This was also spotted by a few people on TV. I missed all but the last two minutes of the game (amazing ending by the way). Bill Plaschke with the tongue-in-cheek tweet there which you can speculate all you want, but the Clippers are NOT moving out of Los Angeles. Far too many people with far too much money in LA that want to keep them in town and will pay a lot of money to keep them there. It doesn't matter how much money is thrown at the NBA right now, their precedent is now to keep teams in their current markets no matter what. Plus, there is no way that the NBA would ever move a team out of Los Angeles. They won't make the same mistake the NFL did.
The point not to be missed here though is that we now have publicized, not behind closed door confirmation there is an open dialogue between Adam Silver and a potential Seattle ownership group. Oh to be an NSA guy tapped into their phones to hear what they were talking about would have been gold for us. Steve Ballmer has been to a lot of games recently and we've heard that Chris Hansen does have an ongoing open dialogue with the league.
I continue to think we are closer to getting a team than most of you believe. I know you feel like you've been burned countless times by Mr. Silver already, but there is already more evidence out there that the new boss is definitely not the same as the old boss.
For example; Adam Silver took pictures with every kid who wanted to get a picture taken with him today at the game. He did not turn a single one down. That's the type of access a fan should have to a commissioner. Adam Silver is definitely a man of the people and I look forward to him being the best commissioner in all of sports.
Comments
Silver playing the roll
of Mall Santa. I can dig that. Good to see a commissioner who handles people well. Everything I’ve seen from Silver has been positive and encouraging for our future and the NBA’s future.
By Chris Meirose on 05.11.14 4:31pm
Agreed
No better person to helm this ship right now.
By Kevin Nesgoda on 05.11.14 4:32pm
What kind of kids want to get their picture taken with the NBA commissioner?
By SeaTown81 on 05.11.14 6:58pm
Kevin
By sofa-king on 05.11.14 7:18pm
Was thinking the same thing
I wonder what the market is on signed David Stern meet and greet family pics.
By VoxMediaUser704744 on 05.11.14 7:21pm
Bullish in Sacramento, depressed elsewhere.
By The Andy on 05.11.14 7:25pm
Silver playing the roll?
By the look of him, the guy has never had a roll in his life.
By Eric Flatness on 05.11.14 10:03pm
He does seem to take the title
of skinniest commissioner in sports I suspect.
By Chris Meirose on 05.12.14 6:56am
Hope all of this 'togetherness'
translates into a team for us!
By SonicsUberAlles on 05.11.14 4:32pm
I have faith it will
And when it does, I think we won’t really be able to connect the dots in a way that tells us we should’ve seen it coming. I’m just not holding my breath because of the arena situation in Mil and of course Sac, both of which have to get buildings built quickly, and probably before we can be awarded expansion officially.
By smb282 on 05.12.14 7:11am
All I know
Is it can’t possibly be a bad thing. Hahaha
By hughc5 on 05.11.14 4:46pm
Unless it means…
…he’s cutting a deal with Ballmer to cut CH loose, buy the Clippers to keep them in L.A. (as Mitch was theorizing) and leave Seattle to pound sand.
By regnaD kciN on 05.11.14 8:02pm
On which subject…
…am I the only one uneasy that all these Clipper appearances (including the Silver meeting) involve SB alone, with CH nowhere to be seen?
By regnaD kciN on 05.11.14 8:06pm
Can't speak for everyone...
But personally, no.
Even with Hansen as the face, Ballmer was always the muscle.
By The Andy on 05.11.14 8:08pm
We have no reason to believe
the HBNW group is anything but that. They’ve been in this together for a while now, and will be until the end I suspect. As much as anything, it is enormously encouraging to see Ballmer at these games because it HAS to be fanning the flames of his passion. Being in that environment, playoff intensity NBA ball and fans, can only push him to keep the pedal down on getting this all done and returning the Sonics to Seattle.
By Chris Meirose on 05.12.14 7:00am
Perhaps it's a Bad Cop/Good Cop thing.
Hansen was essentially the face of the group pursuing the Kings. That’s what most people around the league will think of when they see him.
Ballmer, they’ll just think of Microsoft.
By Thane of Cascadia on 05.11.14 8:13pm
In the whole of the situation. . . . I don't think any of that matters.
As long as they both keep their public profiles positive & clean going forward.
By kinsesu on 05.11.14 8:16pm
How many "countless times has Silver burned us"..?
I can only think of Stern and maybe the one time Silver advised Stern of his opinion to keep the kings in Sactown. Was Silver the driving force in the Kings Saga?
By VoxMediaUser704744 on 05.11.14 5:21pm
As Commish - - Silver hasn"t "burned us countless times" that I'm aware of.
He hasn’t returned the Sonics either. As many reported, he was supportive and instrumental in denying relocation of the Kings to Seattle.
He needs to show me he’s working to return the Sonics to Seattle. And I haven’t seen that from him yet.
Until then, I’ll just watch, listen and hope. I got nothin’ else. Except, of course the frickin’ reigning Super Bowl World Champion Seattle Seahawks !!
By kinsesu on 05.11.14 5:40pm
from what I have read
That was way more about not wanting to move teams than not wanting a team in seattle. I really don’t think he is anti seattle. How many times has ballmer sat courtside with stern? This can’t be a bad thing
By hughc5 on 05.11.14 5:43pm
exactly this
I’m 99.8% sure had he been commish back in 08 the Sonics would still be here. He would have worked on every possible option to keep the team here.
By Kevin Nesgoda on 05.11.14 5:50pm
Mmmm it's nice being a champion.
Silver hasn’t shown me anything yet. He’s less of a dick in public, but we still have no team.
We have that much going for us I guess.
By sofa-king on 05.11.14 5:51pm
That's neither here nor there…
If he believes in “keeping teams where they are,” the fact remains that “where they are” is NOT Seattle.
By regnaD kciN on 05.11.14 8:04pm
I hope he's telling Silver:
“Adam, I view you as a role model as an extraordinarily gifted executive, a deep and compassionate thinker, and a person with a rare and unique charisma that brings out the best in everyone you touch.”
That is the way you get things done.
By Thane of Cascadia on 05.11.14 5:50pm
Silver would probably put a restraining order on Ballmer if he said that to him. Obvious suck-up or downright creepy.
By kinsesu on 05.11.14 5:57pm