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Clay Bennett is an exemplary NBA owner

June 11, 2012 @ 6:04 pm (Updated: 5:41 am - 6/12/12 )

"Clay is an exemplary owner."

That statement about the guy who snatched our Seattle Sonics and made them the Oklahoma City Thunder doesn't come from someone in Washington. It couldn't.

"He doesn't try to get in the spotlight, he doesn't get involved in personnel moves and he's created a first class operation with the Thunder. You would have the same thing if the team had stayed there," says Berry Tramel, a lifelong Oklahoma resident and sports writer for The Oklahoman.

With the Thunder heading into the NBA finals against the Miami Heat, I'm not sure if hurts a little more or helps to know Seattle coulda, shoulda, woulda been in the same place. As Seattle sulks over the team's bitter departure, I wanted a different perspective on the team - from two OKC sports writers.

Bennett

Clay Bennett photo (take a deep breath Sonics fans, don't let the image bother you) by Layne Murdoch.

Tramel credits three people with the Thunder's growing success since they left Seattle.

"They got lucky that Kevin Durant fell into their laps," he says. But the real key was when Clay Bennett hired Sam Presti as General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Presti "changed the culture, changed the mindset of the organization and really changed them from being the Sonics to becoming the Thunder."

"The team as the Sonics didn't have vision or commitment or plan. Sam Presti most definitely has a plan," says Tramel. "He's committed to treating players a certain way, doing everything in a first class manner, holding everyone to a certain accountability standard. Plus he has a great eye for talent. He and his staff have a very good working knowledge of the salary cap, been able to do all kinds of trades to be in position to make other trades and really build a roster that works."

If Bennett had hired Presti - the real brains behind the operation - and if they'd stayed in Seattle, Tramel says we'd "be watching the same winning team on the court." If. Although people in the Seattle area don't like Bennett much, he says as an owner he's done everything right because he gave Presti the "wallet" and control of the personnel moves.

The Thunder have been a unifying team in Oklahoma, which is a state normally divided by college rivalries. When one college team has a successful year "a big chunk of the population" doesn't want anything to do with it.

"This team, the Thunder, has been able to get everybody on the same page," says Tramel. "Sooners and Cowboys locking arms and cheering together is something I've never seen before."

He says the NBA resonates with non-sports fans in Oklahoma too, further driving television ratings in all the markets in the state.

"Part of it is the personal nature of basketball," he explains. "With football pads and helmets you don't even know what the stars look like unless you're a hard core fan. When you start watching a basketball team you feel like you know the players, you see their expressions, people feel a connection with basketball players who are out there in their skivvies."

Tramel feels for sports fans in Seattle and he understands our angst, but he also hopes we'll be able to root for the Thunder.

"It's becoming America's team. The whole dang nation is interested in them because they're so young, four of the best players are still under 24 years old, and they're exuberant," he says. "Plus people can get behind the frontier nature of Oklahoma City, playing the big villains of the Miami Heat with their scandalous ways."

Durant

Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant celebrates against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 6 in the NBA basketball Western Conference finals. On to the NBA finals, game one Tuesday night against the Miami Heat. AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Oklahoman sports writer Jenni Carlson also sympathizes with Seattle basketball fans.

"Listen, I understand why some folks in Seattle are still mad. They had basketball there for decades. They had a proud history. To have that taken away from you? You don't just snap your fingers and get over it," she says.

Her empathy only goes so far though because she doubts Seattle could have created the Thunder.

"Had the team stayed in Seattle, would it have had the resources to go out and get Kendrick Perkins, who changed the toughness on this team? Had it stayed, would it have been able to offer max deals to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who are pillars of the present and the future? Had it stayed, would it be in position to try to do deals later this summer with James Harden and Serge Ibaka?" she asks.

It's impossible to know, but Carlson thinks "it's hard to see how THIS team would've been assembled in Seattle."

