Saving Seattle: A SuperSonics Dynasty

[trekfan]

January 10^th, 2003

She stood above her news office, cigarette smoke wafting in the cold Seattle air as gray clouds hung overhead. It was a nasty habit and she knew it; she mostly quit the damned things. She wasn’t in it for the smoke but the stress relief … and right now she was very stressed. She took another deep gulp of the noxious mixture, the warmth going into her chest before she expelled it slowly through her nose.

The door to the roof opened and then closed. Slow, plodding footsteps soon began to sound behind her.

Vivian adjusted her stance a little but otherwise didn’t bother to turn around; she knew who it was. “I’m not apologizing to that little ****,” she yelled behind her. No way in hell was she apologizing to that small minded, idiotic excuse for a man. He was a boy trying to be a man.

“That little **** owns the paper,” a gravelly voice said from behind her. Theo Graves stood beside her and lit his own cigarette: he smoked Camel. She smoked Marlboros. He took a small hit of his before turning to her, his pale face almost the same color as the smoke. “Look, Viv … he’s going to can you if you don’t get in there and do some major *** kissing.”

She took a deeper hit of her cigarette and almost choked on it. She stifled the cough but Theo still cracked a grin at her. “I’m not apologizing to him,” she reiterated again, though it sounded weak to her ears.

“You always say that,” he countered.

She focused her brown eyes on him, drilling them into his face. “He told me I suck at my job; not because I’m bad at it but because I’m a woman.” She tossed her cigarette to the ground and stomped her heel on it, grinding it down. She imagined doing that to that boy’s face and it made her feel a little better. “He’s a sexist pig.”

Theo shrugged. “Yeah, he is. And that’s the business, Viv. You can’t let that little pile of crap get under your skin like this … he only does this to piss you off.” Theo took a hit and blew out a puff of smoke. “Hell, I think he likes you.”

Her stomach turned at the thought. She leaned her head back against the outer stairwell wall and shook her head. “I’m not apologizing.”

“You don’t, he cuts you.”

Jobless … and he’d never give me a recommendation. And I’d never get anywhere without a recommendation from someone at the paper and no one would give me that as long as that little **** was in charge. Her mind ran through the scenarios, all the options, but she arrived at the inevitable conclusion she always arrived at: she’d have to apologize and try and forget it.

And this would happen again. And she’d do it again. It was the same. A cycle, over and over, that she repeated. It was the worst merry-go round ride ever made.

Theo draped a wrinkled hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You’re tough girl, Viv.”

She patted his hand, her dark chocolate skin a stark contrast to his paleness. Of course, he’d lived in Seattle for twice her lifespan … so the lack of sun had taken its toll. “Okay, I’ll apologize.” Of course you will, she admonished herself. “But before I do, tell me about this Sonics thing.”

Theo laughed and plugged his cigarette between his fingers. “I don’t do basketball anymore; I write about football now.”

She batted her eyes like she was a little girl. “Please?” It was true, he didn’t write basketball anymore; that was her job now and, frankly, she felt like she sucked at it compared to him. He had decades of experience and she … she was a sports journalism major and played on her college’s basketball team for two years.

Super distinguished.


He cocked his head slightly to the side, his dark hair barely moving from it, before shrugging. “All right; our lunch breaks are overdue anyway.” He sunk to the ground and she did the same. “Getting old sucks.” He rubbed his knees and she knew how sore they must have been. After a moment he pointed out towards Key Arena. “So, Ballmer buys them up out of the blue, Schultz sells out … and the city rejoices, right?”

“Right,” she agreed. “That much we all know now, I reported that two days ago.”

He held up a finger. “But why does Schultz do it now?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “It’s obvious.”

“Oh?” He took a hit of his cigarette and smiled at her as the smoke leaked slowly from his nose. “State the obvious.”

“Schultz was the least popular owner around these parts since the guy who was trying to get rid of the Seahawks. He acted like a spoiled brat at games, was booed by the fans and Payton nearly held out this season because of him. He pissed everyone off.”

