While still not official, rumors persist that the former Sonics franchise will be renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder. If true, there is a certain LA-area mom-and-pop greeting card maker who will be giggling all the way to the bank. It seems domain-squatting is also part of their business model. See oklahomacitythunder.com.......

Oklahoma City media is reporting that the dearly-departed Sonics will be named the Oklahoma City Thunder. The only problem with that seems to be that there ALREADY is an Oklahoma City sports team with that name. Look out, minor league footballers...Clay Bennett might just ship you off to a place more God-forsaken than your own. And only someone with deep pockets like him could afford the cost associated with a seemingly impossible feat like that.......

Seattlest is still digesting the unsavory news of the loss of our beloved basketball team, the Supersonics. But rather than dwell on the downside, we are trying to keep our chin up and look for some positives. After all, it's not every day that we wake up to find $75 million in the front pocket of our well-worn jeans. We've been wondering all week about how the city might spend that big ol' chunk......

Seattle SuperSonics 1967-2008.......

In a landmark settlement that brings to an end four decades of NBA basketball in the Emerald City, the City of Seattle has accepted a $75 million buyout from the Supersonics to release the team from the remaining two years of the club's lease at Key Arena. In addition to the cash payment, the city will also retain the "Supersonics" name and the franchise history, which could be applied to a future franchise. The......

Various media reports have indicated the city and the Sonics have reached a settlement in the Key Arena lease case, just hours before Judge Marsha Pechman was due to announce her ruling in the matter. Press conferences for both parties have been announced for 5 p.m. PDT. UPDATE: At 4 p.m PDT, Judge Marsha Pechman confirmed the City v Sonics case had been settled and terms would be announced by both parties at 5 p.m.......

Judge Marsha Pechman will preside over the City of Seattle v. Sonics trial, scheduled to begin Monday. Since the fate of our beloved pro basketball team rests in her hands, Seattlest wanted to take a closer look at the person standing at center court. A former law faculty member at both UW and Seattle U, Judge Pechman has been described as an energetic and hard-working jurist who rose fast in the legal community. Bob......

Not only does Detroit's last place baseball team sweep other last place teams (ours), they also have teams that make the postseason. On Saturday night the Motor City will host two playoffs games. The Red Wings will play the Penguins at 7pm in the Stanley Cup, and the Pistons will play the Celtics in the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals half an hour later The city of Seattle has been home to two playoff games......

IMPORTANT: Workplace discretion advised---very NSFW. If you can't wait until you get home, we suggest headphones.......

A week from today the NBA teamowners will meet in New York to, among other things, discuss and possibly vote on moving the Sonics from Lower Queen Anne to Oklahoma City. It will be interesting to see how Portland Trail Blazer owner Paul Allen votes. He is a Seattle native, who lives, works, and develops here. He also owns the Seahawks, many of whose fans would be devastated if the Sonics were to move. On......

Dino Rossi is savvy enough to know the state’s inability to broker a Key Arena remodel is the type of far-fetched, wedge issue just ripe for exploiting come November’s election. Considering the hotly contested runoff between him and Governor Gregoire several years ago, the Sonics impending departure is the perfect issue to highlight as an example of weak-kneed Democrats not taking care of business on Gregoire’s watch. Of course, there is the fact Key......

The other day, (probably) the most read and best sports columnist in the country, ESPN.com's Bill Simmons, asked Sonic fans to send him emails venting their frustrations over the current "situation." The result was the longest piece he's ever posted. As we read all the emails, we went through many emotions, sadly none were close to joy. Ultimately (after we stopped throwing things), we were comforted that our fellow fans understood the situation so clearly--the......

Wally Szczerbiak, who is on "our list" for single handily knocking UDub out of the 1999 NCAA Tournament and daring to jaw with Gary Payton, is heading out of town. So ladies, get one last look at what you let slip away. He’ll be heading to Cleveland along with Delonte West. In exchange the Sonics get cap room and some spare parts. It’s a smart trade with an eye towards the future-- so feel good......

Unlike our beloved baseball All Star Game, we’ve tended to skip the NBA's version in recent years. However, with our hero Brandon Roy, in Sunday's game we can’t wait to watch our fellow ex-Bulldog cram some FANtastic™ action down the East’s face. However, we’ll be in Vancouver--sorry TNT. Local Connections: Brandon Roy--Played for Garfield High School and the University of Washington. Currently for the Portland Trailblazers. Steve Nash--Native of Victoria. Then U-Dub coach Lynn Nance......

Last time we checked in on Shawn Kemp, Jr., he was a 6-7 wingman considered a fairly decent prospect in Georgia. Now, Kemp is considered one of the top prospects in the nation, and, according to Glenn LaFollette of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a recruiting target of Lorenzo Romar. As you might expect, Kemp is a pretty good basketball player--a 6-9 dunk machine who Rivals rates as the #9 center in the class of '09. (Yes,......

Ever notice how Luke Ridnour gets the loudest applause at Key Arena? It’s kind of strange since the 5-year NBA vet is one of the worst Sonics point guards to actually start or get playing time in team history. Laying claim to the lowest field goal percentage among a miserable cast of point guards on one of the worst teams in the league should be a recipe for early retirement; Ridnour even trails our......

