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Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) -- Former Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz filed suit Tuesday to undo his sale of the team to an Oklahoma City-based group led by Clay Bennett, saying Bennett lied to him by insisting he planned to keep the NBA franchise in Seattle.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, seeks to deprive Bennett's group of "the fruits of its deception" by rescinding the sale, and described Bennett's actions as "fraud." Schultz and his co-owners never would have sold the Sonics if they thought the new owners would move them out of town, the complaint said. Read the full text of the suit. (PDF)

Starbucks Corp. Chairman Schultz is asking a judge to hold the team in trust until an "honest buyer" can be found who will keep the team in Seattle.

A spokesman for Bennett declined to comment Tuesday.

Bennett's Professional Basketball Club bought the team from Schultz in July 2006, and Bennett publicly insisted he planned to keep the Sonics in Seattle. On July 16 of that year, he wrote a side letter to Schultz denying any intentions to move the Sonics or the WNBA's Seattle Storm: "It is our desire to have the Sonics and Storm continue their existence in the Greater Seattle area," Bennett wrote, according to Schultz's complaint.

"That statement was false from the moment it was made," Seattle attorney Richard C. Yarmuth wrote in the complaint. "The Oklahoma City group's true intention ... was to move the team to Oklahoma City at the earliest possible time."

The complaint also disclosed the existence of an e-mail from Bennett to his co-owners two days before the sale, saying that if a new arena deal was reached to keep the Sonics in Seattle, the Professional Basketball Club could just sell the team in a "sweet flip," and still leave the ownership group "in good shape for something in OKC."

"This recently discovered e-mail makes clear that the Oklahoma City group never intended to own a team that would continue playing in Seattle," the complaint said.

The NBA's board of governors voted last Friday to approve the Sonics' move to Oklahoma. When asked that day about the possibility of a lawsuit by Schultz, Bennett said: "Well, I operated in good faith and that will be vetted through the trial and be clear. And further, I was disappointed because I've had a nice relationship with Howard, and I have not spoken with him about this issue, and I made a commitment to him personally, as well, that was meaningful to me and I hail to that commitment."

Bennett's group is also facing two other hurdles in its efforts to move the Sonics: a federal lawsuit brought by the city of Seattle, seeking to force the team to remain at KeyArena through the end of its lease in 2010; and a federal lawsuit brought by fans who say they were duped into buying season tickets under the premise the team would stay.

According to league sources, the NBA will not realign any divisions or teams to accommodate the relocation of the Sonics to Oklahoma City. Whenever the team lands in Oklahoma, either next season or in 2010, it will continue in its current division, which includes Utah, Portland, Minnesota and Denver.

Although Oklahoma City is geographically closest to Southwest Division teams — Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Memphis and New Orleans — the league isn’t interested in undoing the system’s current balance by adding a sixth team to the division. The 30-team NBA has six five-team divisions. [NewsOK.com]

Sheryl Swoopes looked down at the piece of paper, gave a quick scan of the roster and made quite the pronouncement.

"When I look at this roster here, top to bottom, with the exception of the USA (basketball) team, I've never been a part of a team that had so much talent," Swoopes said Monday.

With that, the already lofty expectations for the 2008 Seattle Storm were raised even higher - and training camp only started Monday.

The Storm began camp under new coach Brian Agler with a thinned roster while many of their stars continued playing overseas. Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird are still competing in the Euroleague tournament with their team in Russia, while new forward Swin Cash is playing with the U.S. team in a tournament in China.

That meant most of the attention was left for Swoopes, who missed most of last season with a back injury, new center Yolanda Griffith and Agler, all adjusting to the start of their first training camp in Seattle.

For Swoopes and Griffith, it's a stark change from the past. Both were mainstays in Houston and Sacramento, respectively, spending their entire WNBA careers with one team.

They won titles and were MVPs with those teams, then jumped at the chance to join Jackson, Bird and Cash and create a roster in Seattle that looks more like an Olympic or All-Star team than a WNBA lineup.

"It does feel different. I have to get used to the uniform," Griffith said. "I'm excited about it. I did so much in Sacramento and I felt it was time for a different change and it was a good move for me."

While Monday was a get-aquatinted session for the 12 Storm players that are in camp, it was also a celebration of the team's future in Seattle. In January, Force 10 Hoops LLC purchased the Storm from Seattle SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett for $10 million, assuring the Storm would be in Seattle for the 2008 season and beyond.

The purchase closed six weeks ago, creating a hectic March and April for the new ownership group getting ready for the May 17 season opener against Chicago.

The new owners are taking over at a time when the city is on the verge of losing its NBA team after the league's board of governors last week approved Bennett's application to move the Sonics from Seattle to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season, pending the resolution of litigation between the city and the team.

But the sale of the Storm to local owners meant Agler could keep the core of his team intact - Jackson and Bird had both expressed their desire not to play in Oklahoma - and then build around those two.

While some observers wonder if the players can put their egos and credentials aside and mesh together, no one on Monday thought that would be a problem - even with Jackson and Bird potentially not joining the team until a week before the opener.