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (19)


  • Add A Comment

  • Newton wrote...
    Thank you!. They are Gone.
    June 11, 2012 7:40 pm
    Never to return!!!. Yaaaaaaaaa
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    Exemplary at
    June 11, 2012 8:28 pm
    Being ruthless, two-faced and dishonest.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • C"mon Man wrote...
    Can you imagine?
    June 11, 2012 8:38 pm
    After College Football season ending,and maybe seeing a NBA game on as you channel surf, then all the sudden hosting the NBA finals? that includes the current NBA MVP's Team, against a new Sheriff in town future MVP,Kevin Durant. As far as the owner goes,he found out that what works in OKC,does not in Seattle. I see a City counsel who actually made an effort in the 90's,by seeing that Luxury suites,club seats and big business investment,and naming rights were the the constant,so we drove to the T Dome, and played along. I saw teams like the LA Rams,Cleveland Browns,Indy Colts,NO Jazz and others move to GREENER pastures.NBA Finals?Millionaires,billionaires, and people who can afford a ticket,being a part of something that used to be growing up in Seattle,watching Lenny Wilkins,Bob Rule and Spencer Haywood let Seattle enjoy the only team that ever brought Seattle a World championship, and as Kenny Smith noted,that we were in the top three toughest places to play.OKC fans?Merry Christmas in June for ending up with something bigger than Microsoft,Starbucks, Amazon or Grunge,but not bigger than Jimi Hendrix, Boeing, or Chef Tony's Pizza.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    OKC Thunder "America's team"?
    June 11, 2012 9:13 pm
    Never! Ever! Ever!

    I don't care if 56 of Obama's states fall in love with them. There is no way in **** Seattle or Washington as a whole, will ever adopt them as their team!

    Tramel is a dope and needs some history lessons. Presti was hired as a Sonic GM, not as a Thunder GM. Semantics to some, not to me!

    Some can justify the theft how ever they want. The Sonics were, however, stolen from Seattle with the good graces of David (the fat dork) Stern!

    I for one will never forgive such an act. They are all corrupt chumps. I love basketball, but the NBA and its imploding business model can pound sand as far as I am concerned. Does anyone remember the original Bad News Bears? Remember the concluding words by Tanner Boyle? Exactly how I feel about the NBA coming back to Seattle. They burned their bridges when they left and they can stay gone.

    Interesting! As I am writing this a friend sends a text asking me if I read the article about McGinn meeting with Stern unbeknownst to Hansen and his group. What a dope! He is already causing a divide with Hansen's group. (Wait! Maybe that is a good thing!) And I can just imagine the grovelling by McGinn to Stern.

    In my world, the real one, Stern should be asking McGinn to come back to Seattle. But we don't live in the real world now do we?

    Other than that, I really don't have an opinion on this issue.... ;-)

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • MFCEO wrote...
    It's tough to say....
    June 11, 2012 9:54 pm
    but yes he is a good owner. did he lie and weasel his way out of Seattle? yep. like he cares at all. and he hired the right people to build the team. I do not want to see him win a trophy as much as the next person, but sometimes being ruthless is what you have to do to win. Besides, the only person that the Sonics fans should truly hate is Mr. Starbucks. he is the one that ran this team into the ground, then sold the team out of spite towards local lawmakers not bending to his ridiculous demands. It was a raw deal. But at least get mad at the right people.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • couchpotatoslacker wrote...
    Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
    June 12, 2012 12:08 am
    Bunch of pu ssies in this area. Grow a pair and get over it, it's your own fraeking fault they left.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • flipper wrote...
    Absolutely the ugliest
    June 12, 2012 9:12 am
    ...logo and uniform kit in sports today. Orange, Yellow, Black, White and Blue? Looks like someone yacked a logo.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hawkin wrote...
    Hi I am 4th grader
    June 12, 2012 9:14 am
    and I was wondering what growing a pair means? Can I still turn out for my schools basketball team if I still don't have a pair?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hawkin wrote...
    Actually I lied but
    June 12, 2012 9:15 am
    fables are still good for some.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • awbitf wrote...
    He's the best
    June 12, 2012 9:15 am
    at taking the plot from Major League and making it a reality.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sportsguru wrote...
    as a basketball fan
    June 12, 2012 9:22 am

    I see the sport following in the footsteps of Boxing within the next 10-20 yrs. When your business model is to have a city pay for your building and the expense of running a franchise and at the same time charging and astronomical price to see the finished product, I just don't know how that business model can survive.

    Add to that the inconsistency of the nba officiating on a game for game level which takes away the credibility of the game itself. All I see is a deteriorating game that will die with boxing.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }