Report: Ex-Sonics owner will sue to regain team
Starbucks boss Schultz says Bennett promised to keep franchise in Seattle
 | Starbucks Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz sold the Seattle SuperSonics to Clay Bennett in July 2006. |
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Former Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz will sue current majority owner Clay Bennett in an effort to regain control of the franchise and prevent a possible move to Oklahoma City, according to an online report.
The Seattle Times reported on its website late Monday night that Schultz is seeking to rescind the July 2006 sale of the team to the Professional Basketball Club, the Oklahoma City-based group that Bennett chairs. Schultz accuses Bennett and his partners of breach of contract and fraud in connection with their negotiations with the city of Seattle.
Schultz's attorney, Richard Yarmuth, told the paper that the suit will be filed within two weeks.
"The theory of the suit is that when the team was sold, the Basketball Club of Seattle, our team here, relied on promises made by Clay Bennett and his ownership that they desired to keep the team in Seattle and intended to make a good-faith effort to accomplish that," the paper quoted Yarmuth as saying.
Recently released e-mails between Bennett and his partners raise questions about whether the Bennett group, in fact, was ever interested in keeping the team the Pacific Northwest. It is these communications that seem to be the catalyst for Schultz's suit.
NBA commissioner David Stern told reporters Monday that he believes Bennett, as principal owner, acted in good faith.
The city already has sued Bennett's group, trying to enforce the remaining two years of the club's lease at KeyArena. The trial is set to begin in June. NBA owners will vote Friday on moving the franchise to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season.
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