Former Sonics chairman Howard Schultz withdrew his lawsuit against Clay Bennett's Professional Basketball club on Friday, ending the last remote possibility of returning the NBA franchise to Seattle.
In a letter to his former Basketball Club of Seattle ownership partners, Schultz said two recent rulings by Judge Marsha Pechman made his case more difficult and as a result, "our legal team and I no longer believe we can be successful with this litigation."
Schultz had been seeking to unwind the 2006 sale of the team to the Oklahoma City group, hoping to get the team placed into a constructive trust that would allow it be re-sold to a buyer intent on returning the franchise to Seattle.
Pechman ruled last week that the NBA would be allowed to intervene in the suit and also knocked down Schultz's efforts to split the case into two separate trials.
Schultz said he'd also received feedback indicating that a "continuing adversarial relationship with the NBA" could be a hindrance to the city's efforts to land a future franchise.
"Thus the prevailing wisdom of many in the Seattle community and the advice of key members of the BCOS is that Seattle's best chance for a professional basketball franchise is to end this litigation and allow the City, State Legislature and other parties to begin the necessary fence mending with the NBA.
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