Seattle mourns loss of possible NBA champion Thunder

SEATTLE – It was a cold, gray and wet Thursday in Seattle, just perfect for longtime fans of the Seattle Supersonics to mourn the NBA franchise that morphed into the Oklahoma City Thunder and dispatched the San Antonio Spurs to make the NBA Finals.

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  Dick Raphael, NBAE/Getty Images
  Slick Watts, No. 13, of the then-Seattle SuperSonics in 1976, still lives in the Seattle area and is helping to lobby the NBA for a team to replace the relocated Oklahoma City Thunder.

It has been a series of gray days and "what ifs" for fans of NBA basketball in the Pacific Northwest.

For four decades the Sonics were Seattle. They brought home the first hardware with the 1978-79 NBA championship, and as such were as deeply ingrained in the Puget Sound psyche as Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks.

Then Clay Bennett came from Oklahoma City with a big bundle of cash when Starbucks founder and then-Sonics owner Howard Schulz wanted to sell. Bennett said he would work to keep the team in Seattle, but he bolted for his hometown almost as soon as the ink dried.

Just like that the Sonics were no more.

"It's horribly painful for us," said Adam Brown, the Seattle-based producer of the documentary Sonicsgate, which chronicled the history of the franchise and the gaping hole that was left when the team relocated — a much politer word than some Sonics fans use.

"It's painful knowing that Seattle drafted all the key players —Russell Westbrook, Nick Collison, Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant. … In This team was built on the backs of Sonics fans. This was our team for 41 years. They ripped it away, and it's one of the biggest (sports) scandals of our time."

That has led to some cross loyalties for those who grew up on the Sonics. Or, in the case of Slick Watts, someone who grew up as a Sonic. He spent the first 4½ years of his career with Seattle and still lives in the area.

"The first thing you do is to try not to be a hater," said Watts, who is helping to lobby for a return of the NBA. "You understand in life that things have to have a perfect setting, and right now, Oklahoma is going through a perfect setting.

"They have some good young kids in Kevin Durant and the kid from UCLA (Russell Westbrook). They play hard, and you have to respect any team that comes together and plays with heart and desire the way they do.

"But as a fan, you feel they should be here."

Bartender Priscilla Angelico, a lifelong Oklahoma City resident whose "thunder thighs" are covered in Thunder-themed tattoos, doesn't feel guilty at all that her city, not Seattle, has the NBA Finals team.

"If there's any guilt, it's maybe about the way the team got here. Even that's worn away with time. You forget," Angelico said. "Here's the deal: They could've kept their team there if they raised the money. I don't know what they were doing. They were at the coffee shop. They dropped the ball."

One of those with a chance to go to Oklahoma City with the team was longtime radio announcer Kevin Calabro. He spent two decades as the voice of the team and chose to stay in Seattle, although, as it happens, he called Wednesday's game for ESPN Radio.

"There was a twinge of envy when they won last night," Calabro said. "I watched the celebration and I flashed back to 1996, when we beat a really tremendous Utah team to make the finals. As I walked out of the building, I realized what a great asset the team is for Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma.

"I view this not as a failure for Seattle but as a catalyst to bring NBA basketball back. This will get the debate going about bringing the NBA and the NHL to Seattle."

The timing is about right. San Francisco-based hedge fund manager Chris Hansen, who grew up in Seattle, is trying to get the political birds in line to build an arena in SoDo, the same Seattle area that is home to the MLB Mariners and NFL Seahawks. June 14 will see Hansen host a rally in support of the return of the NBA to Seattle. Calabro will be the emcee.

That rally will come in advance of a June 20 meeting of the Seattle City Council, when Hansen is to appear to pitch the idea. Hansen and other as-yet-unnamed private investors say they would contribute $290 million if the city, King County and the state can come up with another $200 million.

"We are one act away from getting an arena approved," said Brian Robinson, the president of arenasolutions.org. "There has been resentment over what happened, but we have to move on. We have to stop complaining about what happened and work toward bringing a team back."

Any team that comes to Seattle — the troubled Sacramento Kings are a possibility — will be the Sonics. As part of the deal with Bennett, the "Sonics" name belongs to the city.