“But why now, Viv? In the middle of the year? A month before the deadline?”

She looked at him expectantly. “You’re saying there’s a story there?”

Theo shrugged his boney shoulders. “I’m saying there might be one. Schultz has gone quiet, all he’s doing is releasing prepared statements. Man’s gone into hiding. I’d like to hear from the man on why he sold the team … the interview, if you could get it, would be worth a lot to the paper and the networks. No one has managed it yet …” His voice trailed off as a gleam came into his eyes. “But then again, you haven’t tried.”

He stood slowly and she hopped up quickly, giving him a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered happily.

He patted her gently on the back. “Go apologize and then get to work.”

She nodded and exited the roof with haste, flying down the stairwell to the main office. Theo was right, no one had gotten to Schultz yet which meant he was an exclusive; if she could nail him, it would be huge for her.

It might be the start of my way onto something more, she thought hopefully.

[AdamJones113]

Here we go again.

However, did you realize that you dynasty is worthless in a universe where Joey says no? Where Vivian doesn't apologize?

That'll take a while
You're the man to do it.

[illWILL8455]

Creative story so far!

I'm anxious to see how Vivian's career goes! Getting that interview would be huge, maybe give her some promotions so she isn't having to always apologize. She seems too empowered to have to continuously stoop to that level.

Interesting dynasty as always! Can't wait for updates!

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamJones113

Here we go again. However, did you realize that you dynasty is worthless in a universe where Joey says no? Where Vivian doesn't apologize? That'll take a while You're the man to do it.

Thanks for the support. Stay tuned as I'll be getting us up to speed today, lots of content coming out.

[trekfan]

Sonics Front Office Handed Walking Papers
January 17, 2003
Vivian Marshall

In a move that surprised no one within the NBA, Steve Ballmer has informed the Sonics front office that their contracts would be bought out at the end of the season. General Manager Rick Sund, who is widely respected among the NBA, would also be among those released.

“It’s a bold if not a dangerous move,” said NBA insider Craig Barlow. Barlow is an NBA veteran of twenty years as an executive with the league office before retiring in 2000. “When you buy a team you generally want to surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing, which usually means holdovers from the last ownership group.”

The news has been met with mixed reactions from around the league, notably from current front office executives. “I think doing it now, this early in the process, is short-sighted,” said one Western Conference GM. “It’s disrespectful to have this done so soon, especially with such little cause. It’s going to make hiring a replacement harder I think; no one wants to work for someone who won’t even give you a chance.”

One Eastern Conference executive disagreed. “Oh, no doubt some will hate this but this is a business that encourages taking risk, jumping on opportunities … there are plenty of young executive talents out there for the Sonics to reap.”

The Sonics have let it be known to the entire team that there will be no further front office moves this season, easing fears that a firesale would be initiated. “It’s a relief to a lot of guys, yeah,” said team leader Gary Payton. “It’s good to know we’ll be together at the end of the year … helps get our minds clear, keep us focused.”

Focus is something the Sonics could use. They’re currently mired in a five game losing streak with a record of 16-21.

[trekfan]

February 19^th, 2003

He sat in his office, a cool glass of wine in his hand, his eyes reading the screen before him over and over. He was infuriated. He was frustrated. He was beaten. Undone by a short-sighted owner, Rick Sund was on his way out at the end of the season and he simply couldn’t stand it.

The Sonics were struggling, as he knew they would, and he had recommended strongly to the new owner -- Steve Ballmer -- to let him make trades to make the team better. The Bucks had been calling him and calling him, asking about Gary Payton, willing to give them Ray Allen for the old guard. It was a brilliant deal.

And Ballmer wasn’t biting. He wouldn’t trade Payton and, in repeated meetings with the man, had cited “experts” that told him it would be bad for the team. He threw out stats, he made a good argument, but of all it had seemed … artificial. Steve Ballmer didn’t sound right when he started talking basketball stats.

