Dear NBA, Please Stay Away

Once upon a time, I was a huge NBA Basketball fan.

I hung out in the Capital Center, got autographs from the likes of Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld after games, and I even played on the courts with these same guys when they participated in youth programs. I watched Ewing vs. Mourning in the playoffs at the Garden, and I attended the very first Wizards game in the MCI Center.

In a stroke of luck, or perhaps serendipity, I bore witness to many of the epic Sonic vs. Bullets championship battles in the late 70’s.

Things have changed, though.

Somewhere along the way, I lost my love for the NBA. It’s become a Pro Wrestling-like league of caricatures, and it’s run by a man who is greedy, dishonest, disloyal, and totally unworthy of my support. He’s totally unworthy of your support as well.

Still, it is clear that many Seattleites are stinging from the loss of the Sonics. A team that packed up and moved to what can only be described as a comical choice of locales … Oklahoma City.

This stinging is reflected by fact that the Mayor is still “quietly lobbying” for a team:

http://www.king5.com/news/local/McGinn-quietly-lobbies-in-favor-of-bringing-NBA-team-back-to-Seattle-121219614.html

I think the Mayor should stop this nonsense.

Here’s the thing.

Oklahoma City needs a basketball team more than we do. Aside from cow-tipping and dirt farming, there is nothing to do in Oklahoma City. The folks there need as many artificial diversions as possible to distract them from the depressing realization that they live in Oklahoma F’ing City.

Seattle, on the other hand, does not need David Stern’s travelling circus to be happy. There are more things to do here than just about any other spot on the planet. Mountain sports, water sports, a Manhattan-esque downtown, scores of active neighborhoods, beautiful parks, and the most vibrant local music scene in the nation.

Sure, a basketball team was a nice addition, but do we need one?

Hell no.

Especially not one run by a group of predatory shysters.

While the Sonics moving was certainly a slap in the face to the town, I don’t see it as such a bad thing. I see it as the end of an abusive relationship. Seattle was Tina and David Stern was Ike. Do you really want to beg him to come back?

In my opinion, the NBA really bared its ass during the Sonics debacle. They proved to everyone that a Seattle franchise is nothing but a money grab. They proved that they don’t care AT ALL about Seattle or its people.

As such, I think this town is too good for the NBA. Seattle is a world-class city with world-class people and a world-class infrastructure. It’s the best city in the world. If the NBA would allow itself to lose a franchise in this town, then they are complete and utter imbeciles. They never deserved the loyalty of the town in the first place, and there is no way that Seattle should give them a second chance.

Like a wise man once said:

“Fool me once, shame on, shame on you. Fool me, you can’t get fooled again.”

In my opinion the Sonics debacle was the NBA’s loss, not Seattle’s, and as a community, I think we should all throw up a middle finger to a league which will eventually realize this. Not beg them to come back like a battered spouse with low self-esteem.

They had their chance, and they blew it. Instead of weeping over the NBA for the next decade, it’s time to move on while rubbing their face in the fact that Seattle never needed them in the first place.