| 21 February 2011
If you haven't seen Sonicsgate yet, don't read this interview and head over here to watch the full documentary. The film has been out for longer than a year and I would not consider anyone a Seattle sports fan if they have not seen the film yet. Sonicsgate is an important documentary not just because it tells the story of how Seattle lost its team, but also the circumstances of professional sports and how business and politics plays a role that we often do not see until the departure of a team happens.
Since its release in 2009, Sonicgate has won the Webby Award in the sports-video category, has been named the Most Persuasive Grassroots Flick of 2009 by Sports Illustrated, and has received high praise various national sports writers and outlets such as Bill Simmons and SLAM Magazine. We got the chance to ask the director of the movie, Jason Reid, some questions about the current climate of the NBA and what Sonics fans can be hopeful for.
Check out our interview with Jason Reid after the jump!
How big of an impact do you think the movie has made?
I think that Sonicsgate has had a major impact for a couple of reasons. First, we knew that all of the facts needed to be put in one place, clearly laying out this very complex story for people both in this region and nationally.
The story was buried largely nationally and locally it was never fully understood by a large segment of the population. By making Sonicsgate, it gave people a point of reference to start from, opening the discussion on all of the various issues the film raises.
Second, I think Sonicsgate gave people a chance to heal after all of the wrongs that happened here. It held the parties accountable that screwed over the fans, it gave people a chance to mourn their stolen team, and out of that it has mobilized a large army of people who are determined to bring the NBA back to Seattle and restore the legacy of the SuperSonics organization in its rightful place.
What is the best way for the 99.9% fans not wealthy enough to buy another team to contribute to bring a team back?
Step one is to watch Sonicsgate and educate yourself on what happened here in the past and understand the complexities of what it will take to bring the NBA back to Seattle.
Step two is to not give up hope and optimism that it can happen. Step 3 is to continue to make the voice of Seattle SuperSonics fans heard. This could be done in a number of ways...from rocking your old Sonics gear to emailing local politicians to continuing to tell people about Sonicsgate and our love of NBA basketball here in Seattle to people (both locally and on a national level).
The more we can spread the word that we will not forget what happened here...and never give up the fight to bring back the Sonics, the sooner I believe we will get a team back. Check out our help page to learn more about how to contact local officials: http://www.sonicsgate.org/help/
What are the biggest obstacles?
I think there are a number of obstacles for bringing a team back to this region.
First, there are still a large number of fans that a very turned off by how the NBA, particularly David Stern, handled the situation and say they will never watch their league again. As much as we can understand this position (we actively boycott Starbucks), the end goal for us making Sonicsgate wasn't to make a bunch of money, but it was always to do what we could to BRING BACK OUR SEATTLE SUPERSONICS.
This has been our battle cry the whole time and we believe that once a team is coming back to town that most of these people will come around and embrace our new team and realize this is more about our community and coming together around a common love we all share: The love of sports...and particularly NBA basketball.
You can't tell me basketball fans wouldn't be excited about getting the opportunity to see Chris Paul play 41 nights a year in town.
The second obstacle is convincing the still very strong forces of the anti-stadium movement (and the complacency of most of the elected officials) to actively support and not get in the way of bringing back a team to this region. I think there are a few elected officials such as Dow Constantine who really understand the issue and want to do what they can to help, but it's not always easy to get things done here in Seattle and WA State given the political climate.
The third obstacle, which ties into number 2, is that we NEED to build a new facility...Period, end of discussion. As soon as this happens we will be at the top of the list to get a team here, but until then we aren't even in the discussion. I believe that the league is very eager to get the Seattle black eye off its record and as soon as we a facility planned and built, we will get a team. Whether this is privately funded or a public/private partnership, this is the biggest obstacle we face at this point.
What responses, if any, do you get about the movie from people who aren't Sonics fans and/or don't live in Seattle?
We always believed that if we showed people how wronged we were by EVERYONE involved and that it wasn't for lack of fan support (the message that the NBA and Clay Bennett put out there to help them get out of town), we believed it would be only a matter of time before the powers that be wanted to fix the problem and their mistake. So in answer to your question, people almost universally have been in support of us as fans, sympathize with situation, and fully support bringing the NBA back to Seattle as soon as possible.
We always felt that if we could let the rest of the nation hear what happened here and spread the word about the film...then they would support us getting a team back.
It's not an easy situation, but it's the only way we will have NBA basketball return to Seattle. I think it's the NBA who set this precedent. They took a stand here in Seattle, and they said no team is safe. If they aren't making money, we will move them to a different market if there's a willing owner, and we will allow for that. And so the rules have been set. The stage has been set. We're just fans. We're pawns in their game. All we can hope for is the NBA back in Seattle.
As Brian Robinson, co-founder of Save Our Sonics said, "You play the game by the rules, like Knicks-Bulls. There are days you recognize the game requires harder fouls, and you play it the way it is, and you try to do it ethically and honesty. But I will take Sacramento. I will take New Orleans. I will take the Pacers. I will take whoever. Because our first priority is to our city and our fans."