"If this is the motivation we need to get the Chris Hansen deal passed, it'll be good," Brown said. "We have never said anything bad about the fans of Oklahoma City. They have great fans there. They support the team very well. They deserve a team.

"It just shouldn't have come from Seattle."

Derek Knowlton, a lifelong Oklahoma City resident, is co-owner of the Warpaint Store, which has been printing t-shirts with "OKC" on the front and "Thank you Seattle" on the back. The store's Twitter account got 7,000 mentions about the T-shirts, mostly negative.

"We definitely did not expect this kind of backlash, but it's all good," Knowlton said. "Even as hateful as they're being, it's whatever. It's fine. We wanted to have a little something funny on the shirt. It was not a malicious intent. Everyone knows that. There's no way around it. …

"The only thing I feel guilty about is, I don't understand why we bought their legacy. I want to start over. We don't need their championship banner. We don't need their trophies. We don't need their history, at all. It's not ours. We should just start over. And when they get a team back, they can have all that back. We don't need their history because we're about to create our own."

Original post found:http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/story/2012-06-07/Seattle-Oklahoma-City-Thunder-SuperSonics/55453912/1

Show some urgency Miami.

I like Lebron. I think he genuinely enjoys winning. He likes to have fun. He likes making his teamates have fun. He likes winning. His only problem is he does not hate to lose. That is one characteristic he does not have that Michael Jordan had. Along with many others. Jordan hated to lose. Kobe hates to lose. It eats at them inside. They are about to tip off game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Let see if he is more hungry. Boston was definitely the hungrier team last game. But how can you blame him when even his coach is sending signals that it is no big deal. I do not see how Eric Spoelstra does not play Chris Bosh, and I just heard on the radio on my way home from work that he is not starting tonight. Don't get it. Obviously I am not in the locker room. But Coach it is win or go home. Show some urgency. Maybe it will run off on your players. 

SPURS AND THUNDER GAME 6 HIGHLIGHTS. OKC MOVES ON.

BOSTON MIAMI GAME 5 RECAP

MIAMI (AP)

Paul Pierce watched the shot sail just over Lebron James' outstretched arm. And when it swished, he turned toward the Boston bench, shaking his head.The biggest shot of the night, for certain.

And it put the Miami Heat in big trouble in these Eastern Conference finals.

Kevin Garnett finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Pierce scored 19 and the Celtics moved one win away from the East title by beating the Heat 94-90 on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the series.

James finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, though he went 8 minutes without scoring in the final quarter. Dwayne Wade scored 27 for the Heat, who got no more than nine from anyone else.

Pierce's 3-pointer with 53 seconds left put Boston up 90-86. Miami got within two points twice, and argued that it should have had a steal with 8.8 seconds left. Instead, a foul was called on Udonis Haslem, Garnett made two free throws, and the Celtics knew they had just stolen one on Miami's home floor.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Boston, where the Celtics will try to clinch a trip to either Oklahoma City or San Antonio for Game 1 of the NBA finals. The title series starts June 12.

The Celtics were down by 13 points in the second quarter, then down nine in the third, and answered both times — prevailing on a night when they shot just 41 percent and got outrebounded 49-39.

The Celtics came into Tuesday a perfect 8-0 in this situation — a Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2 — with the core of Pierce, Garnett, Rondo and Allen. And some of James' most memorable moments have come in Game 5s, like the epic 48 points he scored when he carried Cleveland on every possession down the stretch at Detroit in 2007, and the 120-88 loss to the Celtics in 2010, his last home game with the Cavaliers.Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus scored 13 apiece for the Celtics, who got 10 from Brandon Bass.

This one offered more theater, of course. James hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a two-point lead with 8:10 left, closed out on Pierce to force an airball on the next possession, and eventually Miami pushed the margin out to 78-72 on a layup by Wade with 6:17 to play. On that play, James looked gassed, gasping for air as he stood near the baseline.

Those might have been the last gasps the Miami home crowd sees this season. Boston closed on a 22-12 run.

Boston tied the game twice early in the third quarter, before Miami peeled off nine straight points to go up 59-50. Four players scored for the Heat during that quick burst, highlighted by Shane Battier's corner 3-pointer and a lazy turnover from Rondo, who threw the ball into the backcourt without being pressured by any Miami defender.

