What about relocating the Clippers to Seattle?

[LarBrd33]

I know there are already a couple Clippers/Sterling threads already, but I wanted to have a focused discussion about this separately.  There are a lot of sub-questions I have that would get missed in the racist conversation.

Say the league actually makes an unprecedented move to force Sterling out... I presume that would entail forcing him to sell the team, right?  Seattle still has that anxious ownership group desperate to buy a team... Chris Hanson and Steve Balmer.  They were willing to massively overpay for a team and they are still moving along on the arena...but no team in sight.  The league seems to be using Seattle as leverage now... to get teams like Sacramento and Milwaukee to finance a new area or face the threat of going to Seattle.   Plus, most NBA fans feel icky about having a team like the Kings or Bucks leave their long-standing homes.

But the Clippers...  from a fan perspective, would any of you feel bad about the Clippers relocating?  I sure as heck wouldn't.  LA doesn't need two teams.  Would there be rallies?  Couldn't we all get on board with this?

But then, the logistics... don't the Clippers make a crapload of money by playing in LA?  Don't they have some ridiculously amazing contract with Staples Center that makes leaving unrealistic?  I seem to vaguely remember details like this last time the idea came up about the Clippers relocating.

Any thoughts on this subject?

[Ogaju]

yeah the Clippers are not going anywhere but Anaheim maybe.

There is too much fan interest here for a second BB team. I still think this whole mess may be a conspiracy to force the old goat out. I am sure there are a lot of money types ready to swoop in to buy the Clippers and keep them in town. I will not be surprised to see some Hollywood types put together a team including Doc Rivers to buy the team.

[LooseCannon]

The Clippers recently extended their lease until 2023-24.

[jambr380]

The idea obviously makes sense, but Cliff Paul and Kia Griffin may not be so psyched as it takes them away from Hollywood and that $$ and celebrity status.

I really really want to see what happens next in this saga and just how much remorse Sterling regarding his comments. Everybody says things they don't mean out if anger. Unfortunately his history proves that he really does believe those things - which is real shame.

[D.o.s.]

The Clippers recently extended their lease until 2023-24.

When Clay Bennett stole the Sonics he (along with the rest of the ownership group) were able to pay a lease breaking fee, I believe, so it's not unprecedented.

However there's no way that, should the league force Sterling to sell, the NBA wouldn't explore keeping the team local first -- ala the Kings. And there's plenty of people out there in LA with enough money to buy it. Hansen and Ballmer don't get first dibs just because they tried to swindle Sacramento out of the Kings with the Maloofs.