There’s one piece of good news for Sonics fans this week
Sep 18, 2024, 4:25 PM | Updated: 4:32 pm
Ray Allen of the Seattle Sonics dunks against Indiana in 2006 at KeyArena. (Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
(Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
In general, this has not been the best eight days for Seattle sports fans hoping to see a Sonics franchise return to the NBA sooner rather than later.
WNBA awards expansion team to Portland that will play in ’26
Last week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver had a curious update about potential expansion, which he has long said would be explored after the league agreed to a new media rights deal (that happened this summer).
“We’re not quite ready,” Silver said during the annual Board of Governors meetings. “I know I’ve said this before, I think over time organizations should grow. It is appropriate. But it gets a bit complicated in terms of selling equity in the league, what that means for the existing television relationships, etc. What we’ve told interested parties is, ‘Thank you for your interest, we’ll be back to you.’”
On Tuesday, Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy talked to ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst, who explained it appears the commissioner has “applied the brakes a little bit” on expansion because the defending champion Boston Celtics are for sale, and the likely record figure the franchise is eventually sold for would reset the market for prospective ownership groups of potential expansion teams.
Yeah, after 16 years without NBA basketball in Seattle, Sonics fans are being asked to be just a little bit more patient so the league can extract as much money as possible at every juncture along the way. Cool.
More: Windhorst details latest on potential Seattle Sonics expansion
Right, you’re here for good news. Better get to that.
ESPN published an NBA expansion FAQ article on Tuesday (which the aforementioned Windhorst contributed to), and it included confirmation of an important piece of information for Sonics fans: if the NBA awards an expansion Sonics franchise, the team history that went along to Oklahoma City with the renamed Thunder before the 2008-09 season would reportedly come back to Seattle.
When the franchise moved, there was an agreement between the Thunder ownership and the city of Seattle that while the SuperSonics name and other associated trademarks would transfer to owners of a new NBA team in Seattle, there would be a “shared history” between the franchises – meaning Thunder records includes when the team was in Seattle. That would end if a new Sonics franchise is awarded to Seattle, according to ESPN.
The article reads: “Sources said that if a team were to return to Seattle, the Thunder would cede the Seattle history back to the SuperSonics – just as the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets reclaimed the Charlotte-era history of the New Orleans Pelicans when Charlotte switched from being the Bobcats to the Hornets in 2014.”
As ESPN points out, there have been signs this was always the case. There are no Sonics banners hanging in Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center, and Seattle stats are not included in the Thunder’s media guide.
So at least there’s that. Now if you wouldn’t mind hurrying up on that sale, Celtics, we’d sure appreciate it.