But just as they did in the first half when Miami looked poised to pull away, the Celtics rallied — and then some. A 15-1 run gave the Celtics a truckload of momentum going into the fourth.

Garnett's dunk while being fouled by James Jones with 1:32 left tied it at 60-all, and Pietrus' long jumper on the next Boston possession gave the Celtics their first lead of the night. The Heat shot 35 percent in the quarter, and Boston took a 65-60 lead into the final 12 minutes after Keyon Dooling connected on a 3-pointer from near the Miami bench with 2 seconds left.

So another Game 5, another classic show.

Garnett's jumper with 2:54 left put the Celtics back on top, and Mario Chalmers was assessed a technical foul after the play when referee Derrick Stafford whistled him for pushing Pietrus. Allen made the free throw for an 82-80 lead — but Chalmers, as if to atone, hit a 3-pointer on the next Miami possession for one lead change, followed immediately by another when Pietrus made a 3 at the other end.Given that it was the Celtics on one side and James on the other, few would have expected anything less.

Wade tied it at 85 with an acrobatic layup with 1:39 to play, but Miami never led again.

Miami didn't lead by more than eight points at any time in the three previous games of the series. The Heat changed that quickly, and maybe it was fitting that Chris Bosh got them their first double-digit advantage since Game 1.

Bosh came off the bench for his first minutes since straining a lower abdominal muscle in Game 1 of Miami's second-round series against Indiana. His three-point play with 1:17 left in the opening quarter — punctuated with a stare-down for some cheering fans — capped a 24-13 Miami run to open the game. James made a 3-pointer with 9:39 left in the half, and the Heat went up 31-18.

The Celtics did what Miami did to them in Games 3 and 4 at Boston. They started chipping away.

Miami missed 15 of its final 17 shots of the first half, with four turnovers thrown in there as well, and the Celtics took advantage. After James' 3-pointer, Boston outscored Miami 22-11 to close the second quarter — Garnett got six of his eight first-half points in the final 3:09 — and the once-sizable Heat lead was down to 42-40 by intermission.

Original post found - http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/LeBron-James-Dwyane-Wade-Chris-Bosh-Miami-Heat-lose-to-Paul-Pierce-Boston-Celtics-in-Game-5-060512

Heat Celtic Game 5 tidbits.

Dorell Wright, a member of the 2006 Heat championship team and now with Golden State, was in attendance. A denim-vested Amare Stoudemire of the New York Knicks, Miami's first-round playoff foe, was seated courtside, and former Celtic Glen Davis was near the Boston bench. ... Wade scored seven points in the first 4:22 of the game. He didn't score again in the first half, and after scoring 26 points by halftime of the series-clincher against Indiana, he has 29 points in five first halves against Boston in this series. ... Pierce said before the game that he does not expect to need offseason surgery to repair the sprained MCL in his left knee. ''No complaints,'' Pierce said.

THE MIAMI HEATS PROBLEM IS AS FOLLOWS

I would rather have 4 good players than 2 great ones. That is the just of it. That is the bottom line. Maybe if Wade and Lebron had roll players to compliment them it would be different. But it is not the roll players fault they are struggling. It is Wade and Lebrons and the coaches. I think lebron is sincerely a good guy. Wade to. But wade just gives off a "I am not a happy person" vibe and it rubs off on the team. So many times after a he dunks it or something his teamates run up to give him five and he just ignores the the high five. He just seems like a jerk to me. I could be wrong. What do I know. I just see him play basketball. But dude do you ever smile. There is just to much drama on that team and in a way I think each of them want to lose. Plus Lebron and Wade just are not a great fit. I think the best scenario is a good gaurd and a good big to build around. Not two guards and not two bigs. Like Kobe and Gasol, Stockton and Malone. For the most part. Jordan and Pippen were both gaurds. It can be done. But for the most part you need a stud guard and a stud big. I just don't see Bosh as a stud. He plays like a guard anyways. But if he was healthy they would probably be done with ECF already but even with him healthy they couldn't touch OKC and the spurs. Remember, this is just my opinion and what I think. Things change quickly. Heat can not lose a game the rest of the playoffs and I would look foolish. Could happen. But in my opinion they cannot win it this year. Unless one of the big three go down from the west teams.