Kevin Garnett Says His Dream Is to Bring Seattle SuperSonics Back to NBA
Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett spoke with Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press about a number of topics and said that his dream is to buy a team and re-form the Seattle SuperSonics, who left the Pacific Northwest in 2008 to become the Oklahoma City Thunder:
"If I have a dream, I would say that I would love to be able to go and buy the Seattle SuperSonics and reactivate the Seattle Northwest and get NBA loving back going into that area. I think it's needed and it's essential. Seattle was huge to our league. Not just Portland, but the whole northwest. I would love to be able to do that."
Garnett had plenty of battles with the Sonics during his NBA career, which began in 1995. KG's Timberwolves even met Gary Payton's team in the first round of the 1998 playoffs, losing in five games.
A Seattle NBA team could conceivably share the New Arena at Seattle Center with the expansion NHL team that's set to begin play in 2021.
But Dan Shafer of Seattle Business cautioned in January 2019 that Seattle was unlikely to get an NBA team any time soon, noting that commissioner Adam Silver was not in favor of expansion at that time and that there wasn't an obvious relocation candidate among the league's 30 franchises.
Still, Seattle is a passionate sports town, as evidenced by raucous booing of WWE wrestler Elias when he took a shot at the Sonics' leaving:
The team didn't leave town because of lack of fan interest or poor attendance. The team was still popular in the 2000s despite the Payton and Shawn Kemp era being long gone, especially with Kevin Durant in town.
But Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett bought the team from Starbucks founder Howard Schultz in 2006 and moved it to OKC two years later. A dispute over a potential new arena in Seattle was at the heart of the decision, and Bennett reached a $75 million settlement with the city to break its lease on Key Arena.
NBA basketball could certainly work in Seattle, although some logistics may be hard to hurdle. Still, Garnett at least recognizes how important basketball was to fans in that city, perhaps leaving a glimmer of hope for a return someday.
