The NBA has been a 30-team league for 20 years now, with many thirsting for a shakeup to happen. With the league being more profitable than ever, 2 new franchises could massively boost the NBA’s appeal and allow everyone to make more money. An NBA team also provides a fantastic boost to the community it’s based in, as it creates jobs and opportunities for citizens.
One city that had an NBA team until 2008 was Seattle, whose SuperSonics were taken out of the city and relocated to Oklahoma City when there was an ownership change. Seattle has a proud history as an NBA city, with many current NBA players calling the city home like Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero.
Sami Presti is the current GM of the OKC Thunder, the team that owns the lineage of the SuperSonics, and believes the league office will most definitely be bringing an NBA team to the city once again.
Sam Presti on Seattle:
“They will have a basketball team again, and I think all of us here think that's a positive thing … It's a great place, great fans, and the arena that they've built there, it's spectacular. When it happens, it's going to be great.”
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) September 22, 2022
A Brief History Of Seattle In The NBA
The SuperSonics were established in 1967 in the city and had a 41-year run until the relocation in 2008. During that time, the Sonics were able to win 1 NBA Championship, which came in 1979. Outside that, they had a Finals appearance with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, but they couldn’t beat Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the Finals.
Their last season in Seattle left them with a lot of hope, as the team had just drafted Kevin Durant in the 2007 Draft and Russell Westbrook in the 2008 Draft. Those future MVPs would make their names under the OKC Thunder jersey and lead the franchise to the NBA Finals again.
A new Seattle team would interest KD, as there were mild rumors of KD looking to have an ownership role in a Seattle expansion franchise. An NBA team coming to Seattle seems to have become a matter of when and not if, so it’ll be exciting to see NBA basketball return to the city.
