Seattle has not had an NBA team to call theirs since the 2007-2008 season. The Supersonics left for Oklahoma City to become the Thunder and the city has been dying for a team ever since. The team left Seattle due to issues over financing for a new arena as the Key Arena was outdated and desperately needed an update. Despite the history that took place between Seattle and the now Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA sees a return to Seattle as a potential location for a future franchise.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had this to say,
“I don't want to put a precise timeline on it,” Silver said. “But it's inevitable at some point we'll start looking at growth of franchises. That's always been the case in this league, and Seattle will no doubt be on a short list of cities we'll look at.”
“Expansion is not something we’re looking at right now,” Silver continued. “It is less a function of labor peace, it more goes to the strength of a 30-team league. The initial question today was what do you feel about the competitive balance when two teams blew through the playoffs? From my standpoint, for the league, you want ultimately a league where 30 teams are in a position where they can ultimately compete for championships and also be economically viable. From an economic standpoint, we are doing better than we did historically, but we’re still not at a point where we have 30 teams that are profitable … at least in my last discussions with our owners on this, most of them said let’s keep focusing on the health of these 30 teams and the quality of the competition.”
The statement from Adam Silver should excite Seattle as they would absolutely love to have another NBA team, as they were considered one of the greatest fan bases in the NBA. Despite what took place prior to the franchise leaving for Oklahoma City, there may just be another Supersonics team one day. They just shouldn't hold their breath.
Follow Us
Subscribe