If Sonics want history back, Seattle owes OKC Thunder an apology
· Yahoo Sports
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Well, it feels inevitable. The NBA will reportedly expand its league from 30 to 32 teams by the 2028-29 season. Markets vying to add a franchise shouldn't even bother submitting their resume. The league has already eyed Seattle and Las Vegas for the expansion teams.
This has been talked ad nauseam for years. But now the dream scenario feels closer to reality. The NBA will hold a board of governors meeting soon to decide on expansion. If that gets approved, expect those two markets to pay around $7-10 billion to join.
If Seattle returns to the NBA family, it will surely resurrect the Supersonics. Of course, the legendary franchise went extinct in 2008 when owner Clay Bennett relocated them to OKC. The controversial relocation included a rebrand as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The rest is history. Under Bennett, the Thunder have been an NBA powerhouse for nearly two decades. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have won a handful of MVP trophies there. They finally won an NBA championship in 2025.
If the Sonics are brought back, how do the Thunder address the giant elephant in the room? Of course, I'm talking about Seattle's NBA history from 1967 to 2007. Does OKC gift it back to Seattle, when it technically doesn't have to, when you look at the nitty-gritty of the original contract details?
Yeah. Sure. Might as well. Not like the Thunder acknowledges the Sonics' history even though they technically own it. But under one caveat — an apology.
For 18 years, Thunder fans have dealt with Sonics fans' bitter behavior. When an inconvenience happens to OKC, Seattleites are the first to celebrate with online parties. Angered over a dramatic divorce, that group of people is directing their emotions at the wrong group.
Sonics fans should really be mad at Howard Schultz and the previous group. After all, they're the ones who sold the NBA franchise to Bennett. Once that move was made, the writing was on the wall with an eventual relocation — especially since Seattle didn't want to pony up for a new NBA arena.
They weren't the ones who refused to accommodate an NBA team. They weren't the ones who sold the team to an out-of-state ownership group when local groups were interested. They weren't the ones who were gullible enough to believe an out-of-state ownership group had a real interest in staying put.
I digress. Feels like that should be water under the bridge soon. Seattle should get an NBA team by the end of the decade. But if they want their Sonics' history back, an apology is in order. That's what happens when you have nearly two decades of misguided anger.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: If Sonics want history back, Seattle owes OKC Thunder an apology