Sonics fans vow to reclaim history from Oklahoma City

It’s an especially painful week for heartbroken Sonic fans
as our former team storms through the NBA playoffs.

As if taking the team wasn’t bad enough, Oklahoma City
has taken our history as well, using the parts that are
convenient and stuffing the rest in a closet. From
merchandise to the media guide, the Thunder has usurped
the best of what was the Seattle SuperSonics.

“They have hats that say 1967 in Oklahoma blue, the media
guide has Gary Payton, Sean Kemp, all our former teams,”
complains longtime Sonics fan Jason Reid, director of the
award-winning documentary “Sonics Gate” detailing the sale
of the team.

When tycoon Clay Bennett bought the team and took it to
Oklahoma, he got all the Sonics stuff – including the 1979
championship trophy and the rights to share the
team’s history with Seattle. In a deal with former mayor
Greg Nickels, Seattle got to keep the Sonics name and the
colors for a future franchise.

“It would be one thing if they adopted it as a new
franchise in Oklahoma City where, ‘This is our first trip
to the playoffs,’ but it’s kind of thrown in our face,”
says Reid.

“So the only thing we can do is say ‘hey this is wrong, we
deserve the history here in Seattle. I can only hope
that Chris Hansen can negotiate with the NBA and Clay
Bennett to make that happen.”

Even NBA insiders like former All-Star Charles Barkley
agree. The outspoken analyst went off during a recent
telecast when a statistic referred to the Thunder’s
playoff record dating back several decades.

“Wait a minute. That doesn’t count! You can’t take
another city’s stats,” Barkley exclaimed.

They can, and they did. Bennett has the 1979 championship trophy,
the banners and retired jerseys that used to hang from the
rafters in Key Arena.

For now, it’s all “on loan” to the Museum of History and
Industry in Seattle, where it’s stored away as the museum
moves to its new location.

The trophy will eventually be displayed again for museum
visitors when it reopens in December 2012, according to
spokeswoman Jackie Durban.

There was no response Wednesday from Thunder media staff
about the Sonics’ shared history or future plans for the
artifacts stored in Seattle.

But, Reid vows to keep the issue alive until Seattle gets
another team, and reclaims its past.

“You know we hear from Oklahoma City Thunder fans all the
time and they get mad at us for not going away and not
being quiet. But part of the reason we’re not going away
and not being quiet is to make sure we get our history
back.”