David Stern talked about a lot yesterday, and in a conference call with reporters, he had this to say about the arena situation in Seattle:

We had a full report on what's going on in Seattle. It wasn't a very uplifting report. The reality is that the legislature there, when asked to consider whether to extend the tax by which the baseball and football stadiums are up kept and funded in order for there to be a new building for the Kings with other contributions, including contribution from ownership, the response was that it won't even come out of committee or to a vote.

Miracles can always happen, and I'm an optimist by nature, but that optimism is waning under a generally poor response. You know, so be it. We'd love to find a way to salvage Seattle and the NBA's relationship. But if it's not to be salvaged, then the team will just live out its lease and decide what it's going to do depending on the outcome of the litigations that are now launched and pending.

Brian Robinson of SonicsCentral -- a key figure in the effort to keep the Sonics -- writes:

At every step in this process we are finding, as we did with the Seahawks and the Mariners that a TREMENDOUS amount of pressure is required to actually get to the finish line. These buildings do not just build themselves and people do not just volunteer huge sums of money to make them happen. If David Stern comes in right now and says "It is too bad Clay Bennett has messed this all up, but the citizens of Seattle need to know that we have their interests at heart and we are not going to let these teams move." it would be a deathblow to arena negotiations. Every single "on the fence" politician would know that they had some coverage and that they could pass the buck onto the league.

Instead Stern makes quick work of letting politicians know how they will be viewed if they fail this situation. They are weak. They have no heart. They let us down and won't be let off the hook.

That is exactly what is needed, much more than nice words that do nothing more than make everybody feel safe for a couple of days.