5 Reasons Why Seattle Fans Are Owed an NBA Franchise

According the Salt Lake Tribune, Seattle is back on the NBA's radar as a potential landing spot for an NBA team. Provided that they can get the right arena and funding, David Sten is open to it. 

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David Stern is aware of a behind-the-scenes effort to bring an NBA team back to Seattle. But while the commissioner acknowledged one of the largest cities in the United States is a “great” destination for the league, the potential return of professional basketball to the Emerald City still comes down to two issues that played major roles in the Sonics’ move to Oklahoma City during 2008—funding and a new arena.

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That would be great for the city of Seattle and for the NBA. Here are five reasons why. 

So Gary Payton Can Have His Jersey Retired

Gary Payton was one of the great point guards it he history of the game. The only player in the history of the NBA with more points and more assists than Payton is Oscar Robertson. 

Yet Payton's jersey has still not been retired because Payton doesn't want his number retired by Oklahoma City, a city where he never played. 

One reason to move a team to Seattle is to retire Payton's jersey and let the other jerseys that were retired in Seattle stay in Seattle. 

It's Better Than Charlotte or New Orleans

The actual city is a better city to host a team than some of the other teams who have NBA teams right now. The Seattle area is the largest media market not within 1.5 hours from an NBA team right now. 

The Seattle area also draw support form other areas of the Northwest, including Alaska and Vancouver. That's a pretty huge market area that is going uncovered. 

Compared to areas like Charlotte or New Orleans, that's a big step up. 

Seattle Fans Have Supported Other Teams

Seattle fans are some of the most loyal and faithful, even for marginal, or even outright bad teams. It's a great sports town. 

Whether you're talking about the Seahawks or the Mariners, Seattle has established itself as a premier sports town that is deserving of an NBA team. 

Seattle Fans Supported the Supersonics

The Sonics didn't leave because of lack of fan support. Based on data from ESPN attendance reports, the Sonics were in the top 11 in terms of percent of fans attending the games in each of the five years before they were relocated. 

Don't think that this was a team losing as a result of the team not getting fan support. They more than got the support they needed. 

Seattle Got Jobbed in the Team Leaving in the First Place

This is nothing against the Oklahoma City players or their fans—they didn't have anything to do with it—but the fact is that the Bennett group, led by Clayton Bennett, apparently never intended to keep the team in Seattle when they bought the team. 

Legal wranglings aside, the Supersonic fans got jobbed. They deserve to have a team back.