Sonics void leaves fans to ponder alternatives

It's all too real now. After 41 years, the Sonics and the excitement surrounding the NBA are gone.

The lights are off inside KeyArena, and the building is cold and dark.

Meanwhile, they're partying in Oklahoma City.

They've planned a daylong festival commemorating the Thunder's first game tonight. City officials closed down a section of downtown for a block party where fans and special guest David Stern, the NBA commissioner, will be treated to a BMX stunt show, concerts and a pep rally.

Steve Willits couldn't miss this celebration.

Growing up in Lynnwood, he'd been a Sonics fan since he can remember. He started working for the team in the game-operations department in 1987 when he was 14. Twenty-one years later, he directs a 30-member crew that sets up the arena, distributes giveaways to fans and handles in-game promotions.

When the Sonics left, Willits, a part-time employee, followed the team, to the surprise of family, friends and his employers.

"When I approached my boss about it, he was a little surprised," said the 35-year-old bachelor. "He said he assumed since I was Seattle born and raised and being part-time, I wouldn't want to go. I think he was a little taken aback, but he was open to it."

Willits' rationale is simple. He loves his job.

"I've never done anything that I enjoy more than what I do there," he said. "I love the thrill of the crowd, the energy level and just the building on game night. It's something you can't replicate. That was something I looked forward to that six to seven months of the year, and I knew I wasn't going to have that in Seattle.

"I just realized that my dream job is going, but that doesn't mean it's going away. I could still follow it if I wanted to. I would have loved to continue doing what I'm doing back in Seattle, but you've got to go where your heart takes you."

The $45 million settlement between the city of Seattle and the Professional Basketball Club LLC on July 2 allowed Clay Bennett to take the Sonics to his hometown of Oklahoma City. The deal promises an additional $30 million to Seattle if the Legislature approves funding for a new arena or KeyArena remodel in its next session and a new NBA team does not move into that facility by 2013.

Last week Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels remained resolute that his decision to allow the Sonics to leave was the right one. He said $34 million of the settlement was used to pay off the city's debt from the 1995 remodel, $2 million to $3 million paid for legal fees, and the remainder was allocated to the Seattle Center.

"I have a dual responsibility, and one is to the taxpayers of Seattle," he said. "This building had significant debt on it, and we only had two years left on a lease. There was nothing that would have kept the team here past those two years.

"So ... we've been able to pay off all of the bonds on this building. It's now free and clear, which means that we can be very flexible in looking for other opportunities — concerts, the Seattle University basketball team, the Storm basketball team and a future NBA franchise. We've tried to keep the door open for the NBA, but we also made sure the taxpayers were protected."

The loss of the Sonics creates a void during the fall and winter months on the Seattle sports calendar.

"I probably will take a trip once in awhile down to Portland to see the Trail Blazers play," said former Sonics center James Donaldson. "They now by de facto become the Northwest NBA basketball team. From time to time, I'll run down there to take in an NBA game live. Other than that, I still enjoy college basketball and even high-school basketball on occasion."

Washington's men and women and the Seattle University men's team, which returns to Division I competition this season, might reap an extra boost in ticket revenue, merchandising sales and television ratings without the presence of a local NBA team.

"More eyes will be on us," UW men's coach Lorenzo Romar said. "Whatever we do, more people will know what we're doing. There's been days when we had a big game, a big win and the Sonics had a big win that night too, we kind of shared the attention.

"But now if things go well, we probably won't share that. If things go bad, we won't share that, either."

Stern might have helped Bennett, but he's still hawking his product to a cynical and disenchanted fan base.

"We have something over 900 games available on NBA League Pass, either on cable or satellite, and potentially broadband and NBA-TV where we have four games a week," he said during a preseason teleconference last week in reference to Sonics fans. "So there's a lot out there in terms of content and a lot of an ability to follow our league. If they are so inclined, then we certainly invite them and welcome them."

Former Sonics season-ticket holder Yuggy Jones, however, has turned off the NBA.

"I came home the other night and put on the TV and there was the [Los Angeles Lakers-Thunder exhibition] game," he said. "I had this feeling of I don't really want to watch this, but another part of me was like let's see how they're playing now that they're not in Seattle.

"In the end, I watched about 10 minutes. It's fair to say, I won't be watching much basketball, which is sad."

Jones, an Auburn business owner, recently purchased two club seats for the junior-hockey Seattle Thunderbirds, who play at KeyArena until the Kent Events Center is completed. The T-Birds tickets cost $2,200 and were significantly less expensive than his $6,000 Sonics tickets.

"For 21 years, the NBA home opener was something I looked forward to," he said. "Everything I did was based around the Sonics' schedule, and that's not happening any more. These next few days will be really tough for me."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com