It’s been 16 years already since the SuperSonics franchise left the city of Seattle and many former players and coaches have expressed their regret through time, as they always considered this to be an ideal destination for basketball’s biggest stage. One former athlete who hasn’t overcome this fact is Brent Barry.
The player left for San Antonio right after the Sonics’ demise, and wrote a poem to remember his days in Washington State just as he was preparing to meet his new teammates for training camp. “… and here I sit in my office space and think of my career And what to say to my two sons, did the team just disappear?,” it starts out.
“I played in KeyArena, I live on Queen Anne Hill. I played pinball at Shorty’s after games, and ate burgers at both Red Mills. I would have some chowder down at Dukes, and watch Sea Planes take their flight,” Barry wrote in his poem When it Rains after 5-long years wearing the SuperSonics’ jersey.
Since 2008, Seattle has been waiting, expecting an NBA franchise to return.
And now, with overtures of the first expansion since 2004, there is an overriding sentiment that the Emerald City is due.
Will the SuperSonics make a comeback?https://t.co/PaJ8vPejxO
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 16, 2024
Ever since that infamous year, the city has been waiting patiently for a franchise to return. Now that NBA commissioner Adam Silver has expressed the league’s intention of expanding once again, there is a sentiment around Seattle that they should earn this right once again.
“There’s just too much karma that says put a team back in Seattle,” said George Karl, who coached the club for six seasons back in the 90s, and even lead them to an NBA Finals appearance in 1996. “I don’t know more than anybody else, but my feeling is … that it can happen. It should happen.”
Another who has addressed the buzz around their potential to host another NBA franchise is Mayor Bruce Harrell, who has only encouraged their viability for expansion. Even though Silver has opened the doors to many destinations, he’s recognized Washington State’s capital as candidates.
“We need to make sure the decision-makers — the NBA commissioner, the administration and co-owners — realize this is a very attractive market, and we have the fan base,” Harrell expressed. “They sort of know it, but this was 2008 when we lost the team, and we have a whole new generation of people in town, so we need to assure them we have that kind of spirit.”
League commissioner Silver admitted he ‘would love’ Mexico City to earn a franchise but says US expansion is the main priority
The NBA hasn’t seen an expansion in decades, but speculation of it happening again has been confirmed by Adam Silver ever since the start of the year, when he admitted that it was on the league’s agenda for the upcoming seasons. Now that their intention is loud and clear, many cities from North America have been building up proposals.
During this year’s NBA match in Mexico City, the commissioner revealed that he would “love to have a team” in the Mexican capital, but eventually conceded by saying that this idea is still “many years off.”
Silver attended the press ahead of last week’s match between the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards at Arena CDMX, which meant the NBA’s 33rd contest in this country since 1992. Even though he recognized the possibility, he later said that it “would be more difficult to expand to Mexico City than it would be to expand to US cities that have very publicly sought NBA teams”.
“Being direct, it’s highly unlikely Mexico City would jump above US cities that are currently under consideration,” Adam added. “But at the same time, once we move into expansion mode and start looking at all the considerations that go with expansion, I think that would then allow us to have more of a template to understand whether a city like Mexico City would be suitable.”
