NBA fines Sonics owner McClendon for comments

by armchairsports | August 23, 2007 at 12:18 pm

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So much for making a good impression to Sonics (and Storm, and I guess Thunderbird) Fans... look at the Mariners and 'Hawks we've proven we'll come out if you give us some product... So good on the NBA for getting in and working for existing teams... never thought I'd say that.

Maybe the NBA was watching earlier this year when Canadian business guy Jim Balsilie tried to buy the NHL's Nashville Predators and had a deal in Canada before he'd even bought the team - now he's out of that picture, maybe he should have bought the team first...

NBA fines McClendon for comments on moving Sonics

SEATTLE -- The NBA has fined Seattle SuperSonics co-owner Aubrey McClendon $250,000 for comments he made two weeks ago that his group didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle.

League spokesman Mark Broussard in New York confirmed the penalty Thursday morning, but said he did not immediately know the reason the fine was imposed. The comments of McClendon, an Oklahoma City energy tycoon, were at odds with commissioner David Stern's stated hope of keeping the Sonics in the city they've called home for all 40 years of their existence.

McClendon is one of four original partners with Clay Bennett in Professional Basketball Club LLC, the Oklahoma group that purchased the Sonics and WNBA's Storm for $350 million in July, 2006. This month, McClendon told an Oklahoma City publication that the group has always hoped to move the NBA franchise to Oklahoma, but he acknowledged the team could make more money in the Pacific Northwest.

"But we didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here," McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, told The Journal Record in Oklahoma. "We know it's a little more difficult financially here in Oklahoma City, but we think it's great for the community and if we could break even, we'd be thrilled."

The ownership group has set a deadline of Oct. 31 to secure an agreement for a new arena in the Seattle area. If a deal is not in place by then, Bennett has said will begin the league's process of relocation the Sonics to Oklahoma City.