If it wasn't clear before, Clay Bennett sent a sharp message Thursday. The Sonics' majority owner is not interested in discussing KeyArena as an option as the team's long-term home in Seattle.

And in an equally curt response, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels indicated there's no point in the two sides meeting if Bennett is interested only in negotiating out of his KeyArena lease.

The dueling statements Thursday were in response to Nickels' suggestion at his weekly news conference Wednesday that KeyArena remained a viable solution for the Sonics to play in.

In a statement released by the Sonics, Bennett not only nixed KeyArena, he cast doubt over whether it would still be worth meeting with Nickels about keeping the team in Seattle because of the mayor's continued focus on "old unworkable concepts that are not acceptable."

Bennett reiterated that he's said from the day he bought the team a year ago that KeyArena was not an option, and that a new facility would be required to keep the team in Seattle.