After nearly two decades of heartbreak, hope, and unwavering faith, Seattle stands on the precipice of something special. On Wednesday, the NBA Board of Governors will meet in New York to discuss expansion - and for the first time since the SuperSonics were ripped away in 2008, it feels real.
This is the comeback story sports was made for.
Katie Wilson, Seattle's mayor, released a statement Tuesday that captured what every Sonics fan has been feeling for 18 years. "Seattle is ready to welcome the Sonics home," Wilson said, according to KOMO News. "We never stopped being a basketball city, and the fans have never given up. You see it in our parks, in our schools, in packed gyms in every neighborhood, and in our Seattle Storm championships."
And here's the thing, folks - they actually did it. While other cities talked about wanting a team, Seattle built Climate Pledge Arena anyway. A world-class, state-of-the-art facility that's already home to the NHL's Kraken and the WNBA's championship Storm. They didn't wait for the NBA to come crawling back. They showed up ready.
The vote Wednesday is expected to advance a formal expansion process that could bring the league from 30 to 32 teams, with Seattle and Las Vegas as the primary targets. Samantha Holloway, owner of the Kraken, has positioned herself perfectly - she recently purchased a majority stake in Climate Pledge Arena and created One Roof Sports and Entertainment. Tod Leiweke, CEO of One Roof and a veteran of professional sports leadership, put it simply: "If you look at the stars, maybe they're aligning."
