Washington Governor Bob Ferguson scheduled a last‑minute virtual meeting Thursday with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, a conversation that drew attention from longtime Seattle SuperSonics fans eager for the league’s possible return.
The meeting was set for 11:15 a.m., according to the governor’s public calendar. Ferguson’s office did not release details about the agenda, and officials cautioned against reading too much into the discussion.
In a statement, the governor’s office said Ferguson recently reached out to Silver to request an introductory meeting.
“As a kid, the governor grew up attending many Sonics games and attending the Lenny Wilkens basketball camp,” the statement said. “They had a good conversation, and the governor offered to be helpful.”
Seattle lost the SuperSonics in 2008, when the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. Since then, efforts to bring an NBA team back to the region have intensified, particularly after the opening of Climate Pledge Arena. The building is designed to be NBA‑ready and currently serves as home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.
NBA officials have repeatedly said expansion is not imminent but have acknowledged that the league is expected to revisit the issue in the coming years. Silver has publicly stated that cities such as Seattle and Las Vegas are frequently mentioned as potential expansion markets, though no formal timeline has been announced.
Governor Ferguson has publicly advocated for a return of the Sonics
What we do know is that Governor Ferguson is a basketball fan. And he’s an advocate for bringing an NBA team back to Seattle.
The SuperSonics reigned in Seattle from 1967 to 2008, before it was sold to an Oklahoma City-based ownership group and moved there. The team was rebranded as the Oklahoma City Thunder. Or, as salty Seattle fans call it, the Zombie Sonics.
Governor Ferguson mentioned bringing back the Sonics early in his campaign for governor in 2023, in a Facebook post:
“The NBA season starts tomorrow. As a former ‘Lenny Wilkens Basketball Camp Player of the Day,’ I plan to attend a Sonics game in Seattle as Governor. #BringBacktheSonics,” the then-Attorney General Ferguson stated.
The governor also helped unveil a statue of Lenny Wilkens, a former Sonics player and coach, last October.
Ferguson pushed for a Sonics return as recently as his State of the State address in January.
“I’m excited to announce that under the new Ferguson Administration, for the first time in State history, the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks won their divisions in the same year. That can’t be a coincidence,” Ferguson said. “And we know that our work in professional sports is not done until we bring the Seattle Super Sonics back home.”
Contributing: Jillian Raftery, KIRO Newsradio
Read more of Aaron Granillo’s stories here.