https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/shawn-kemp-seattle-supersonics It was more than 10,000 characters.....click on the link for the rest of the story.
It's ridiculous that a city with a basketball tradition like Seattle doesn't have an NBA team. The league's popularity keeps growing and the city of Seattle has an economic base that eclipses other markets. I do not get Adam Silver's reluctance to right the wrong that David Stern and Clay Bennett inflicted upon Seattle. I understand the "boogeyman" theory that Seattle exists to coerce other markets into building publicly-funded arenas while that scam is still possible. But are there any markets that have "outdated" arenas, and no firm commitment to the area, now that Milwaukee is opening a new gym? Utah is owned by a trust and Phoenix has deep roots. The only team I could see moving in the near future is New Orleans. Despite their playoff success this year, it's a team in an incredibly small, football-dominant market whose owner just died.
That was a good read. I grew up a Rockets fan but the Sonics were second. I even have a swingman Durant Sonics jersey. I hope to see a Sonics game in Seattle one day.
I can't imagine being a Rockets fan and liking the Sonics. They knocked us out of the playoffs repeatedly. I loathed that team.
Its pathetic how Howard Schultz just sold the team out of spite because the city wouldn't build him a new arena. Nowadays, sports teams are finally starting to have a hard time getting publicly funded stadiums and arenas but at the time, cities were just throwing money at these projects and Seattle had the stones to say no to him. And then like an angry child, he made it his mission to punish Seattle and went out of his way to sell the team to an ownership group that wouldn't commit to Seattle.
Imagine being a Blazers fan until Clyde was traded to Houston. I’m not sure if I hated the Sonics more as a Blazers fan or Rockets fan but they were good for the league and excellent rivals. The alley oop at 1:05 is prob my favorite all time. Most likely cause it was in the NBA on NBC commercial which I loved growing up. Nostalgia FTW.
Great shout outs to people like the X man and KC Jones. Solid piece of first person history and reflection.
Was someone trolling you with that Sonics jersey? Seems like an odd gift for a Rockets fan, lol My level of hate for the Sonics was just a notch below my hate for the Jazz. I honestly don't miss them at all
I don't remember, I think my go-to in NBA Jam was Payton/Kemp or something. I was fine with it, I enjoyed watching them play. They were fun. But after 96 I was done with it.
I absolutely despised the Sonics. They were that thorn in the Rockets' side throughout the 90s. They prevented a Bulls-Rockets Finals in 1993. They ended our run as 2-time champs in a sweep in 1996. And they pushed us to 7 games in 1997 which left little in the tank heading into the WCF against Utah. They also beat the Rockets in 1987 in the Semifinals, although I was only 9 years old at the time and didn't really follow the team. I suppose it would be cool to see the rivalry renewed if Seattle ever did get another franchise(and restored the Supersonics name). Although oddly enough, the Rockets have developed a decent rivalry with the team the Sonics went on to become in OKC. So their move wasn't a total loss.
Perhaps the most underappreciated region of the country for basketball fandom is the Pacific Northwest. Since the 1970s, Seattle and Portland have been bastions of basketball love, with each team winning a championship at the end of the decade. Since then, Portland has had competitive success matched by few teams, with a seemingly unending series of playoff appearances, an icon named to the original NBA Top 50 and the Dream Team, and a couple of Finals appearances. Seattle wasn't quite as successful, but they built one of the most exciting offenses of the 1990s, which may have only been stopped from championship glory by a shocking first round loss in 1994, another unexpected first round failure in 1995, and running into the greatest team ever in the Finals in 1996. Much love to the cities of Seattle and Portland. That said, f*** the Sonics, f*** anyone that ever rooted for them, and I hope you and your children never know what it is to have a hometown team ever again, in perpetuity throughout this universe and the next.
Even though I hated the Sonics growing up, I always thought the old jerseys and color scheme, along with the name, were the coolest in the NBA. Those fans were always crazy passionate about the Sonics, and Howard Schultz is a POS for selling the team to an even bigger POS in Clay Bennett. Perhaps the biggest POS is David Stern though, for basically being an accomplice to theft.
I still think the boogeyman theory has some credence; but the public's appetite for paying for new expensive arenas is drying up, quick. And Seattle will lose its interest in the NBA if they go too long without a team. One issue may be the symmetry of the league. Having 31 teams would screw up the lottery and the playoff races- especially because the West is already talent stacked. The only other city that is NBA viable besides Seattle is probably Mexico City and that has its own issues (increased tension between govts, exchange rates, security, players not wanting to go there)
I remember one night watching the Rockets in Seattle, and Calvin Murphy and Fred Brown just went mano a mano, each guy launching a three every possession, and seemingly hitting all of them. It was one of the most insane things I had ever seen.
League needs to expand into Seattle and Las Vegas, move Minnesota to the East, and go to 4 8-team divisions. Add 2 games to the schedule, play 4 games against teams in your division (28), 3 games against other division in conference (24), 2 games against teams in other conference (32). Midwest Division: Houston San Antonio Dallas New Orleans Oklahoma City Phoenix Denver Memphis Pacific Division: Las Vegas Golden State Portland Seattle Utah Sacramento LA Clips LA Lakers Central Division: Minnesota Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Indiana Toronto Atlanta Cleveland Atlantic Division: Orlando Miami Charlotte Washington Philadelphia New York Brooklyn Boston
A game in Seattle in the 90s was pretty much a loss. GP, Kemp, Hawkins, Perkins, Ellis, and Detlef were hard to guard
