So Where will GP have his Jersey Retired?

[farzi]

Ken Griffey Jr. was the face of Seattle during that time.

But yeah, if any former sonic shows up to an OKC home game to accept anything I'll lose a TON of respect (even shawn kemp. I'll gain a tiny bit just so i can lose it back)

[87BlazerMan]

GP's jersey will be retired in Seattle the very first year that Seattle has a new team, probably within the first month. If GP has to wait 30 years for that, he needs to wait 30 years. Any other solution is a disservice to Seattle (not that that seems to be a deterrent to the NBA right now) and a disservice to the Glove.

[Proballer]

That's a good question. With the Sonics being dismantled, there's a real "technical" problem.
Miami, it sounds like a bad idea to me... 'cause he played there only one season, plus he was already done.
Nah, the best would be to retire his jersey in Oklahoma City... but it'll be kind of weird

[farzi]

Could be in Golden State where he grew up, and/or portland since he went go oregon state?

hopefully the city of seattle just waits to hang it when they get a new team, and no one else puts one up before hand

[MagicMadness]

The team's getting at least more season in Seattle, apparently, so it's easy. Make a decision, quickly, and if his jersey is marked for retirement, do it on opening night.

I thought they were moving to OKC next season...

Am I misunderstanding this statement or did I miss a new development in the story?

[Frosty]

Interesting debate. Where does a team's legacy go when it moves cities and there isn't a guarantee that a team will ever return to the city?

The legacy shouldn't be lost. Why should Gary be robbed of seeing his banner hanging somewhere? At the same time, should a legacy be sold? If Bill Gates bought the Lakers and moved them to Seattle does that mean all of the history comes with them? I would expect LA fans would have something to say about it. Then that brings up the question of the Laker's current legacy. They claim 14 titles to the Celtics 17. But really 5 of those came from the Minny Lakers.

Tough call.

[jenn_gp]

Gary Payton is the Sonics, period. He is the reason why I became a fan.

I am a little scared of this "Shared History" clause in the settlement agreement. IF Seattle gets a team through expansion, we share our history. However, if we get a team through relocation, we have to give up our history to OKC. That is pretty messed up.

Either way, we lose our history. If we were to get a team through expansion, and we retire Gary's jersey on opening night, that means that OKC has the rights to that. Seeing Gary connected to OKC in any form makes me want to slit my wrists.

This is a completely off the wall idea, but has been suggested on local talk radio the past few days. In order to keep Gary's legacy SOLELY in Seattle, he should raise the 12th Man Flag at a Seahawks game, and they should retire his number at Qwest Field. Yeah I know..it's off the wall, but I'd accept it in open arms if the other option is OKC claiming it.

Some people think that this whole "shared history" idea is just a ploy by Bennett to get Howard Schultz to drop his case. Who knows though. If Howard drops it, then maybe the shared history idea goes away. I personally would love to see Howard stick with the case just to prove Bennett is a fraud. I still can't figure out why he would want to have anything to do with Seattle's history. He didn't win the 1979 Championship, Seattle did. He didn't retire people like Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, Fred Brown, and Bob Blackburn, Seattle did.

It's almost absurd as him requesting to take the Space Needle to OKC. Why doesn't he want to build his own history in his hometown? It still makes no sense other than that he just wants to prove he has no soul and is a complete ass-clown of a human being.