What others are saying about the Sonics

Fans get short end of settlement

Everybody knows that when marriages like the one between Seattle and its basketball team dissolve after 41 years, there's going to be hard feelings, especially because this one was so one-sided: All of the affection and most of the cash flowed in the same direction for years — from fans and city, county and state coffers into the team owner's pocket — and at some point, Bennett decided it still wasn't enough.

NBA fans in Seattle haven't had a championship since 1979, and only so many seasons worth celebrating since. So it's anyone's guess why Mayor Greg Nickels and his administration were so proud that they got — in addition to as much as $75 million — a binding agreement from Bennett to keep the SuperSonics' name, logo and colors in Seattle.

— Jim Litke,

The Associated Press

Seattle flinched, Oklahoma City celebrates

The Sonics left because two cities were pitted against each other in a high-stakes game of chicken.

When Seattle's car finally careened off the road Wednesday, it was a day for all sports fans to wonder if their city might be next.

At a celebratory news conference late Wednesday in Oklahoma City, Bennett let out a sigh of relief and uttered three simple words: "We made it." All that was missing was a "Mission Accomplished" banner hanging in the background.

— Kevin Jackson, ESPN.com

Schultz started it

As much as I dislike Cash-Us Clay and his conniving, Swift-boating partner, Aubrey McClendon, I reserve more anger for Howard Schultz, the Starbucks owner. Bennett and McClendon were just looking for a team to move to their own city, which I don't like but can certainly understand. But Schultz? He bought the team in 2001 and promised Seattle he would be our man, the guy who would recapture the joy and pride everyone felt when the Sonics beat Utah in the Western Conference finals to advance to the NBA Finals. Five years later he sold the team to Oklahomans for $350 million.

And now he's suing them because they breached their contract by not giving an honest effort to work out an arena deal in Seattle. Please. Is a guy who can sell coffee for $4 a cup so naive he didn't understand that a bunch of guys from Oklahoma probably were going to move the team to their home?

— Jim Caple, ESPN.com

Clearly, NBA doesn't care

The NBA should be banned from using the phrase "NBA cares" in any future public service announcement.

That should be a contingency of the settlement that ended the city of Seattle's lawsuit against the SuperSonics and freed the team to move to Oklahoma City, Okla. Because that's the message the sad Sonics saga sends out. The league doesn't care one bit unless you're willing to give up your money to enable its profits.

— J.A. Adande, ESPN.com

Do as we say,

not as we did

Frankly, I'm not all that interested in a history lesson from a city that built a new palace for the Seahawks and a new palace for the Mariners and then wants to start lecturing other cities, warning them about the dangers of giving into disgruntled franchise owners.

— Berry Tramel,

The Oklahoman