The Brewery
A gathering place for sports analysis and opinion with Seattle Times sports columnist Jerry Brewer.
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Remembering the Sonics on a sad, sad day
Posted by Jerry Brewer
I'd be remiss if I let the day pass without acknowledging that this is the two-year anniversary of the day the Sonics were allowed to become the Thunder.
You remember it painfully well. While you were waiting on the judge's ruling on the KeyArena lease dispute, Greg Nickels, who is appropriately the former mayor now, and the city of Seattle reached a settlement with Clay Bennett and his Oklahoma Raiders.
The cost of 41 years of Sonics tradition: $45 million.
The city could've either forced the NBA to give Seattle a new team by 2013 or make the Raiders by another $30 million, but it dropped the ball by not finding an arena solution by the end of 2009.
Feel free the vent in the comments section. Or I'd love for you to share good memories of the Sonics. As the old Seattle Times page says above, those memories can't be taken away. Those are yours to keep forever.
I'll spare Sonics fans a long-winded commentary on this sad, sad day. Just wanted to let it be known that I remember what happened on this day. I'll never forget. And maybe in the future, I can be part of a movement to bring the NBA back to town (assuming enough people want it back).
I have an NBA reporting background. I decided to become a Times sports columnist in 2006 largely because I wanted to write about the NBA again. When I covered the Orlando Magic in 2002-03, I used to sit at Shawn Kemp's locker and ask him to recount the good ol' days in Seattle. You could feel the love and respect he had for Gary Payton, George Karl, Nate McMillian, etc. Then I came here to cover what turned out to be his last appearance in KeyArena as an NBA player -- and what an ovation he received. It made me even more intrigued by this city.
As many of you have requested, I'll be working hard after Independence Day to find more concrete answers on where Seattle's hopes for a new arena/new team stand right now.
In the meantime, if you haven't done so many times already, check out and support the award-winning Sonicsgate movie. Watch it again. And again. It's amazing work, and props to Jason Reid and Co. for keeping the issue relevant.
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