Composed Bennett Says He Made Effort To Keep Sonics In Seattle
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Writer Feels Bennett Held Up Well In
Testimony During Sonics-Seattle Trial |
Sonics Owner Clay Bennett yesterday testified for more than three hours on the second day of the Sonics-Seattle trial over the team's KeyArena lease, and while Seattle attorney Paul Lawrence "hammered away" at him, the "ever-controlled Bennett held up well throughout questioning," according to Greg Johns of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. Lawrence attempted to "crack Bennett's credibility by questioning several of the well-publicized e-mail chains" between Bennett and his ownership group, stressing that Bennett is a "sophisticated businessman who understands contracts and should be held to the terms of the agreement he signed, knowing full well at the time exactly what risks he was assuming." Johns notes there were "no new bombshells in Bennett's testimony," and Bennett made a "solid case under cross-examination from [Sonics] attorney Brad Keller regarding the efforts he made to find an arena solution in the Seattle area" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 6/18). In Tacoma, Eric Williams writes while Sonics attorneys "emphasized Bennett's efforts in trumpeting a proposed facility in Renton," Seattle attorneys introduced a "steady stream of documentation they believe shows that Bennett's ownership group never intended to keep the team in town." Bennett testified that he was "even more adamant about getting a deal done in Seattle ... after his failed bid to secure funding for his Renton project." In explaining an April 17, 2007, e-mail in which he wrote he was "a man possessed," Bennett said, "It was a statement of where I was with the status of our project and our commitment to Seattle." But Seattle attorneys said that two e-mails involving Bennett "soon after Olympia failed to act on the Renton project in April 2007 showed his true intentions." One e-mail was sent to NBA President of League & Basketball Operations Joel Litvin "touting the prospects of NBA basketball in Oklahoma City," and the second was from Denver-based consulting firm Icon "outlining a plan to initiate conversations with Oklahoma City Manager Jim Couch about the possibility of moving the Sonics there." Lawrence said that the city had "laid the foundation for its case, focusing on the Sonics ownership group's commitment -- or lack thereof -- to honoring the lease once it agreed to purchase the team" in '06 (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 6/18).
COOL UNDER PRESSURE: In Seattle, Jim Brunner reports Bennett's testimony "occupied most of the day and will resume this morning," and Bennett "remained mostly calm during his interrogation." Bennett said that he "always believed he'd get local politicians to approve a new arena, and stuck to his claim that he'd been 'a man possessed' to keep the team in the Seattle area." Bennett also was "grilled about consultant reports and public documents laying out KeyArena's shortcomings for an NBA team, such as its size and a lack of restaurants." But Bennett's testimony "contained no major revelations" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/18). The NEWS TRIBUNE's Williams writes Bennett was "composed and articulate on the stand" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 6/18).
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Sonics Attorney Takes Aggressive
Line In Examining Of Zimbalist |
EXPERT WITNESS: Seattle yesterday called Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist as its initial expert witness, and the city "took a huge hit" as Zimbalist was "nearly undressed on the stand under withering cross-examination from" Sonics lawyer Paul Taylor. After Zimbalist testified that the Sonics "do indeed provide some difficult-to-measure level of economic value to the city through 'intangible benefits,'" Taylor produced a "virtually identical report Zimbalist had filed -- with a different conclusion -- when testifying" for the Angels in '05 (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 6/18). Taylor suggested that Zimbalist "crafted his eventual vague outcome to fit exactly what Seattle officials needed him to say, offering a wide range from [$20M-$2B] instead of his exact Angels analysis" of $7.75M. However, Zimbalist in a pretrial deposition told attorneys that he "produced a unique report on the Sonics' situation after researching the situation, seeking up-to-date opinions from other economists and spending 20-25 hours writing the paper." Lawrence noted that Zimbalist is "'probably the foremost sports economist in the country' and that the [Sonics] tried to hire him as well to testify for their side." Lawrence said that the duplicated portions of the reports were "mostly economic theories that didn't need to be rewritten, and Zimbalist's report and testimony were 'accurate' in portraying the benefits the Sonics provide" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 6/18). While Lawrence "gave no indication that Zimbalist's testimony hurt the city's case," the day "ended with a possible thud for the city" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 6/18).
REAX: In Seattle, Art Thiel writes under the header, "Sonics' 'Good Faith Efforts' Never Materialized." Based on his testimony, Bennett "never understood, or chose to ignore, the two commitments that could have unlocked the vault in Olympia." Bennett's $500M Renton arena plan was "doomed because he failed to offer private cash up front, and failed to guarantee against cost overruns," two contributions that were "largely what pushed the Mariners and Seahawks stadiums past the worst of the political opposition." Bennett "never understood the political/business culture here," and he "never really intended to build an arena in Seattle" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 6/18). In Seattle, Percy Allen writes the "rest of the NBA world hardly seems interested" in the Sonics trial. NBA Commissioner David Stern last week at his annual state of the league address "received just one question about the Sonics" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/18). The SEATTLE TIMES presents "snippets from the courtroom" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/18).
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