Sonicsgate

Howard Schultz:
Five years ago, when I sat here and was in a position to buy the team, I remember saying that I view this as my responsibility as part of the public trust.

Himself - Writer:
You know what the original sin was? It was the signing of Jim McIlvaine. Jim McIlvaine was the apple in our Garden of Eden.

Himself - Attorney for PBC:
[referring to Howard Schultz's "public trust" comment] Howard Schultz may have referred to the notion of a sports team being a "public trust," but one can't help but notice that when it came time to dig into his own pocketbook, to try and keep the public trust, to keep the team here, he was the first person to close his wallet up, take his marbles, and go home.

Himself - Attorney for PBC:
When somebody is being beaten, they say "Oh, the lawyer on the other side is being theatrical." I take that as a compliment.

David Stern:
[interrupting reporter Chris Daniels's question at the relocation press conference] You know, live or not, I don't like to be interrupted, and I'm not going to interrupt you.

Himself - Seattle's Biggest Sports Fan:
[insulting Washington State Speaker of the House Frank Chopp] Chopp, Chopp, Chopp! You're done in my book, buddy!

Christine Gregoire:
I understand how passionate Sonics fans are. I've known that all along. I'm a Sonics fan myself. I understand how passionate taxpayers are. I've heard from them loud and clear.

Himself - Former U.S. Senator:
We've got a place, and we've got the people, and we've got a much better city in which to play basketball.

Himself - Narrator:
[about the 1996 Finals against the Chicago Bulls] After losing the first three games, the Sonics won the next two, dominating Games 4 and 5 in front of their home crowd. Shawn Kemp dunked a lot.

Himself - Sports Broadcaster, KIRO710:
[about Howard Schult'z "public trust" comment] He talked a lot about being a steward of the public trust, and I believed him. But coming from him, I think it was all just empty rhetoric. Coming from him, there was a lot of empty rhetoric.

[repeated line]

Mayor Greg Nickels:
Uh, we have a court date in June.

Himself - Sports Columnist, Seattle Times:
The five-year plan, the public trust- don't believe any of it! He didn't believe any of it! He was a salesman. He's a guy that can get you buy a cup of coffee for $35. So why should you believe anything Howard Schultz told you?

Himself - Writer:
[while fans chant "Save Our Sonics" at the last home game] I just thought to myself, "You're way too late. You're way too late." Pitiful cries to a disinterested God.

Himself - Writer:
[in a bonus scene, talking about Howard Schultz's lack of commitment to keeping the team in Seattle] It's always interesting to me how it's mostly liberals in the U.S. How we freak out about conglomerates like Starbucks, McDonalds, Blockbuster, or whatever. Pretty much all of them started as mom-and-pop joints, and generally speaking, one person turned it into a huge, successful conglomerate. Now, we can talk about the ramifications of conglomerates, but it still took the skills and dedication of one person to bring the shop to success and fame. Howard Schultz took Starbucks from a little shop into an international sensation. That's amazing! It would be hypocritical to go on and on about Ray Allen's jump shot, and not commend Howard Schultz for his success. So, I'm not angry at him based on some liberal notion that he's inherently evil because he's a corporate honcho. In fact, I like Starbucks. Because in certain areas, you don't know how tolerant they are about minorities, but then you go to Starbucks, and you say, "Yeah! Starbucks doesn't care! The only color they care about is green!" There's something very inherently democratic about greed, that the greedier the corporate monster, the safer you are as an ethnic minority. There's power in that! But he has stopped being a member of a community for a long time. Basically, the rise of his company into an international conglomerate turned him into an international conglomerate himself, and he forgot, consciously, subconsciously, unconsciously, that he's also a member of this community. He forgot that he had a responsibility to the citizens of this city, and I blame him, and judge him, and condemn him for that.

Himself - Save Our Sonics Co-Founder:
[about Speaker of the House Frank Chopp] Frank Chopp actually runs the state. People think that Christine Gregoire, our current elected governor, runs the state. But that was advocated to Frank Chopp long ago.

Howard Schultz:
[stammering during the sale to Clay Bennett] The reason we're at this table is w-we arrived at a place with a buyer who really wants to stay here.

Himself - Sports Columnist, Seattle Times:
I remember when Gary Payton went to the Lakers and returned to Seattle for the first time. I asked him, "What are you going to say to Howard?" Gary said, "I'm not gonna say anything to his punk-ass."

Himself - Lobbyist, Citizens For More Important Things:
I wrote a newspaper article calling the NBA a group "worse than the neighborhood crack dealer." Not because the Sonics are a bad thing, or because sports are a bad thing, but because you had a group of financial wizards who just got their hooks in there.

Clay Bennett:
The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season, playing their games.

Himself - Sportswriter, Seattle Times:
As a whole, this region does not want to fund publicly financed stadiums and arenas. I mean, this region has proven that. And so now when the Sonics come around this third time, not only does the sort of public say we're not going to vote for it, but a segment of the public gets proactive.

Himself - Writer:
[about what it will take to bring the NBA back] The thing is, if we get a team, it's going to be somebody else's team. It's not going to be a new franchise. I know who's in trouble- New Orleans, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Memphis. To get a team, I'm going to have to break the hearts of people just like me, who will then have to go in front of cameras and talk about their pain like this. And that's the only way we're going to get a team.

Himself - Sports Broadcaster, KIRO710:
I asked Jamal Crawford once in an interview why there were so many good young players, great players playing in the NBA from the 206 and he said "It's simple: It rains a lot and there's nothing else to do but go indoors and play hoops."

David Stern:
We had successful votes in San Antonio, Houston, we have Oklahoma City, Orlando... I mean, there's been a string usually with the support rather than the opposition of the city leaders and that wasn't to be in Seattle.