How Pay Advances Work - Nickels grilled as Sonics trial opens - Seattle Post Intelligencer
City attorney Paul Lawrence pounded on the fact that the Professional Basketball Club, the Oklahoma City group that bought the Sonics in 2006, knew exactly what it was getting into when it assumed the KeyArena lease. The city seemed to do better later with former Seattle Center Director Virginia Anderson on the witness stand, as she noted that former Sonics owner Barry Ackerley had taught her that sports is a cyclical business and she believes the team could easily bounce back again in Seattle with future success. The most interesting new evidence introduced Monday was a July 24, 2007, e-mail from former Sonics President Wally Walker to John Stanton, a member of the Steve Ballmer investment group that later offered to buy the team and help the city fund a $300 million KeyArena remodel. In the e-mail, sent before Bennett’s group filed for arbitration requesting an escape from its KeyArena lease and before the city filed its lawsuit, Walker outlined his plan for sidetracking any move of the team to Oklahoma. The Sonics attorneys are attempting to undercut the city’s claim of specific performance — requiring the team to play its games at KeyArena instead of just allowing a monetary settlement to pay off the remaining lease term — should be nullified by the city’s “unclean hands” at the time the suit was filed. Chris Gregoire, signed by Nickels and every Seattle City Council member before Bennett’s group bought the team, that indicated the city opposed any new arena project other than a KeyArena rebuild. Learn more
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