The Sonics May Finally Be Returning
Around maybe 2000, I started subscribing to NBA League Pass, solely so I could watch Seattle SuperSonics games on TV. The games often didn’t start until about 9 p.m. local time for me, so that meant making a cup of coffee during pregame so that I could stay awake through the entire game. Bedtime often ended up being shortly before midnight.
This was around the time Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz purchased the team. By this point, the Sonics were sliding into being a more average team after their quality run through the 90s. Shawn Kemp had already been traded away, after being disgruntled over his contract, especially after the Sonics gave big money to Jim McIlvaine for some reason.
The Schultz era was, for the most part, more mediocrity. Team legend Gary Payton was traded away for Ray Allen, officially closing the book on the 90s era. While I got to enjoy one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, the Sonics never found the same magic they had in past years. Clearly, Schultz wasn’t finding owning the Sonics as lucrative as he would have liked, so he sold the franchise to an Oklahoma City-based group. That group then used the aging Key Arena as leverage to move the team to their backyard, which they did in 2008, taking 41 years of memories with them with no regrets.
Leading up to the team relocating, I didn’t want to believe it was actually going to happen. How could one of the marquee franchises in the league, one who was in a decently big and still growing market, pack their bags for a smaller market in Oklahoma? And who in the fuck wants to play in Oklahoma anyway? Nothing really against Oklahoma, but I’ll take the 206 any day. It’s more my vibe.
When the move actually happened, I was gutted. Sure, I could have followed the team to OKC, but I have no connection to the place like I do Western Washington. So, like many Sonics fans, I disowned the franchise and in a lot of ways, the NBA as a whole. Then commissioner David Stern was just as instrumental to the move as anyone. Only two owners voted against the move: Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen (who also owned the Seahawks) and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Every other owner saw it as an example of leverage for any future arena demands, since if they could actually move the Sonics, they could move anyone. And since the CEO of Starbucks had sold the team to these guys in the first place, yeah, fuck Starbucks too!
Shortly before the team moved, ownership started gutting all talent from the team, mostly in return for draft picks. We saw the first of those picks materialize in the Sonics final season in Seattle, with Kevin Durant being drafted second overall in the 2007 NBA Draft. Shortly before the move, Russell Westbrook was drafted by the team, donning Sonics colors on draft night and even playing in the NBA Summer League. Westbrook would never play at the Key. In a few years, we’d see all those draft picks materialize into a NBA Finals appearance, where thankfully the Miami Heat beat the Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals. OKC would finally win an NBA Championship this past season, one I couldn’t feel anything positive for. It sucks because the Thunder are actually a well ran franchise, one I would say is a blueprint for other franchises. But, I won’t feel right about the NBA until I finally have the Sonics back.
Maybe I can talk about this in a real way now. ESPN is reporting that “the league (NBA) is now barreling toward the addition of two teams, as ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that next week’s board of governors meeting will include a vote to explore adding Seattle and Las Vegas franchises beginning with the 2028–29 season.” That vote is to decide on if to move forward on accepting bids for a franchise. I can not fathom they’re having this vote if there wasn’t momentum towards voting the thing through.
After this, I get the sense it becomes a matter of when an ownership group arises in the Seattle area. I’ve heard for years the money and interest is there, including some from the existing Seattle Kraken ownership. Because of the Kraken, the future Sonics would have a world class arena from day one, in which a lack thereof was used as an excuse to move the original Sonics to an equally as average arena in a smaller market. Word has it, there’s already NBA-ready lockerrooms waiting for a future tenant.
This I do know, a new team in Seattle would be named the Seattle SuperSonics. This was part of the settlement then Seattle mayor Greg Nickels (fuck that guy!) made with the original Sonics ownership group led by Clay Bennett (also, fuck that guy too!). The Sonics name, colors, and anything concerning the 1979 NBA Championship and any conference and division titles are currently property of the city and would be released to a new franchise. They’ve all been in storage since 2008.
I’m also aware the OKC Thunder would hand over all team records from the Seattle days to a new Seattle franchise. So, finally, Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp and rightfully have their numbers retired in Seattle, something they refused to do in Oklahoma City. And finally I can play NBA2K with a proper All-Seattle Supersonics team instead of this mashed up Seattle/Oklahoma City thing I’m forced to live with.
The Sonics are still my favorite basketball team, even though they haven’t played since April of 2008. They’re basically a cult following at this point, with team apparel stores in the area still selling their gear from dedicated sections. Beyond this, Seattle is a hoops city. I mean, what else are you going to do during Seattle winters when it’s cold and wet outside but go inside and hoop? This is why the city has been home to NBA talents like Jamal Crawford, Doug Cristie, Brandon Roy, Martel Webster, and is still birthing talent like Paolo Banchero.
Sonics history is a fun one if you remove the last couple of years after the Bennett group bought the team. You have the 1970s squads that won in 1979 with Slick Watts, Jack Sikma, Downtown Freddy Brown, and Gus Williams. The 80s game us Xavier McDaniel, Michael Cage, Tom Chambers, and Ricky Pierce. Then of course, the 90s with Kemp, Payton, Detlef Schrempf, Nate McMillan, and Dana Barros. Then came the 2000s with Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Desmond Mason, and a host of shitty centers (iykyk). We had Squash swinging from the rafters and the sweet voice of Kevin Calabro. It’s memories like these that have kept this team embedded in my soul for all these years.
Now it feels more real than it’s ever been. It feels like a void might actually be filled in my sports loving heart. A small note, it’s possible Kevin Durant could be a free agent by the time the Sonics debut again in 2028. Gary Payton II, son of Sonics legend Gary Payton, has also expressed interest in playing in Seattle. Things could be very interesting heading into the Sonics’ rebirth. To be able to do it again without having to rob another city of their team and those attached memories is also a blessing.
