Seattle retains everything associated with the history of the NBA’s SuperSonics, but the Clay Bennett ownership group will move virtually everything else to Oklahoma City, under the terms of a settlement reached by the sides released today.
Seattle retains everything associated with the history of the NBA’s SuperSonics, but the Clay Bennett ownership group will move virtually everything else to Oklahoma City, under the terms of a settlement reached by the sides released today.
Seattle will retain championship banners, retired jerseys and trophies, to be displayed Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. Bennett’s group retains ownership of the Sonics trademarks and copyrights, though they would be tranferred to a new ownership group free of charge should the city land another NBA franchise. Team records would be used by the new Oklahoma City group, but they could also be claimed by a new Sonics franchise.
In return, Bennett gets just about everything else associated with the team, including courtside seats, office chairs, televisions in the coach’s room, and the sorts of things you’d associated with a pro basketball team (like a ball inflator).
The settlement cost Bennett $45 million. In addition, he’ll pay another $30 million should the city build a new arena and not land an NBA team.
