Although this century-old problem seems unsolvable for now.

It shed a ray of possibility in the darkness for SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz, who had completely despaired of the Washington State Government.

Historically, there have been many conspiracy theories about Schultz's eventual sale of the Supersonics.

But one of those conspiracy theories logically fits reality the best.

It claims that as Schultz was unable to persuade the Washington State Government to fund the renovation of the then-rundown KeyArena, which was rented by the Supersonics…

Stern, in collaboration with Schultz, introduced the Oklahoma Consortium led by Clayton Bennett.

Schultz used the reason of a team sale to threaten by relocating the Supersonics to Oklahoma, exerting extreme pressure on the Washington State Government and those Seattle residents who disagreed with renovating the arena.

The evidence for this conspiracy theory comes from a legislative hearing on February 24, 2006.

At that hearing, Stern and Schultz firmly expressed to the Washington State Government in succession:

The Washington State Government must fund the renovation of KeyArena, or the NBA would take action on its own.

"Washington State already has a solid foundation for baseball and football, and I'm here in a personal capacity to see if the NBA can also get the same fair treatment.

If Washington State does not approve this plan, we can accept it, but we will take action ourselves then."

Historically, this extreme pressure would eventually lead to Seattle losing the Supersonics, its NBA team.

Although Bennett promised the local fans that the Supersonics would not relocate after his purchase...

The NBA was secretly prepared for the Supersonics' relocation the moment they decided to introduce Bennett, the Oklahoma businessman.

This is the most famous conspiracy theory that led to the Supersonics' relocation.

Since Washington State was unwilling to fund the renovation of the arena long rented by the Supersonics...

Why would the NBA keep a team here?

But...

This irreversible outcome was met with a solution by Schultz on this day, thanks to the century-old problem raised by Ray Allen.

Actually, for a long time, the reason Schultz left the impression of being stingy on Supersonics fans...

The main reason was that after he took over the team, the Supersonics had a loss of 60 million US dollars within five years.

Additionally, Schultz developed the idea of why the team should require more of his investment when faced with the Washington State Government's attitude.

"Yao mentioned last time during our conversation... that if the Rockets continue their inaction, he might leave Houston in the future. If he wants to leave, do we have enough bargaining chips to bring him over?"

"Moreover, Kevin (Garnett) in Minnesota has also had enough, and he wishes to play in a new environment with new teammates."

On this day, Ray Allen, who is always straightforward and never holds back...

Originally just wanted to test the team's stance and explore whether the team intends to tank or still harbors ambition...

But unintentionally...

A grand vision suddenly emerged in Schultz's mind, who was planning to conspire with Stern.

The chips for acquiring Yao Ming?

If Yao Ming really wants to leave Houston and the Supersonics make up their mind, Schultz believes Stern would definitely assist in secret.

A number one draft pick, plus some decent players, and Schultz doesn't believe such an offer couldn't bring back Yao Ming, determined to leave Houston.

After all, through his "3+1" contract with the Rockets, Yao had already indicated to Alexander...

If the Rockets don't want to lose him for nothing after he completes his seven seasons...

The Rockets could only put him on the market in advance.

As for Garnett?

As long as the Timberwolves are willing, Schultz could immediately instruct management to center a trade around Rashard Lewis, adding various draft picks and loose pieces to trade with the Timberwolves.

Schultz knows clearly that Yao Ming's commercial value is the key to turning the Supersonics' losses into profits.

And as long as the Supersonics can turn a profit...

Then even the hard-nosed Washington State Government will inevitably relax their stance.

"Why should Leslie, that old bastard, get all the benefits? Why can't a player like Yao play in Seattle for a few years?"

On this day, Schultz had made up his mind.

He planned to discuss with Stern about the possibility of the Supersonics acquiring Yao Ming before the extreme pressure.

Anyway, regardless of the outcome...

In Schultz's eyes, it's better than the half-dead situation of the Supersonics now.

...

PS: Bringing you a 19,500-word update in a single day! See you tomorrow afternoon, and once again thank you to all the subscribers, the godfathers of the readers, because the flu combined with a cold and diarrhea has delayed today's two updates a bit, truly sorry!

Note ①: The monthly best award is the monthly best award, at this period, the NBA still considered the record as the fundamental law when evaluating MVPs.

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