This, honest to God, is what we would do if we won the lottery: We would purchase a Portuguese League basketball team and stock it with former Washington Huskies. We would spend our mornings sipping sangria by the seashore, our afternoons trying to say that ten times fast, and our evenings watching some of our favorite ballers ever. But until our lucky numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) come up, we're settling for......

The Seattle Times' Jim Brunner points out a head-exploding irony in the Sonics' legal case to escape their Key Arena lease. For a lifetime, we've heard professional sports owners trot out the argument that we ought to pay for their arenas because they provide an economic benefit to the community. Think of the waiters, the parking attendants, the ushers and all the people that make money when the team plays. Or don't--they'd be getting their......

This is pretty heartwarming stuff. The NBA asks teams who play against New Orleans to do a little community service while they're there. Teams do, often haphazardly, sending a couple of players along to some pre-selected site. But the Sonics entire staff--coaches, players, security people--showed up to serve food at a New Orleans substance abuse center for 45 minutes, reports the P-I's Gary Washburn. Then, after that, coach P.J. Carlesimo wanted to do more, so......

You'd assume that the few people who showed up at Key Arena tonight were hoping from a show from Kobe Bryant. They got one. Bryant scored a season-high 48 points, including the final three baskets of the game to get his Lakers the overtime win. The Sonics were up four points with under two minutes to go, and with Kurt Thomas at the line for two shots. Thomas missed both, and then Bryant hit ridiculous......

Seattle city leaders will soon announce a plan to keep the Sonics in town, according to SupersonicSoul's Paul Merrill:Several sources close to the situation (who, for some reason, felt they could confide in Supersonicsoul, aka Queen Blabbermouth) have claimed that the city may be soon unleashing a new plan to save our Sonics...According to my Deep Throats, the announcement could come as early as tomorrow.Merrill provides no additional details about the alleged plan. Recent speculation......

Stealing Seattle's basketball team apparently isn't keeping Sonics owner Aubrey McClendon busy, so he's found another community to screw over: tiny Saugatuck, Michigan. That's the Denison Dunes--413 acres of pristine shoreline where the Kalamazoo River meets Lake Michigan. Saugatuck's citizens have long wanted to add the land to an adjacent state park, but McClendon has other plans--building a gated community for millionaires. The Concerned Citizens for Saugatuck State Park lament:Mr. McClendon, with the resources of......

In Garfield High alum Brandon Roy's national coming out party, he didn't have a great statistical game, shooting 6-23. But anyone who watched the Blazers 89-79 win instead of just looking at the boxscore saw that he was clutch when it mattered. The turning point was a 18-4 Blazers run at the beginning of the second half. During the run, the Blazers scored 10 baskets. Roy either scored or assisted on 8 of them. It......

Over at Ballhype, Jason created a Google Maps mashup that shows the birthplace of every NBA player. Is Seattle represented? Yes, oh yes. Seven players are born in Seattle. That, ladies and gentleman, is more than any single city north of Los Angeles (14) or west of Dallas (9). San Francisco proper has as many NBAers (1--Jason Kidd) as Edmonds (Martell Webster). Ha! Eat our dust, Golden Gaters! Overall, 10 NBAers were born in Washington......

So you're gonna look at that score and think this game was a blowout, but the Sonics--despite a career-high 39 from Dwight Howard--were actually within one point with as late as 4:22 left. They got there--despite having been down 15 at the start of the 4th--because P.J. Carlesimo finally figured out a way to make Kevin Durant an asset on defense instead of a liability--by having him front Howard while Kurt Thomas kept between Howard......

When last we checked in with Texas A&M, their fans were sending us insane emails after we wrote about that whole Seahawks/12th man dispute. (Texas A&M has a 12th man tradition too, they said the Hawks were infringing on it). Our favorite such email concluded thusly: "Keep your latte sippin, tree huggin, PETA lovin, flannel shirt, leg humping asses off our traditions." It's funny because it's true. Honestly, what is it with our asses here......

When you allow a team to reach the century mark in the 3rd quarter, you aren't going to win a lot of games. Unless you're the 1979-80 San Antonio Spurs. The Sonics did enough on offense to win tonight: Eight guys scored in double figures, led by Delonte West's 17. But on defense...oy. Stromile Swift (the one Swift in the NBA who doesn't bring shame on his surname) put 24 on the Sonics, with putbacks,......

The Sonics open their season tonight in Denver. Game's at 7:30, you can watch it on FSN. If the Sonics' owners weren't trying to move them, we'd probably write about how this is a rebuilding year for the franchise, about how this season isn't really about winning but about watching Durant and #5-pick Jeff Green learn how to play in the NBA. We'd write that the Sonics' front office wisely brought in a couple......

We'd held out hope that, seeing as how the Oklahoma City-based owners of the Sonics flat out admitted they never intended to keep them here, that NBA commissioner David Stern would use his influence to throw the suckers out and find local ownership in Seattle. Looks like that isn't going to happen. Stern has given up on us. As he told reporters yesterday:Miracles can always happen, and I'm an optimist by nature, but that optimism......

After paying for a financial feasibility study, the Muckleshoot tribe announced today that they'd be willing to donate land for an NBA arena down there in Auburn. The land is more or less here: The Muckleshoots' study indicated that people who attend Sonics games are no less likely to go to the games if they are in Auburn than if they are at Key Arena, and there's a certain logic there. As for us, we......