 |
 |
|
|
Blogger King |
|
July 2008
Categories
|
Clay Bennett told the court at one point in the morning proceedings how tough it was for the Sonics to do business with relocation hanging over the team. At one point, he said it tough for him to even do business in Seattle, because "I'm not real popular." (View minute-by-minute updates from the trial here.) That was under questioning from his attorney, Brad Keller. Keller has proven over the last few days to be organized and direct in his questioning of people. He walked Bennett through a series of questions this morning, over the infamous e-mails, and his behavior in the six months after he bought the team. Bennett essentially testified that the only reason he was contacting the NBA, Oklahoma City and his lawyer in April of 2007 was to see if it was a possibility to move if he could work something out in Seattle. He said he didn't want to pursue a move, unless he knew dates were open and the NBA was warm to the idea. Bennett was very articulate and calm during the process. But the city came back in the late morning and went over a slew of e-mails with Bennett. Paul Lawrence called it the "Man Possessed Time Period." It included discussion Bennett had with then Renton Mayor Kathy Koelker via e-mail, and e-mails Bennett was sending back and forth with his staff. But he also showed a December 06 e-mail Bennett wrote to Consultant Tim Romani, asking if their efforts legislatively and otherwise that far had satisfied "the obligation of good faith, best efforts?" That was two months after he officially purchased the team. There were several others presented. It appears the city is going to use the e-mails as evidence why Bennett wants to get out the KeyArena lease, to try and quash any claim of undue financial harm which may be argued by his lawyers. Danny Barth, CEO of the Sonics, is now on the stand. |
Leave a comment
Please read our comment rules before posting comments