SEATTLE -- How soon Seattle will lose its oldest professional sports team -- the NBA's SuperSonics -- will be settled in a six-day, no-jury trial in federal court starting on Monday.
Sonics owner Clay Bennett has gained the NBA's approval to move the team to his hometown of Oklahoma City, but Seattle argues its lease forces the franchise to play two more seasons at KeyArena before departing. The contentious showdown has turned personal between the principals.
On Monday, just as Bennett may be finishing testimony, former Sonics stars Gary Payton and Xavier McDaniel are scheduled to appear for a "Save Our Sonics!" fan rally in the courthouse plaza.
U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman is effectively giving presenting lawyers a shot clock. She is allowing each side a total of 15 hours over six days to present its case -- with time deducted for minutes spent on losing objections. At the end of each day Pechman will inform the parties how much time they have remaining. It all ends on June 26, with Pechman issuing a written verdict soon after that.
Seattle is citing relief upon a legal principle -- specific performance -- that Cleveland used 12 years ago to ultimately secure a replacement NFL team. That squad is today's Browns.
In 1995 Art Modell, owner of Cleveland's original beloved Browns, announced he intended to move the NFL team to Baltimore. Cleveland officials gained bargaining power when they got preliminary injunctions from federal and state courts. The federal order said the Browns' name, colors and history must stay if the team moved. The more important state order demanded the Browns play the final three years of their lease at decrepit Municipal Stadium.
That ruling stemmed from exact language in Cleveland's lease requiring "specific performance" -- that the Browns must occupy the stadium until the lease expired, that a lease buyout was not an option.
It's what Seattle is citing it has in its lease to keep the Sonics in town for two more years.
Bennett's Professional Basketball Club agreed to honor the Sonics' lease with Seattle when it bought the team for $350 million in 2006. The lease, which expires on Sept. 30, 2010, states: "The obligations of the parties to this Agreement are unique in nature; this Agreement may be specifically enforced by either party."
The Sonics argue this case is no different than a tenant-landlord dispute, so specific performance should not be an issue.
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