On Friday night, the Los Angeles Clippers narrowly defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 101-99 in a preseason matchup. But in this game what mattered was not so much the “what” but 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 Pokémon, brought the NBA back to Seattle 16 years after the SuperSonics were abruptly 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 sellout crowd filled with 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 were wearing Sonics jerseys: those of Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and Kevin Durant. With five minutes left in the game, a “SuperSonics” chant was heard on one side of the arena. There were signs in the crowd asking 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 warm 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 received a loud ovation. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Washington Governor Jay Inslee were also in the building, demonstrating a show of state and city solidarity.
On 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. The three were dressed in Sonics gear at Sarah’s urging, even though they were rooting for the Trail Blazers, having “adopted” the team in the Sonics’ absence.
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 will continue to go to them until we get them back,” he said.
For many fans, players and coaches, bringing the NBA back to Seattle is a no-brainer. Several active players have said they favor giving Seattle an expansion bid, and Durant, who spent his rookie season with the Sonics before the move, is in favor of bringing the NBA back to the city.
Before the matchup, Clippers and Trail Blazers coaches Tyronn Lue and Chauncey Billups praised Seattle’s atmosphere and said they loved coming to Seattle as players. The two coaches also cited other Seattle 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 more sense.”
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Seattle-based Microsoft and a Seattle-area resident, shouted out the city in a pregame speech, 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 among those fans, decked out in their own Sonics gear on the concourse and eager for basketball to return to the area.
Manny, who grew up in Los Angeles and was a Clippers fan, said he wanted the NBA to come back to Seattle so it could become a regular part of his life, with games on Wednesdays and $25 tickets like he had when he was a kid. child. . When the Sonics left, he said, “I felt a void 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 are hoping the team will return, and he’s passing on his love of the Sonics to his kids.
“And what do we tell people about the Sonics?” Manny asked Elena, who was wearing a Payton t-shirt that went to her knees. With some prompting from her mother, Elena conveys the message: “Bring them back.”
Most fans weren’t here so much for the Clippers and Trail Blazers as for the return of NBA basketball to the city.
“We want basketball in our lives. We miss our team, so when there is a real basketball game in Seattle, people come,” Cathy Jiménez said before the game, while on the concourse with her husband Jacobo. They are long-time Sonics fans and purchased tickets earlier Friday after realizing the event was happening.
It was Jacobo’s first time, and Cathy’s second, inside the new Climate Pledge Arena, which was completed in 2021. The new arena successfully attracted an NHL expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, and was also built with the hope of attracting an NBA. extension offer.
The proposal to build a new stadium was one of the main sticking points that led the team to move, and now-Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett said the city needed to redo the stadium 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 relocate the team.
The Jiménezes agree that the stadium is “beautiful” and will serve for a future NBA team. But for now they will have to settle for watching teams from other cities.
“I like the sand and I really hope we don’t have to wait much longer to see our Sonics here, because that’s what I really want,” Jacobo said.
Friday’s game came down to the wire, and the Trail Blazers made a game-tying free throw with four seconds left. The arena shook when Kai Jones delivered a go-ahead dunk off a Jordan Miller alley-oop with just two seconds left, leading the Clippers to victory.
“It’s good to see it, it just tells you how much this city wants a basketball team and deserves it,” Lue said after the game. “They showed it to you again tonight.”
