Enough. I’m now a Trail Blazer fan.
The news yesterday hit like a ton of bricks. Steve Ballmer had not only won the bidding to purchase the Clippers but at an astronomical price.
While there was a lot of talk about the Kings moving to Seattle, I think most of us who went through the Howard Schultz/Clayton Bennett/City of Seattle debacle knew it wouldn't have felt right taking another city’s team and history the way that the carpetbaggers from the dust bowl had done.
On the positive side, I expect Ballmer will school Bennett and his cronies about what honesty and respect mean by keeping the Clippers in LA. For me it’s becoming obvious that the only Sonics team I'll know in anything close to the near future is the one that left years ago.
The picture of Ballmer and new NBA commissioner Silver at an earlier playoff game said it all. They are obviously close, friends even. And we can all expect that Ballmer not only read the tea leaves but also got the message from the source: no NBA expansion in the near future. So, with money and time on his hands he took the opportunity to fulfill his dream of owning an NBA team that he can now place large side-bets with Paul Allen over.
Expansion was and is the only real option for Seattle. And for everyone but us, it’s obvious that the league is already overextended and the quality of play has diminished. Plus we never wanted someone else’s team—we always wanted to keep ours. But in the new world of $2B valuations, what would an expansion team be worth? Would current owners require any new team give up the normal benefits of expansion draft and such due to the already diluted talent pool? I just don't think it’s in the cards, and without Ballmer the Seattle potential ownership group looks a lot less compelling to the NBA.
I gave up on the NBA for years, this year for the first time really re-engaging. And I realized I really missed it. Working in the Bay Area I was able to see quite a few Warriors games, and I just love watching Steph Curry. But my real love became watching the Blazers. Lillard. Aldridge. The only thing that could be better would be still having Nate MacMillian there.
So I'm officially bowing out of the “New Seattle Sonics” prayer chain. It’s wasted energy and the prospect of being used over and over again by the NBA to blackmail cities for new facilities is too much to handle. Portland has long supported the Mariners and the Seahawks and now it’s time to reciprocate. I’m in.
This doesn't mean that I can accept the Zombie Sonics and their lying, dishonest ownership. I will never watch a game involving that team. So I'm obviously pulling for the Spurs so I can watch the finals this year. But starting next year fresh, I'm a Blazers fan. Rip City.
