You say that now?

Even things like this hurt.

David Stern never said "I'm sorry" to Sonics fans, but for the first time the NBA commissioner sounded apologetic about the sale of the professional basketball team that produced several lawsuits and resulted in owner Clay Bennett moving it to Oklahoma City.

"I'm not thrilled about the outcome in Seattle," he said during an espn.com podcast. "Believe me it's a big loss anytime you leave a city."

Despite conflicting evidence, Stern still contends Bennett and his ownership group, the Professional Basketball Club, made a viable attempt to keep the team in Seattle. He said the league conducted an investigation into charges that Bennett acted improperly.

"They spent lots of money with plans and lobbying and doing all the things that the ownership before them had done and did even more, but it wasn't to be," Stern said. "In fact, the actual economic opportunity in Seattle was far larger than any other city."

Stern sounded cautiously optimistic about another team returning to Seattle, believing the chances are contingent upon significantly upgrading or replacing KeyArena.

He hinted the recession may force one of the league's 30 teams to consider relocation.

"As the plans develop for a new arena, and I'm sure there will be, that likelihood increases," he said. "Although I don't know that there's a [league] expansion coming any time soon.

"On the other hand this economy is going to contain certain disruptions, and out of those disruptions may come opportunities for some cities, and maybe Seattle will be one of those. I don't know anything, but we agreed to keep Seattle in the loop and [have] talked to people there."