Q: What's your association with Steve Ballmer and Chris Hansen? Do you go way back? Is there a backstory Seattleites might be interested in?
Nordstrom: No backstory. I just met Chris a few months ago, through (former Sonics exec) Wally Walker. I was already aware he was interested in pursuing a team and an arena. Chris was talking to Steve on a parallel track. It came together relatively quickly.
Q: Was this also a lifetime dream of yours?
Nordstrom: I wasn't sure it was something I wanted to be involved in. Before, there was no clear path to success. That's why the team got sold. I was just hoping to buy time until some sort of solution came forward. I wanted to hear what (Hansen's) plan was.
The fact that I'd been through this before enabled me to ask some constructive questions.
Q: Hansen has been the public face of the arena proposal. Will you be taking a more visible leadership role?
Nordstrom: I don't think so. I'm not real comfortable being front and center on this. Chris does a fantastic job at this, and he's very knowledgeable. We just want to support him to make this work.
Read the rest here: NBA arena: Peter Nordstrom discusses worries and why he joined Chris Hansen's group