The Seattle SuperSonics nonetheless command consideration 16 years after the group’s departure.
The names Detlef Schrempf, Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Kevin Durant proceed to resonate all through town, a testomony to a basketball legacy that refuses to fade.
Seattle’s NBA desires have discovered new life since commissioner Adam Silver’s announcement confirming enlargement talks, the primary severe consideration because the Charlotte Bobcats joined the league in 2004.
These rumblings have stirred deep feelings in a metropolis that’s yearned for skilled basketball since its group turned the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder in 2008.
Former Sonics coach George Karl, who guided the group to the 1996 NBA Finals, just lately captured this sentiment.
“There’s simply an excessive amount of karma that claims put a group again in Seattle,” Karl stated, by way of The Athletic.
In September, NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated the league would deal with NBA enlargement in some unspecified time in the future this season.
The place does Seattle slot in these plans? Will the SuperSonics return?@jwquick with extra: https://t.co/PaJ8vPejxO pic.twitter.com/dynXuyHEqs
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 16, 2024
Seattle’s basketball trustworthy haven’t felt this inspired since 2013, when their bid to relocate the Sacramento Kings virtually succeeded.
Regardless of that setback by the hands of NBA governors following Sacramento’s possession stabilization, the present local weather feels totally different.
The items are falling into place. The league’s latest collective bargaining settlement, adopted by a contemporary media deal, has set the stage for enlargement.
Although nothing is official, the indicators are promising. Final month’s preseason conflict between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Path Blazers in Seattle wasn’t simply one other exhibition sport, it felt like a costume rehearsal for one thing larger.
Town’s wealthy NBA heritage, coupled with its trendy infrastructure and passionate fanbase, makes it a main candidate for enlargement.
As enlargement talks achieve momentum, the dream {of professional} basketball returning to the Emerald Metropolis could also be much less a query of if, and extra a matter of when.
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