LAS VEGAS, NV — The NBA is eyeing expansion in the United States, with markets like Seattle and Las Vegas at the forefront of those talks. Speaking at the NBA Cup, Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the league's outlook on expansion, which had guys like former Seattle SuperSonics great Gary Payton excited.
A nine-time NBA All-Star and Hall-of-Famer, Gary Payton played 13 of his 17 seasons with the SuperSonics franchise that was relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. He, alongside tens of thousands of fans in the Pacific Northwest, have been itching for NBA basketball to return to the region that's still as passionate as the day their team was taken away from them.
At the NBA Cup in Las Vegas, ClutchPoints spoke with Gary Payton, who said he's hopeful that the Seattle SuperSonics return soon.
“We're working on it,” Payton told ClutchPoints. “Adam Silver and the Board of Governors are doing a great job of trying to get an expansion team to come back. I'm very hopeful it'll be in the next couple years.”
In speaking at a press conference in Las Vegas during the NBA Cup, Silver says aside from the European basketball league the NBA is considering in partnership with FIBA, expansion in the United States is also a priority.
“I'd say in terms of domestic expansion, that is something we're continuing to look at,” Silver said. “Not a secret we're looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle. We've looked at other markets, as well. I'd say I want to be sensitive there about this notion that we're somehow teasing these markets, because I know we've been talking about it for a while.
“As I've said before, domestic expansion, as opposed to doing a new league in Europe, is selling equity in this current league. If you own 1/30 of this league, now you own 1/32 if you add two teams. So it's a much more difficult economic analysis. In many ways, it requires predicting the future.
“At the same time, I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities. Obviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. We've been playing the Summer League here for 20 years. We're playing our Cup games here, so we're very familiar with this market.
I don't have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team. I think now we're in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we'll make a determination.”
Payton remains convinced that the league will be back in Seattle sooner rather than later.
“We're coming back,” Payton said. “Don't worry about it. It's going to happen in my lifetime. They're going to have to do it because they're going to have to retire Detlef [Schrempf], Shawn [Kemp], and everybody's jerseys. We'll be alright.”
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Prior to a recent Houston Rockets game, ClutchPoints caught up with Jeff Green, who spent his rookie season with the Seattle SuperSonics.
“It's a basketball city,” Green told ClutchPoints. “They loved us. They were sad when we left. They supported us. They supported the years before. They supported even when they knew we were leaving. I think they are a city that's deserving of an NBA team. I know that they give great support. That's based off what you see with the Mariners and the Seahawks.
“Outside of the fans, just the city in general, I think it's an amazing city. I think for a lot of people it's far, but that city has everything you can ask for. The restaurants, the people are amazing. Great vibes. I really enjoyed the year that was spent there.”
The last season the Sonics played in Seattle was the 2007-08 season, which ended with Kevin Durant's go-ahead bucket against the Dallas Mavericks as fans serenaded Key Arena with, “Save Our Sonics!” chants for entire timeouts.
When you walk around the airport, you'll see no shortage of Sonics gear. And when you walk throughout the town, you'll still see murals of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp on the walls of businesses.
“I think it's the buzz of the organizations,” Jeff Green added. “It still lives on. It never died off. People still support whether or not they're there. They still have podcasts catered towards the Sonics. I did one a couple years ago and I still have friends that are involved in the movement of that organization as far as bringing them back. I'm not going to say I'm shocked that people still support because they still love their team. I think that's a good example of how much that team meant to that city.”
There's no expectation set on when the league will expand, but when it does, Seattle and Las Vegas are expected to be at the top of the list of becoming NBA cities.