The Seattle SuperSonics nonetheless command consideration 16 years after the staff’s departure.
The names Detlef Schrempf, Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Kevin Durant proceed to resonate all through the town, a testomony to a basketball legacy that refuses to fade.
Seattle’s NBA goals have discovered new life since commissioner Adam Silver’s announcement confirming enlargement talks, the primary severe consideration for the reason that Charlotte Bobcats joined the league in 2004.
These rumblings have stirred deep feelings in a metropolis that’s yearned for skilled basketball since its staff grew to become the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder in 2008.
Former Sonics coach George Karl, who guided the staff to the 1996 NBA Finals, not too long ago captured this sentiment.
“There’s just too much karma that says put a team back in Seattle,” Karl mentioned, by way of The Athletic.
In September, NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned the league would tackle NBA enlargement sooner or later 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 devoted haven’t felt this inspired since 2013, when their bid to relocate the Sacramento Kings nearly succeeded.
Regardless of that setback by the hands of NBA governors following Sacramento’s possession stabilization, the present local weather feels completely 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 fashionable infrastructure and passionate fanbase, makes it a main candidate for enlargement.
As enlargement talks acquire 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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