Washington governor meets with Adam Silver about possible Seattle expansion
The NBA may want to continue doing business in Seattle. Certainly, former NBA great Gary Payton, who played for the Supersonics, wants it to happen. The same goes for former guard Isaiah Thomas.
on friday, it was announced that NBA commissioner Adam Silver met with Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson about the prospect of expanding the franchise, according to Tim Booth of the Seattle Times.
Both met via Zoom in what was only an introductory meeting.
“As a child, the governor grew up attending many Sonics games and Lenny Wilkens’ basketball camp. The governor recently reached out to Commissioner Adam Silver asking for an introductory meeting. They had a good conversation, and the governor offered to help,” Ferguson’s director of communications, Brionna Aho, said in a statement.
“Governor Ferguson initiated the invitation to introduce himself to Commissioner Silver and they had a good conversation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement Thursday.
All of this comes as the NBA looks to other markets.
“It’s no secret that we’re looking at this Las Vegas market. We’re looking at Seattle. We’ve been looking at other markets. I would say I want to be sensitive to that idea that we’re kind of teasing these markets, because I know we’ve been talking about it for a while,” Silver said in December.
The history of the Seattle SuperSonics is rich.
From 1967 to 2008, the Seattle Supersonics dominated the NBA. They put themselves on the map in 1979 when they won their first and only NBA championship.
In the 1990s, the Sonics took on a whole new dimension with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp. Their playing styles matched with their charisma endeared them to a large number of fans.
In 1996, they battled Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.
Unfortunately, they were unable to secure a new arena and in 2008 became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
2026-02-06 20:02:00
