Professional sports..the corporate welfare both parties can agree on. And all those high paying jobs selling beer and hot dogs that are brought into their communities while the rich sit in their comfortable suites.

I'd feel sorry for Sacramento except they stole the team from Kansas City, who stole it from Kansas City-Omaha, who stole it from Cincinnati, who stole it from Rochester.

Except this time everyone will see it coming from a mile away, and the there's an overwhelming sentiment around the NBA that Seattle deserves to get a team. Yes, it will come at the expense of another fan base, but the similarities end there.

Schultz sold us all out through back room dealings, with no intention of finding a local owner. Then the new guy (who overpaid by $50 million) sat there and lied for two years about his intentions.

Everyone knows we're gunning for Scranton's team.

But we'll settle for Sacramento if need be.

I look forward to a year of false starts and disappointments on the perpetual rumors that will be generated about Chris Hansen stealing some other city's NBA (or NHL) team.

Don't worry, Sacramento, you always have the...mmmph...*hyuck*..the, ah, the...*snort*...the...I'm sorry...the Warriors to root for!

*uncontrollable laughter*

*dies*

@4,

He can afford to buy his own land; he's already bought it. What he needs is the city to buy it from him at three to four times what he originally paid for it.

A sick part of me wants the Maloof's to go full Major League and replace Isaiah Thomas with Charlie Sheen.

@3, wait. There were people who did not see the Sonics debacle coming from a mile away? I don't recall there being any serious doubt that the ownership group was going to take the team to OKC.

Tangentially related: the zombie Sonics fans at OKC playoff home games this past season made me really happy.

@ 9, this bugs you but the endless Genius posts don't? At least this stuff is what people are talking about.

@ 4 He's not that rich?

@9 Why liberals cant follow sports?

I'd rather Vancover and Seattle got expansion teams or the Hornets moved. Somthing that involves a team with less local history than the Kings.

Sacramento's worried about a lot more than their stupid basketball team. The local economy has been in freefall for years, along with the rest of inland Cal (Stockton, Modesto, Fresno are doing even worse). It's one of the worst-performing metro areas in the country. Seriously, the place looks like Alabama or something.

@11 No, I agree with you. As soon as that press conference ended, I knew the Sonics were gone. The difference here is if the Maloofs call a press conference announcing a sale of the team, and Chris Hansen is sitting next to them, exactly zero people will be surprised. Hell, most will be expecting it.

When Schultz called that press conference in 2006, it was a total blindside hit. The media didn't even know what was going on. There had been no public indication the Sonics were for actually up for sale (which they weren't, really). Schultz told Stern of his plight, Stern probably told him he had a buyer lined up, and ready to overpay by $50 million. That was all Schultz needed to hear. He didn't even bother with a local search (I'm convinced Ballmer would have bought the team if he'd known it was being sold to out-of-towners).

Oh well.

Why is Sacramento seen as particularly vulnerable? I know they've been whining about a new stadium, but is that the only hook - stadium dissatisfaction?

This process would move forward a lot easier if we offered to use Tacoma Dome so we can have a season this year in the Salish Sea region.

Waiting around for some pie in the sky fantasy stadium with no parking is not a plus.

@16, agreed. Schultz couldn't have cared less about Seattle.

Also agree about Stranger Genius posts. It's one thing for the staff to make posts for free meals, but no one is commenting on the endless series of ass-kissing Genuis posts. Anyone who was interested went to see the awards, no?

@18 The Maloofs are broke. They're "getting by" on the money they made selling off almost their entire share of The Palms resort. They're losing money with the Kings, they can't afford to move the team (relocation fees are astronomical), and they need A LOT of help getting a new arena.

The problem with the Maloofs is that they are too stubborn to realize how screwed they are.

As for what gets posted on Slog, these Genius Award posts aren't nearly as annoying a the approximately 4,598 Line Out posts detailing every precious moment of CHBP.

@16, got it. What a bitter experience that was. A co-worker down here is actively trying to convince me to *become* a Lakers fan. Sonics or no Sonics, that's just not going to happen.

Even with the Lakers girls?

@ 17, I would also expect a lot of posts about Stranger-related events, but the Genius Awards have been over for days and they're still posting about it. The sheer lack of comments ought to tell them something about the interest they're generating while bumping stories people are actually discussing off the main page.

Ah well. At least it isn't like the million CHBP posts that infiltrate Slog when that shit belongs exclusively on Line Out.

We should buy the Sacramento Kings, trade them for a dog, and shoot the dog.

That's a paraphrase of someone else's words, dog lovers. Don't hate.

@8

"@4
What he needs is the city to buy it from him at three to four times what he originally paid for it."
So how does that work when the city gets paid back ALL of its borrowed money AND the city owns the arena and land? please detail for us how that constitutes "three to four times what he originally paid for it?"

I agree w/ @ 14 that the New Orleans Hornets would be the smart move for all parties involved (not least the Hornets, who were barely drawing 6,000 fans a night as their best player in franchise history manipulated, begged & pleaded his way out of town.) Unfortunately, I don't think Stern will allow it, as the potential PR hit for the league would potentially be disastrous, the city being as it is still in recovery and all. What a dumb mess.

After the Supersonics deal, one would think Seattle would be very, very hesitant of accepting anyone "stealing" a team from somewhere.

In a perfect world, teams coming to town should only happen by expansion or if a city doesn't support the a franchise (like the Grizzlies up in Vancouver), the franchise moves to where people turn out to see it.

I don't want to be guilty of the same greasy-slick shit those guys from Oklahoma were guilty of.

David Stern doesn't want Seattle to get a team. He'd rather use this vacant market as leverage to force other markets into building new arenas...or else. He's an asshole of Dick Cheney proportions.

@14 and @27

The Hornets were bought by Tom Benson (Saints owner). They're off the table.

@26,

Hansen has paid about $50 million for the land. The city is going to pay between $120 million to $200 million for it. He is making a huge windfall off the land deal alone. I don't give much of a shit if the city will supposedly make the money back off of taxes on Hansen's customers. A massive douchebag is making millions by flipping real estate and the buyer is the city government. That may sit right with you, but it doesn't with me.