NBA seeks to intervene in lawsuit aimed at unraveling Sonics sale

After months of sitting on the sideline — and nearly a week since Clay Bennett struck a deal with the city of Seattle to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City — the NBA wants to intervene in Howard Schultz's lawsuit to rescind the 2006 sale of the team to Bennett.

Schultz, the Starbucks CEO, claims Bennett's Professional Basketball Club fraudulently induced the Basketball Club of Seattle to sell the Sonics and Storm for $350 million and wants the court to unwind the transaction, place the Sonics in a collective trust and sell to an "honest buyer who desires to keep the team in Seattle."

In a motion filed Tuesday with U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle, Richard W. Buchanan, the league's vice president and general counsel, said Schultz's remedy would undermine the league's constitution.

"These claims for relief are fundamentally inconsistent with the most basic rules and regulations governing the operations of the NBA and its member teams, which do not authorize or permit ownership transfers without the express approval of the NBA," Buchanan wrote in the motion.

Buchanan added the league wants to protect its interest and preserve the integrity of the process by which teams are sold and owners are selected. In most cases, the NBA Board of Governors votes to approve prospective owners before they're allowed to purchase a team.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank declined to comment Wednesday, and Schultz's attorney Richard Yarmuth did not return messages.

Generally, opposing counsel has 10 days to respond to a motion. The NBA wants Pechman to hear oral arguments by Aug. 1.

Pechman, who has yet to set a schedule in the lawsuit, could rule on the decision after receiving a written response from Yarmuth or after listening to oral arguments.

The NBA's motion is the latest move against Schultz's lawsuit. His case took a hit last week when Bennett secured a $45 million buyout, which allowed Bennett and the other owners to break the KeyArena lease and immediately move the team to Oklahoma City.

As a condition of the buyout, Bennett wanted the Schultz lawsuit dismissed, but Schultz declined to participate.

"The BCOS case will continue," Yarmuth said last week. "Our lawsuit is separate."

In Tuesday's motion, the NBA also submitted several exhibits, including documents that outline the league's procedures for transferring control of a team. According to the league constitution, if the Sonics sale were rescinded, the team would be put "under the management and control" of NBA commissioner David Stern.

Other documents released by the NBA included an agreement from the BCOS in which they agreed not to take any action against Bennett's group as a condition of the sale.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278