When word spread that a minority owner of the Seattle SuperSonics had admitted on the record that the owners never intended to keep the team in Seattle, it was certain that some damage control was forthcoming.

And in a written press release, it comes:

I was always aware and understood our number-one goal was to work with officials to build a new arena in the Seattle area. ... The comment about my personal hopes cannot in any way be interpreted to mean the organization has not exhaustively pursued every reasonable avenue to get an arena deal done and keep the Sonics and Storm in Seattle. 

Re-capping, in the Oklahoma-based Journal Record, Aubrey McClendon said "... we didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here."

Please don't tell us that "cannot in any way be interpreted to mean the organization has not exhaustively pursued every reasonable avenue to get an arena deal done in Seattle."

It insults our intelligence. Point of fact: it can be interpreted that way, any reasonable reader of that original article would assume it was intended that way, and furthermore (in what was presumably a more candid moment) it was expressed as "we," apparently lumping in Clay Bennett and the entire ownership group. In other words, even the idea that you were merely expressing your "personal hopes" is not believable.

Jim Brunner of the Seattle Times has a good re-cap and adds this:

Asked about the comments Monday, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said, "We have been assured by Mr. Bennett that Aubrey McClendon does not speak on behalf of the team." 

Whoa, whoa, whoa. An ownership group allegedly has a sneaky plan to rip a team away from its fans (and its best long-term economic interests) ... A legal condition of the sale to negotiate in good faith to stay ... An admission in the newspaper, from one of the owners, on the record, that the purchase was part of a long-term plan to bring a team to Oklahoma ...

And that's cool with the league because the person who admitted it is not the team's official spokesperson?

Not even a public promise to investigate on behalf of fans in Seattle? No one in New York will call for a little public honesty here?

I hope that behind the scenes the league is more active on this one than it appears.

One of the worst things that has been lost here was an honest opportunity for Seattle to put on their "we still want the team" show. Sure, some people have been motivated, but how many more might have taken action if they hadn't been lulled to sleep with bland assurances that Clay Bennett was slogging away trying to get things done to keep the team there?

Is anyone impressed by any of this? Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times is not, and saves his sharpest swords for the current Sonic owners:

These fat-cat burglars, who now own our teams, want to be greeted as heroes in OKC. They want statues built in their honor outside of the Ford Center. They want to feel the tickle of confetti fluttering on their rich, good ol' boy faces when they parade the team into town. ...

It may be too late to save the Sonics. The franchise has been neglected for so long, maybe the thrill is gone in Seattle.

But we need to buy time to see how this new Kevin Durant-led team takes shape. We need time to ask the commissioner to expend the same energy to get a reasonable arena deal done in Seattle that he is expending in Sacramento.

The city should hold Bennett to this lease, which doesn't expire until the end of the 2009-10 season. Force him to hemorrhage money for a few years. Force him to make a few cash calls to his partners.

Maybe Seattle can wear down this artful dodger and, like Nintendo did with the Mariners and Paul Allen did with the Seahawks, the city can take back this team from these not-so-good ol' boys.