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Sonics at a Loss to Criticize Arena

Post.com Exclusive

Seattle SuperSonics center Jim McIlvaine spent two seasons playing in Landover for the Washington Bullets, and last night, after his current team lost in the opening of MCI Center, his review of the new downtown facility was terse and to the point.

"Horrible," McIlvaine said of the state-of-the-art building after the Sonics’ 95-78 loss.

Then McIlvaine added: "Because we didn’t win."

Despite McIlvaine’s critical assessment, the rest of the Sonics seemed impressed by MCI Center, comparing it to United Center, home of the NBA champion Chicago Bulls.

"It’s a nice facility. It’s got to go right up there with United Center and Boston’s FleetCenter," Sonics center Vin Baker said. "It’s a great arena, and obviously they’re going to have a lot of excitement.

"Hopefully for Chris [Webber] and those guys, they’ll be able to get the kind of excitement and the kind of stuff that they had tonight in the arena because they’re going to win a lot of basketball games if they can keep that crowd like they were tonight."

Included among the 20,674 was President Clinton, who Baker said played no small part in the Sonics’ demise.

"I’d be lying if I said we weren’t caught up in the whole thing," Baker said. "The president came in. I mean he came to the locker room, so that threw us off right there."

Veteran Sonics guard Hersey Hawkins, not as shaken by the president’s visit, praised MCI Center as an entire level above US Airways Arena, the Wizards’ former building in Landover.

"It’s a lot better than US Airways Arena. It’s not even close," Hawkins said. "I think you have to be glad for the people of Washington. It’s good to see them out. It was a nice sellout for the team."

"It reminds me of the United Center," Hawkins continued. "I mean, I haven’t gone up in the concession area or anything like that where supposedly it really separates this arena from the others. As a basketball arena, they’re all getting pretty much the same. They’re all getting more spread out."

The visiting locker room certainly has grown, compared to the tiny quarters Wizards’ opponents used at US Airways Arena. In addition to the more spacious visiting lockers, there is also a private office for the visiting coach, where Sonics Coach George Karl was sullen after his team’s less-than-inspirational performance.

But he too lauded MCI Center, citing its proximity to D.C. night life as a major draw for the league.

"I think it’s exciting to have a building in downtown D.C. I think that’s exciting to me," Karl said. "D.C.’s a great town, a great city. Now it has the facility to help keep people around it, to energize the community. I think all the NBA people will be happy to hang out in Georgetown."