NBA Legend Shawn Kemp Says Campaign to Bring SuperSonics Back to Seattle Won't Stop

An NBA team is almost certainly coming back to Seattle. At some point. Hopefully.

Shawn Kemp has no plans on resting until there's a formal announcement.

“We’re not going to stop with the process here until we get the actual Sonics back,” the six-time All-Star told Law Murray of The Athletic. “We want the Sonics back, because the people in this community deserves that.”

The NBA held a preseason game in Seattle between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. It was the first time the NBA held a game in Seattle since 2018.

There has been a constant clamoring for an NBA return to Seattle since the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 and became the Thunder. The Sonics are the only team with an NBA championship since the ABA-NBA merger to relocate.

Commissioner Adam Silver has been tight-lipped on the league's potential expansion plans. As rumors swirled over the summer regarding teams being added in Seattle and Las Vegas, Silver quickly halted optimism—at least for now.

“We are not discussing that at this time,” Silver told reporters in June. “As I’ve said before, at some point, this league will invariably expand, just not at this moment.”

Kemp played for the Sonics from 1989 to 1997, earning three All-NBA selections and helping lead the franchise to the 1996 NBA Finals. He and Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton have been at the forefront of the push behind the scenes to get an NBA team back in Seattle.