Former Sonics owner Harold Schultz has declared in a declaration filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle that NBA Commissioner David Stern warned him that it would be "very expensive" to pursue a lawsuit seeking to return the team to Seattle from Oklahoma City, the Associated Press is reporting.

Schultz has sued to try to reverse his sale of the franchise to Clay Bennett, claiming the Oklahoma City businessman failed to follow through on a promise to negotiate in good faith to keep the team in Seattle.

Schultz said in his declaration that when he learned on June 23 of the potential settlement between the city of Seattle and the franchise, he told his lawyers that he could not support that settlement "because my primary objective was to secure an NBA team in Seattle, and that objective was not adequately insured by that settlement."

Schultz said that Stern tried to contact him on July 24, the first contact Stern had made since Schultz filed the suit, to find out why Schultz was not joining the settlement between the new Sonic owners and the City of Seattle.

Schultz said Stern told him "that if I did not join in the settlement ... I should realize that it will become very expensive for me and my partners, and he implied that I should reconsider my position."