Alexie takes Seattle’s side
SEATTLE – U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, who’s presiding over the federal trial to determine whether the Seattle SuperSonics can move to Oklahoma City or must honor the remaining two years of their KeyArena lease, has freely acknowledged she doesn’t follow basketball.
But on Thursday she got a glimpse into the world of wounded Sonics superfans, courtesy of author, poet, humorist and season ticket-holder Sherman Alexie, who graduated from Reardan High and Washington State University. The city called him to describe the team’s importance to the community, or at least to Sherman Alexie – and that he did, gushingly.
“I want two more years of the great gods,” he pleaded.
Sonics owner Clay Bennett is trying to relocate the team to his hometown. The city of Seattle has sued to force Bennett’s ownership group, the Professional Basketball Club, to play the next two seasons at KeyArena, the NBA’s smallest venue, as the team’s lease requires.
Courts are often reluctant to force parties to fulfill contract obligations against their will. Instead, they require monetary damages to be paid to the injured party. But in this case, the lease says either side may “specifically enforce” its terms, and the city argues that the team provides intangible benefits, such as civic pride, that can’t be calculated or paid off as damages.
Alexie, who won a National Book Award last year and wrote the screenplay for the 1999 movie “Smoke Signals,” frequently turns to basketball and its importance to American Indian reservation life as a theme in his writing, and he offered a unique perspective on the “intangible benefits” the Sonics bring to Seattle.
Before trial, the Sonics tried to exclude him from the witness list, arguing he had nothing relevant to say. The team argues fans aren’t a party to the lease, so they’re not legally entitled to consideration.
Alexie told of how isolated and alone he often feels as an American Indian in an overwhelmingly white city, and how that vanishes when he sees the melting pot of fans and players at KeyArena, and he credited basketball for improving his relationship with his father.
The NBA, he said, is a “celebration of poverty” – and he wasn’t talking about the $60 million the Sonics expect to lose if forced to stay in Seattle for two more seasons. Professional basketball represents the hopes of poor kids, he explained.
He got so wound up explaining that “the great thing about basketball is they’re barely wearing any clothes” and discussing the “current mythology” of the sport that the judge asked him to slow down for the court reporter.
“Sorry, judge,” Alexie said.
He went on to talk about how things have changed for season-ticket holders since Bennett’s Professional Basketball Club bought the team for $350 million in 2006. There were no banners in the players’ parking lot, where such fans can park. There were no free popcorn or cucumber sandwiches inside. The new personnel didn’t know who he was.
Add a final insult: Alexie got a letter saying that because of the possible relocation, the Sonics wouldn’t be selling season tickets for next year. The letter began, “Dear Fan,” instead of “Dear Sherman Alexie.”
But Alexie said that if the Sonics are leaving, what he really wants is two more years to say goodbye.
“Thank you for your support. It’s very much appreciated,” team lawyer Brad Keller began his cross-examination. “I’m sorry the locker guy didn’t know who you are. I’m sorry there wasn’t any popcorn.”
Thursday marked the fourth day of the six-day trial, and the city rested its case shortly after Alexie’s testimony. If Pechman rules the Sonics can leave, a separate trial will be held to determine damages the team must pay for breaking the lease.
Earlier in the day, Lon S. Hatamiya, an expert for the city, testified that the Sonics support 1,200 to 1,300 jobs.