SEATTLE (AP) _ Seattle city officials filed a lawsuit Monday to
keep the SuperSonics from leaving town.
The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court was a counter
move to a Sonics' attempt to be released from their lease on
KeyArena.
According to the complaint, ``The Sonics promised to `play all
home games ... exclusively''' at the arena at the Seattle Center
through Sept. 30, 2010.
``The city, with the help of some fine lawyers, is standing up to
a pro sports team,'' city lawyer Tom Carr said at a news conference.
``Too often, pro sports teams have run over local governments.''
Sonics chairman Clay Bennett said Friday the club has requested
an arbitration panel to rule that the NBA franchise does not have to
play the final two seasons of its lease at KeyArena, arguing that
the contract allows a negotiated buyout.
Such a ruling would allow the Sonics to relocate after this
coming season unless the club secures a new arena in the Seattle
area by Oct. 31.
Carr disputed claims by Bennett that the Sonics are losing money
because of the arena lease, described by NBA commissioner David
Stern as the worst for any team in the league.
``The issues with the Sonics' profitability at KeyArena have less
to do with KeyArena than with the Sonics' ability to defend the high
pick and roll,'' Carr said.
Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, a lawyer who was instrumental in
preventing the departure of the Seattle Seahawks under former owner
Ken Behring, said at the news conference that while many disputes
that could arise under the lease are subject to arbitration, the
duration of the lease is clearly excluded.
The ultimate goal of the latest legal manoeuvre is to keep the
Sonics in town permanently, whether under Bennett or a new, local
owner, Gorton said
The lease makes it clear that the Sonics agreed to play all their
home games in KeyArena for the duration of the agreement, and
Bennett seems to have planned from the outset to move the club to
Oklahoma City, Gorton said.
``They made the kind of demands that, from my perspective, were
almost designed not to be met,'' Gorton said.
