Former owner Howard Schultz has dropped his lawsuit against the current Seattle SuperSonics (NBA) owners, paving the way for the team’s move to Oklahoma City.
Former owner Howard Schultz has dropped his lawsuit against the current Seattle SuperSonics (NBA) owners, paving the way for the team’s move to Oklahoma City.
Schultz alleged the group, headed by Clay Bennett, misrepresented their intentions when signing a purchase agreement for the team; Bennett and crew made a contractual agreement to spend a year seeking a new arena in Seattle before asking the NBA permission to move the franchise. Schultz asked the courts to put the team in a trust and keep it in Seattle, pending a search for a new owner.
But U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman handed down several early decisions harming Schultz’s case, and in the end he threw in the towel, informing the court and Bennett Friday he was withdrawing the case. Plus, reading between the lines, it was clear the NBA — which had been admitted as a party to the proceedings in one of the aforementioned setbacks — would not look too kindly on the lawsuit when deciding whether to consider Seattle as a future franchise home. All of that, apparently, was enough for Schultz to withdraw the lawsuit.
(Schultz’s letter to his partners, announcing the withdrawal of the lawsuit, is attached as a PDF.)
