Stern derides KeyArena effort as 'a late PR stunt'

NBA commissioner David Stern told ESPN radio that Seattle's newest bid to upgrade KeyArena was "a late PR stunt," but city leaders said Tuesday they'll continue working toward a solution to keep the Sonics in Seattle.

Stern indicated to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith that Seattle's efforts are too late in the game and that if Mayor Greg Nickels had "done this a year ago, we wouldn't be having the conversation."

Instead, an NBA relocation committee will be touring Oklahoma City's Ford Center next week and preparing to make a recommendation either for or against Sonics chairman Clay Bennett's relocation request at the April 17-18 NBA Board of Governors meeting in New York.

Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said the city continues looking into ways to come up with an additional $75 million in funding to complete Nickels' recent $300 million plan to upgrade KeyArena after the state Legislature declined to offer late help in its session that ended last Thursday.

Four private investors, led by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, offered to pay $150 million of that tab and Nickels said the city was good for another $75 million. With the state Legislature putting off any such help of its own until next year, the city is searching for ways to tap additional revenue streams.

"There's nothing to report," Ceis said. "We're still working on stuff. It'll probably be another week or so."

Although Bennett has refused to consider any sort of KeyArena solution since purchasing the franchise in July 2006, including an offer by Nickels last August to put up $100 million in matching public resources, Stern laid full blame for the current situation on the city's political leaders.

"We were told early on by the mayor that there was no way they'd provide any public funding of a serious nature to help the building," the commissioner said Monday. "Indeed, he (Nickels) spearheaded a referendum that made it virtually impossible for there to be Seattle public money.

"Then in what I would call sort of a late PR stunt, he suddenly announces that despite the legislation, he's found $75 million and therefore the state should allocate another $75 million. And the state said, 'Hey, it's too late.' "

Stern's comments reflect the view in Oklahoma City that the move is a foregone conclusion and Seattle will be left without a team as soon as Bennett is clear of the KeyArena lease, either next season if he wins the upcoming trial in U.S. District Court or in two years if he's not allowed to buy out the final two years of the lease.

"It's not a happy situation, but I can tell you this," Stern said. "It's not a reflection of the fans of Seattle, it's a reflection of the governmental leadership there.

"And when Seattle does move, whether it's the end of this season or two more seasons, what the mayor has managed to do was have a building that's still going to have $26 million of bonding left without a major tenant. It's a terrible situation. It's not very fair for the fans of Seattle, but that's the situation we got put in."

Ceis said he hadn't heard Stern's comments and didn't want to engage in a further war of words.

"I don't really pay much attention to what Stern has to say," Ceis said.

More important to the city is coming up with a firm plan to present to the NBA, before the relocation vote, that would show Seattle is willing and able to support a Sonics franchise.

Ceis said he's confident the league will listen to Seattle's updated proposal before a final decision is rendered, but only if the city does its part.

"It all hinges on the KeyArena plan," he said. "We've got to be able to present a complete proposal. If we do that, I'm confident we'll get an audience."

Meanwhile, Judge Marsha Pechman has signed off on a joint motion by lawyers for both the city and Sonics' ownership group that allows some documents to be classified as confidential during the trial, scheduled to begin June 16.

Paul Lawrence, an attorney representing the city, said the agreement was made to eliminate disputes over some documents being sought in the discovery process from the NBA and Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

Also, Seattle resident Myer Hutchinson filed Public Disclosure Commission papers on Tuesday to form a political action committee called Sonic Avengers in hopes of raising money to pressure politicians to pursue KeyArena funding.

Hutchinson said his goal is to push state legislators to call a special session on the funding issue, as well as apply political pressure to those opposing Key- Arena improvements. His group has a Web site at sonicavengers. com.

"This is an issue a lot of people care about and were disappointed in when the Legislature had the chance and didn't do anything," Hutchinson said. "I don't think I can take (Speaker of the House) Frank Chopp's job from him, but we can let him know how serious this issue is for a lot of people."

OKLAHOMA CITY COUNCIL TAKES CLOSER LOOK AT PRACTICE FACILITY

The operation and upkeep of a city-owned NBA practice facility emerged Tuesday as the chief concern among members of the Oklahoma City Council considering a preliminary lease agreement with the Sonics.

Councilmen Sam Bowman and Pete White said the city should take into consideration during its negotiations with the Sonics what would happen if the practice facility needs upgrades in the near future.

Oklahoma City voters recently approved a sales-tax extension that would pay for the construction of an approximately $24 million practice facility, along with upgrades to the Ford Center arena. The lease agreement with Sonics owner Clay Bennett calls for the team to pay $100,000 in annual rent for the practice facility, but White questioned a clause that sets aside 20 percent of that to pay for maintenance.

"If you look down the road to where some kind of capital expenditure might be mandated, that's not going to accumulate very much money in today's market," White said. "In five years, that's $100,000, and $100,000 is not a lot of money for a capital improvement on a $20 million project."

White said he didn't want to get into a position where funding for the practice facility would come out of the city's general fund.

"My point is that we ought to be realistic about it because that's something that will come back at some point in time," White said.

Mayor Mick Cornett, who was out of town when the lease agreement was placed on the council agenda last Friday, said he was "quite pleased at where we ended up."

-- The Associated Press