On Friday night, the Los Angeles Clippers narrowly defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 101-99 in a preseason matchup. But for this game, what mattered was not so much the “what” as the “where.”
Friday marked the third edition of the Rain City Showcase, with the Clippers hosting a preseason game in Seattle. The game, sponsored by Pokemon, brought the NBA back to Seattle 16 years after the SuperSonics were suddenly moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For one night only, it was like the Sonics were back in town: Seattle packed Climate Pledge Arena, a sold-out crowd spotted wearing green and yellow (and Pikachu hats handed out as giveaways). Kids who weren’t even born when the Sonics were moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City wore Sonics jerseys – those of Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Kevin Durant. With five minutes left in the game, a chant of “SuperSonics” was heard on one side of the arena. Signs throughout the crowd called for the NBA to bring the team back.
The biggest cheers of the night had nothing to do with either team, but with the former Sonics in the building: a host of Sonics legends – Payton, Kemp, Detlef Schrempf, Dale Ellis, Rashard Lewis, George Karl, Sam Perkins, Luke Ridnour . , as well as former Sonics coach Lenny Wilkens — were at the game and received a hearty response from the crowd.
Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas and Brandon Roy rounded out a who’s who of Seattle basketball stars, and former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll also got a loud cheer of his own. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Washington Governor Jay Inslee were also in the building, showing solidarity from the state and the city.
At the concourse, Sarah Parks, a self-described “lifelong Sonics fan” who watched the team from the early ’90s until the move, was there with her mother and brother, Karen and Sam. All three were decked out in Sonics gear at Sarah’s urging, despite the fact that they supported the Trail Blazers, having “adopted” the team in the absence of the Sonics.
Sarah, who said she was “devastated” when the team was moved, has been to all three of these preseason games at Climate Pledge Arena. “I’m going to keep coming to them until we get them back,” she said.
For many fans, players and coaches alike, bringing the NBA back to Seattle is a no-brainer. Several active players said they are all for giving Seattle an expansion offer, with Durant, who spent his rookie season with the Sonics before the move, being to bring the NBA back to the city.
Before the matchup, Clippers and Trail Blazers coaches Tyronn Lue and Chauncey Billups both praised the Seattle environment, saying they loved coming to Seattle as players. The two coaches also cited Seattle’s other fan bases — the Seahawks, the Storm — as evidence of the city’s passion for sports.
“These fans are passionate, they understand the game of basketball, and we miss that,” Lue said.
“This is obviously a deserving city and market,” Billups said. “It makes the most sense.”
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of the Microsoft company in Seattle and a resident of the Seattle area, shouted the city in a speech before the game, saying that “Seattle has the best basketball fans in the world.”
Manny and Laura Ochoa, who were there with their children Quentin and Elena, were some of those fans, decked out in their own Sonics gear on the concourse and itching for basketball to come back to the area.
Manny, who grew up in LA and rooted for the Clippers, said he wanted the NBA back in Seattle so it could become a regular part of their lives, with games on Wednesdays and $25 nosebleed tickets like he had growing up. . When the Sonics left, he said, “I felt an emptiness in our hearts.”
Manny and Quentin went to last year’s Rain City Showcase, and decided to bring the rest of the family this year. Now, Manny and Laura hope the team will return — and he’s passing on a love of the Sonics to his kids.
“And what do we tell people about the Sonics?” Manny asked Elena, who was wearing a Payton jersey that went down to her knees. With some encouragement from her mother, Elena broadcasts the message: “Bring them back.”
Most fans weren’t so much here for the Clippers and Trail Blazers as for the return of NBA basketball in the city.
“We want basketball in our lives. We miss our team, so when a real basketball game happens in Seattle, people show up,” Cathy Jimenez said before the game, while running with her husband Jacobo. They are longtime Sonics fans, and they bought the tickets earlier Friday after realizing the event was happening.
It was Jacobo’s first time, and Cathy’s second, inside the brand new Climate Pledge Arena, which was completed in 2021. The new stadium successfully attracted an NHL expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, and was also built with the hope of attracting of NBA. expansion offer.
The proposal to build a new stadium was one of the major sticking points that led to the team being moved, with owner of the now-Oklahoma City Thunder Clay Bennett saying the city had to redo the arena to keep the team in Seattle. . But, the way Jacobo and many Seattle fans see it, that was just an excuse for Bennett and former NBA commissioner David Stern to move the team.
The Jimenezes agree that the stadium is “beautiful” and will serve well for a future NBA team. But for now, they’ll have to settle for watching the teams from other cities.
“I like the arena and I really hope we don’t have to wait too much longer to watch our Sonics here because that’s what I really want,” Jacobo said.
Friday’s game came down to the wire, with the Trail Blazers getting a game-tying free throw with four seconds left. The arena rocked when Kai Jones hit a layup dunk off an alley-oop by Jordan Miller with just two seconds left, leading the Clippers to the win.
“It’s just good to see, it just tells you how much this city wants a basketball team and they deserve it,” Lue said after the game. “They showed you that again tonight.”
