Rain City Showcase gives Seattle Sonics fans hope for a return to the NBA – sooner rather than later

On Friday evening, the Los Angeles Clippers narrowly defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 101:99 in a preseason game. But this game was less about the “what” and more about the “where.”

The third edition of the Rain City Showcase took place on Friday, with the Clippers hosting a preseason game in Seattle. The Pokémon-sponsored game brought the NBA back to Seattle 16 years after the SuperSonics’ sudden move to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For one night only, it was like the Sonics were back in town: Seattle packed into Climate Pledge Arena, a sellout crowd with green and yellow patches (and Pikachu hats handed out as gifts). Kids who weren’t even born when the Sonics moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City wore Sonics jerseys – those of Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and Kevin Durant. Five minutes before the end of the game, the shout of “SuperSonics” rang out on one side of the arena. Signs throughout the audience called for the NBA to bring the team back.

The biggest cheer of the night had nothing to do with either team, but with the former Sonics in the building: A slew 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 in attendance at the game and received a warm reaction from the crowd.

Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas and Brandon Roy rounded out the who’s who of Seattle basketball stars, and former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll also received loud applause. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Washington Governor Jay Inslee were also in the building, demonstrating the solidarity of the state and the city.

Inside the hall, 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. All three wore Sonics gear at Sarah’s insistence, although they supported the Trail Blazers, having “adopted” the team in the Sonics’ absence.

Sarah, who said she was “devastated” when the team moved, attended all three preseason games at Climate Pledge Arena. “I will keep coming to them until we get them back,” she said.

For many fans, players and coaches alike, the return of the NBA to Seattle is a given. Several active players have said they are all in favor of making Seattle an expansion offer, with Durant, who spent his rookie season with the Sonics before the move, advocating for bringing the NBA back to the city.

Before the game, Clippers and Trail Blazers coaches Tyronn Lue and Chauncey Billups praised the Seattle environment and said they loved coming to Seattle as players. The two coaches also cited Seattle’s other fan bases — the Seahawks, the Storm — as evidence of the city’s passion for the sport.

“These fans are passionate, they understand the game of basketball, and we’re missing that,” Lue said.

“This is obviously a deserving city and a deserving market,” Billups said. “It makes the most sense.”

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Seattle-based Microsoft and a Seattle-area resident, appealed to the city in a pregame speech, saying, “Seattle has the best basketball fans in the world.”

Manny and Laura Ochoa, who were there with their children Quentin and Elena, were some of those fans who showed up at the venue in their own Sonics gear and couldn’t wait for basketball to return to the area.

Manny, who grew up in LA and rooted for the Clippers, said he wanted the NBA back in Seattle so it could become a regular part of their lives, with Wednesday games and $25 nosebleed tickets $ like he had as a child. When the Sonics left, he said, “I felt an emptiness in our hearts.”

Manny and Quentin attended the Rain City Showcase last year and decided to bring the rest of the family this year. Now Manny and Laura hope the team comes back – and he passes on the love of the Sonics to his children.

“So what do we tell people about the Sonics?” Manny asked Elena, who was wearing a Payton jersey that reached her knees. At her mother’s suggestion, Elena delivers the message: “Bring her back.”

Most fans were here not so much for the Clippers and Trail Blazers, but for the return of NBA basketball to the city.

“We want basketball in our lives. We miss our team, and when there’s a real basketball game in Seattle, people come,” said Cathy Jimenez before the game while in the hall with her husband Jacobo. They are long-time Sonics fans and bought the tickets on Friday after realizing the event was happening.

It was Jacobo’s and Cathy’s second time entering the brand new Climate Pledge Arena, completed in 2021. The new stadium successfully attracted an NHL expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, and was also built in hopes of attracting an NBA expansion bid.

The proposal to build a new stadium was one of the biggest sticking points that led to the team relocating. Clay Bennett, owner of the current Oklahoma City Thunder, said that the city needed to renovate the arena 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 move the team.

The Jimenezes agree that the stadium is “beautiful” and will serve a future NBA team well. But for now they will have to content themselves with watching other cities’ teams.

“I like the arena and I really hope we don’t have to wait too long to see our Sonics here because that’s what I really want,” Jacobo said.

Friday’s game came to an end when the Trail Blazers hit a game-winning free throw with four seconds left. The arena shook when Kai Jones gave the go-ahead shot after an alley-oop from Jordan Miller with just two seconds left, leading the Clippers to victory.

“It’s just nice to see, it just shows how much this city wants a basketball team and that they deserve it,” Lue said after the game. “They showed you that again tonight.”