How Being an NBA Fan in Seattle Is Now Impossible

There is no getting around this. Ever since the NBA season has started in October, it's been impossible to get psyched up or pumped to watch an NBA game.

The cause?

Well, it's obviously the fact that the Sonics are gone. If you are a basketball fan living in Seattle, that personal connection with a team is gone.

Even if the Sonics sucked, we still had the rest of the NBA to be a fan of. But now, the Trailblazers, Mavericks, Lakers, Warriors, 76ers, Knicks, and every other NBA team will never play in Seattle again. Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Ray Allen will never play basketball in the city of Seattle again.

You kind of get sick of just seeing these teams and players on the television set. Every single basketball fan, young or old, and player or coach in Seattle will never again be able to see the professionals strut their stuff in person.

The weirdest feeling is seeing a local newscast with NBA highlights or seeing the NBA section in the Seattle Times. Who am I going to look up in the standings? No one. The Sonics are not going to be there. Whose statistics am I going to look up?  No one. No Sonics players are going to be there.

I actually miss seeing where Luke Ridnour ranked in assists per game. No joke.

I'm even starting to tune out NBA highlights during SportsCenter because there is no more looking forward to the slightest mention of the Seattle Supersonics.

The bad thing for the NBA is that a whole hell of a lot of other people in Seattle are feeling the exact same way I'm feeling right now. We may be "casual" NBA fans, but our level of involvement is at an all-time low. We won't buy merchandise, and we won't watch a lot of games on TV either.

The only NBA event I really even care about is the Dunk Contest. How about the playoffs? Those take way too long. As a sports fan, it stinks.

Do people even care if the Sonics come back or not? They have to come back. Or else I might end up completely shutting off the NBA.

At least the Huskies are doing good. Sigh.