No, they weren’t his words. The stats weren’t something he did for himself. It hadn’t taken Rick long to realize that Ballmer’s assistant was the one feeding him those stats. Every time the two men had met the assistant was just coming out of the office. Every time Rick made a plea to trade Payton, Ballmer rebuffed him with something written in a black leather binder.

The assistant carried that binder around on days when Ballmer would visit KeyArena.

It was obvious that Ballmer was being fed lies by that little assistant -- the man might have been 5’6” with shoes on -- and Rick had tried to talk some sense into the new owner. He knew his time was up and that happened in this business. He wasn’t bitter about that.

He was bitter about being ignored for a personal assistant that looked like he was still in high school and had no knowledge of the inner-workings of the league. No knowledge of how players and agents operated. That person was being given more credit than him?

Rick had become the youngest NBA GM in history at 28. He had helped found and build a playoff team in Dallas. He had more accomplishments with his pinkie toe than that personal assistant had in his life.

Yet, Ballmer ignored him; he froze him and his staff and the Sonics were, predictably, losing. A lot. They were 22-30 and the season was spiraling out of control into something far, far worse. If Ballmer’s strategy was to tank and try for a high draft pick, Rick couldn’t blame him; but it you’re going to tank, you tank young. Not old.

He took a sip of his wine and wished he had just asked to be terminated when Ballmer had told him they would all be let go at the end of the season. But, no, he pridefully stayed on, convinced he could talk Ballmer into letting him make a few last moves. He stayed on to salvage something from this miserable experience and all he got for it was more misery.

All he got was ignored for some personal assistant.

He turned off his computer monitor, turned off all the potential trades that were spelled out beautifully in email and leaned back in his chair, the gears in his mind turning. He wasn’t going to stand for this. He wasn’t going to be made a fool of in front of his staff and in front of the NBA just because a new, hotshot owner thought he could save the Sonics.

Schultz couldn’t save them and that man knew how to make something from nothing. Ballmer had just rode in on the coattails of Bill Gates, the true genius of Microsoft. Ballmer knew nothing but he was popular with the rest of the owners, the players, and the fans. Getting them to dislike the man was going to be hard.

But not impossible. Losing had a way of making anyone hateable.

And Rick would make sure that Ballmer and his new team would lose, a lot, when it was all said and done. He’d have to hurt them from somewhere else, but he heard rumblings about soon-to-be GM openings, many of them in the West. He’d get one of those.

And then he’d make Ballmer pay for treating him like a schmuck. Ballmer may have been a billionaire, but only Rick had been named a GM at 28.

The advantage in anything basketball was his and his alone.

[trekfan]

March 7^th, 2003

Joey bit his lip as he crunched the numbers on the computer screen before him while his ears listened to the commentators prattle on about how bad the Sonics were. He wasn't going to bother watching it as halftime wasn’t over yet. Already the Sonics looked to have lost the game against Allen Iverson and the 76ers. It was hard to watch for Joey and he was thankful to have work to dive into.

Heck, he was thankful to have anything to dive into that didn’t involve analyzing his favorite player. Gary Payton was, at this point, a good NBA player but that was insulting to even think about The Glove in that way; the man was a legend. He had helped lead the Sonics to the Finals in ’96, he had become part of the soul of this town but he was noticeably getting slower.

He was getting older. Joey hadn’t really noticed before, but now that his job was to know everything and everyone on this team -- Ballmer had given him the assignment as an “in” for the new GM, which he didn’t even know who that was going to be yet -- he was watching games much more intensely. Which said something considering how intense he was before this all happened.

It’s still not a dream, it’s real, he reminded himself. He had to remind himself of that every so often. He was working for the Sonics now, no longer just a fan but a man on the inside. His friends were ecstatic for him, his family was too, and he was happy, no doubt.

But he hadn’t guessed how hard this was. He’d been at it nearly two months now and the demands on his time were incredible. Not only was his social life dying, but his mind was operating constantly. Sleep had been hard to come by the last few weeks as the trade deadline passed and the offseason loomed. The Sonics had a 27-33 record, which at the moment put them in the running for the lottery but not with a very high high chance for a good pick.

