitely kept the forums going in an otherwise dreary season, especially if the forum was dead and no new interesting happenings had occurred.

With Howard sueing Clay, I'm wondering if Stern has made time to "study" the e-mails?