Clay Bennett, who heads the investment group that recently acquired the Sonics and the Storm, has always loved sports, but the opportunity to get involved on the business side of sports came late in life.

At age 16, the Oklahoma City native went to work for his family's residential building materials manufacturing and distribution company. He started in the warehouse, unloading aluminum extrusions that would be turned into window frames. "It didn't take me long to realize that was not the future for me," Bennett recalls. But he worked every aspect of the family operation, getting an "early, well-grounded appreciation of how a company operates. It was a wonderful education."

Today, his business revolves around a private, diversified group investment entity called Dorchester Capital, which he founded and oversees from his office on the 31st floor of the Oklahoma Tower. Dorchester has extensive investments in both commercial and residential real estate developments. Bennett says this work contributes to his understanding of contemporary NBA arenas, the factors that drive competition among NBA franchises, and the negotiation processes between franchises and their host regions - multifaceted business components that have been of interest to him since his father-in-law, Edward Gaylord, became part-owner of the Texas Rangers, a Dallas area American League baseball team.

"As a long-time lover of all sports," Bennett says, "when I had an opportunity to get involved in the business it rang true for me and I responded to that passionately." His first opportunity was a large minority stake in the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. The team's owner was looking to sell to an out-of-town group, while the business community was looking for capital to keep the team local. Bennett, who had some holdings in San Antonio, made an investment that helped keep the team in town. He sold his share, however, when the Spurs started negotiations for a new arena. Bennett's out-of-towner status had been a sticking point in negotiations for public funding.

Bennett says his experience with the Spurs gave him a taste for team ownership that was further developed by his role in helping the New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocate to his hometown.

Now the $220 million-dollar question is this: Why would one of Oklahoma City's great civic advocates - a lifetime resident of that area, a man who led an effort last year to lure a major sports franchise to Oklahoma City - want to keep the Sonics in Western Washington? This is a man, after all, who has a suite on the 50-yard line of the Oklahoma Sooners football stadium - a stadium named after his wife's side of the family and whose in-laws own the state's largest daily paper, the Oklahoman. In short, the surname Gaylord, that of Bennett's late father-inlaw, whose net worth was some $2 billion in 2003, is nigh a household word in Oklahoma City.

But Bennett says he views "the investment as one in the NBA, an important, highly visible and growing global platform, not just a franchise." Where the team is located, Bennett seems to suggest, is less important in his investment goal than the asset itself. But he says the Pacific Northwest is a vital, dynamic and growing economy, making it an ideal place for the team. With those growth opportunities, Bennett feels there is both "the need and the opportunity to deliver a world-class, state-of-the-art, multipurpose arena" that will house enthusiastic support for the Sonics and "elevate the team to one of the NBA's premier franchises."