"If players come in and accept their role, I think it's scary how good this team can be," Swoopes said.

Notes: The Storm re-signed restricted free agent C Ashley Robinson on Monday. Robinson played 33 games for Seattle last year. ... Agler expects Cash to join the team in Chicago before its exhibition opener on April 30.

EW YORK - The messy split between Seattle and the SuperSonics lurched forward Friday when NBA owners approved relocating the team to Oklahoma City — a move legal wrangling might delay another two years.

"I'm giving this press conference in the face of a scorched earth policy," said NBA commissioner David Stern, who criticized civic leaders suing to force the team to stay until its lease expires in 2010.

He charged that their "strategy is to inflict as much harm on the Sonics in Seattle" to try to force a different outcome.

Owners voted 28-2 in favor of the move, with Dallas and Portland against it. The relocation carries a $30 million fee, and the Sonics could begin playing in owner Clay Bennett's hometown as early as next season.

All that is contingent on resolving the lawsuit filed by Seattle, which has rejected a $26 million settlement offer from Bennett.

Stern directed his ire at Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, who is helping with the suit.

"I think that Sen. Gorton and the mayor are determined to exact whatever pound of flesh is possible here, and they will," Stern said. "And then the team will leave at the end of whatever period of time the court says it is required to stay for, and that will be it, period."

Stern said the league is prepared to play out the remaining two seasons in Seattle, but he cautioned that would mean a possible loss of $30 million a year for a team playing in front of reduced attendance.

"Right now, there's no speedy resolution on the horizon," Stern said. "There's a contested trial, a pretty hot atmosphere."

With the move, the Sonics would be the first NBA team to change cities since the Hornets went from Charlotte to New Orleans for the 2002-03 season.

That would delight one city.

"The vote further confirms that Oklahoma is in the big leagues and can compete with anyone," Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry said in a statement.

But before the team can compete in Oklahoma City, it must settle the issue of the lease. Seattle's lawsuit is set for trial on June 16.

"Step one is I am hopeful that we can re-establish communications and some sort of platform to have a meaningful, principled conversation," Bennett said. "We are certainly nowhere near that today."

When asked during a news conference later Friday in Seattle if he was expecting a new, richer offer from Bennett, Nickels said, "I don't really care."

"We're going to go into court in June," Nickels said. "We are going to protect the interests of the people of Seattle."

Though Stern insisted it wasn't personal, he repeatedly criticized Seattle officials.

"The presentation from Washington is, 'We're going to kill you,'" Stern said.

When asked about "the shots you took today" from Stern and Bennett, Nickels said to consider the source.

"We're in litigation, and the other side has got to say what they think they have to say to punch holes in our case," he said. "I think it shows they have a pretty weak case. We are focused on June, on winning that litigation and keeping the team here."

Bennett defended his efforts to try to keep the franchise there. E-mails between Bennett and his ownership partners released recently as part of the city's lawsuit appeared to show they planned to move the team to their hometown all along.

Stern said the other owners never "questioned the good faith of Clay Bennett," and Bennett said his words had been misinterpreted. When he wrote, "I am a man possessed! Will do everything we can," he meant he was determined to find a way for the Sonics to remain in the city, Bennett contended. He cited at least 30 trips to Seattle and "millions of dollars" spent as evidence of his commitment.

"I also want to express my regret to the citizens of Seattle and the fans of the Sonics that I was unsuccessful in bringing forth a new building," he said. "We tried the best we knew how to try and did what we knew how to do and did the best job I could."

Stern warned Seattle isn't likely to land another NBA team anytime soon for the same reason the Sonics are leaving: the ongoing reluctance of state and local officials to help pay for a replacement for outdated KeyArena. Stern dismissed the idea that a group led by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would be able to find an arena solution and eventually purchase the team from Bennett to keep the Sonics in town.

Bennett is also facing a class-action lawsuit brought by season-ticket holders who say they were duped into buying tickets under the premise the Sonics wouldn't leave. And this week former team owner Howard Schultz announced plans to sue to get the team back, saying Bennett did not make a good-faith effort to secure a new arena deal as he promised when he bought the team in 2006.

Stern and Bennett said it had yet to be determined whether the franchise will carry the SuperSonics name, colors and history with it to Oklahoma City.

The rights to those could be a bargaining chip in Bennett's negotiations with the city, with Seattle possible retaining them for a future team. Stern suggested that calling the club Oklahoma, instead of Oklahoma City, might be desirable because it reflects the importance of other parts of the state such as Tulsa in the franchise's viability.

Of the two teams that voted against the move, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has previously expressed concerns about the market size, and it also happens that Oklahoma City is just 200 miles from Dallas. Stern said the Trail Blazers, owned by Seattle software billionaire Paul Allen, didn't say why they voted the way they did.

Stern played down the fact that Oklahoma City is a much smaller market than Seattle.

"The judgment was that the prospect of continued further losses in Seattle without an adequate arena really rendered that discussion with no good answer other than the movement of the team to Oklahoma at this point," Stern said.

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AP Sports Writer Gregg Bell in Seattle and Associated Press writer Tim Talley in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.