Joey wanted them to win but, to secure the future of the team, he wanted them to lose. It was difficult trying to reconcile his wants as a fan and his wants as … well, as someone who worked for the team. “An executive,” he mumbled to himself with a small grin.

They needed to lose more so they’d have a better shot at a top-ten pick. If they managed that, they’d be in a good position to secure a player that could guide Seattle into a bright future. But what player would that be?

Joey wasn’t sure. The halftime show came to a close and Joey dutifully turned his attention back to the TV. He gathered up a handful of his lucky Sonics jersey -- which he wore whenever he watched Sonics games at home and at the arena -- and kissed it.

It was stupid, but it was something he had been doing since he was a kid. He knew, rationally, it did nothing to help the team but it helped him … and since he worked for the team now, maybe it would help the team for a change.

At this point he’d just settle for a closer game, wins be damned.

[trekfan]

One on One: An Interview with Howard Schultz
March 20, 2003
Vivian Marshall

Howard Schultz bought the Seattle SuperSonics in 2001, along with the Basketball Club of Seattle, and the move was hailed as a new era for a team that had was in a downturn. Hopes for the Sonics were rekindled the following year as they made the playoffs but lost in the first round against the Spurs. In January of this year Howard Schultz and the Basketball Club of Seattle sold the Sonics to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Vivian Marshall: Mr. Schultz, first I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.

Howard Schultz: It’s not a problem.

VM: I want to start by asking why you sold the Sonics when you did?

HS: Well … there were a lot of factors in selling the Sonics. Primarily, it was the inability of the local and state government to work with myself and the NBA to secure funds for a new arena in Seattle. In the two years the Basketball Club of Seattle owned the team, very little progress on that front was made.

VM: Do you consider it exclusively the fault of the Seattle and Washington State government that no progress on that front was made?

HS: Exclusively? No. In all business transactions there are two sides and that holds true here. For some reason our two sides just couldn’t come together for something so important and that saddens me. The fault belongs to both sides.

VM: I see. What other factors influenced you to sell the team?

HS: As much as I’m sure people will dislike hearing this, finances did play a factor. The Sonics were losing money, and that’s because of KeyArena more than anything. The Basketball Club of Seattle was taking a loss every season we owned the team and our projections told us that selling the team now would be better for us, financially, in the long-run.

VM: Why sell the team in January, though? Why not wait till after the season had ended?

HS: The sale of the team in January wasn’t originally intended; we would have preferred to sell it after the season however Steve Ballmer wanted the team sooner than that. Negotiations took this into account and that’s one of the reasons the final price ended up being the figure it was.

VM: So Steve Ballmer paid more to own the team sooner rather than waiting till after the season, when the price would have been less?

HS: In a way, yes. The price of the team would have come out similarly at the end of the season I feel, once negotiations were completed, but we’ll never know for sure. Steve was very enthusiastic about the prospect of his ownership and acted accordingly. As a businessman, I can appreciate his ambition.

VM: Many fans and players of the SuperSonics have publicly come out and greeted your sale of the team with open arms. How does that make you feel?

HS: I would say I feel … disappointed. In myself far more than them. When I bought the team I fully intended to own it for many, many years and see the Sonics bring in a few more championships. To have my ownership come to an end so soon after it began is bittersweet.

VM: What would you have done differently, if given the chance?

HS: I dislike the idea of speculating on what could have been, but I think I would have been more … proactive.

VM: What future do you see for the club under Steve Ballmer?

HS: I see a bright future. Steve Ballmer is very adept at navigating the choppy waters of the business world and I feel this experience will allow him to succeed here.

VM: Do you ever believe you’ll want to own an NBA team again?

HS: I can’t be sure. My first experience has left me … drained. Tired. Owning a team was far more strenuous than I anticipated but I can’t say for certain what the future holds. I’d like to try again, if the opportunity availed itself and I felt myself read to accept it.

VM: Thank you for your time, Mr. Schultz.

HS: Thank you, Ms. Marshall.