The timing couldn’t have been any more serendipitous.
On the night when a handful of Sonics legends gathered in front of a small crowd for a ceremony honoring them and their former team, the NBA’s board of governors voted Wednesday morning to begin the process of exploring expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas.
“I’m ecstatic,” said former NBA great Xavier McDaniel, who played six years (1985-91) with the Sonics. “Very happy. It’s something that probably shouldn’t have never happened. The team should have never left and we shouldn’t even be at this point, but we are.
“Eighteen years later, the city of Seattle finally got their team back. I think everybody should be happy. I’m happy just being here and people remember what I did.”
Sam Perkins played for four teams during his 17-year NBA career, and his favorite memories are helping the Sonics advance to the 1996 NBA Finals.
“Seattle is a special place,” said Perkins, who spent six years (1992-98) with the Sonics. “It’s the culture thing for me. It’s the diversity, the music, the vibe, the people, the architecture, the mountains and the water. It was just a different feel from any other place I’ve been.
“Then you add the basketball piece to it and the great players that came through this franchise. Great players before me and after me, and I played with several great players too. So, that’s what’s been missing and I’m overjoyed that it looks like we’re finally getting all of that back.”
Sitting between McDaniel and Perkins at a news conference at Seattle Pacific University, Gary Payton was comparatively less enthusiastic than his former teammates.
“I wasn’t excited,” he said when asked about his reaction to Wednesday’s NBA news. “I wasn’t excited because I’ve known this for a long time. I know about everything. I’m with the NBA a lot. We knew this was coming. We knew once they announced two teams were coming, what was going on.
“I was excited for the fans because I know how long they’ve been waiting. How much they want this to happen. But me personally, I’ll be excited when they tell me we’re about to announce it for real and everything is done. We’re getting there, just not there yet.”
The 57-year-old Payton became a star in Seattle after the Sonics made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft. He played 13 years in the Emerald City and scored more points than anyone in franchise history when he left in 2003.
“When the team comes back, everybody comes back,” Payton said. “We’re going to have all of our legends back. They didn’t have a home for almost 20 years. That other team (the Oklahoma City Thunder) wasn’t home. Seattle is home. These fans (have) been waiting a long time and that’s why I say I’m excited for them.”
P.J. Carlesimo holds a special place in Sonics history.
On April 13, 2008, he coached the final game in Seattle for the city’s NBA team, which relocated to Oklahoma City three months later and changed its name to the Thunder.
“It never occurred to me that would be the last game,” said the raspy-voiced basketball analyst. “I mean, I really was blindsided. We always knew there was a possibility, but that was our first year here and we thought we’d be here minimum three years because of the lease.
“But it was like a perfect storm of bad decisions for us to lose the team at that point. It really didn’t occur to me that could have been our last game. I just didn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it until July. I remember vividly. I was out with my wife. It was our anniversary, and (former Sonics general manager and current Thunder executive vice president and GM) Sam (Presti) called up and goes, ‘Hey, we’re not just going to Orlando for the first couple days of summer league, we’re going to Oklahoma City. And I was like, ‘What are we going to Oklahoma City for?’ … Maybe I was naive.”
Luke Ridnour is one of eight players who played in the last Sonics game in Seattle, a 99-95 victory against the Dallas Mavericks.
He still remembers Seattle’s 19-year-old rookie Kevin Durant leading the non-sellout crowd of 16,272 in an earsplitting “Save Our Sonics” chant that included Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was one of two NBA owners — the other being Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen — who voted against the Sonics’ bid to relocate.
“It was just a little bit surreal,” Ridnour said. “Because we were losing the team, I think that’s probably why it wasn’t a sellout. I think everyone was so mad. They were kind of boycotting it, but at the same time, they wanted to watch the last game and be there.
“It was just kind of a tough moment for the city, for the players and everybody involved with it, just because of the Sonics and the legacy that they’ve had there in Seattle.”
Since they’ve been gone, the Seattle sports scene has shifted and a generation of fans has grown up without the Sonics.
“You see the kids wearing the No. 35 jerseys, and I know they have no idea of a young Kevin Durant playing for the Sonics,” Carlesimo said. “It’s sad is what it really is, because the older people still feel strong about the team.
“I mean, a week doesn’t go by, whether I’m at that market or pumping gas that somebody doesn’t (say) how they love the Sonics or they miss them, that old team. It’s just shocking at the time that’s gone by. We knew it was possible, but I didn’t expect it. And I never thought it would take this long to get a team back.”
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Former NBA star Jack Sikma, who helped the Sonics to a 1979 NBA title, believes the Seattle-area players in the NBA deserve credit for keeping the hoops passion vibrant without an NBA team in their backyard.
“Whether they’re from (the University of Washington), and Jamal Crawford comes to mind, but I do have to hand it to that generation of players,” Sikma said. “They kept basketball alive in Seattle. They gave back to the community, and particularly during the summer and the offseason. You could get a taste of NBA ball here thanks to them.”
After several failed attempts to land an NBA team in Seattle, admittedly former Sonics star Detlef Schrempf became a bit pessimistic and wondered if his old team would ever return.
“I think this is different,” said Schrempf, who played six years (1993-99) in Seattle. “When you think about the messaging the last eight years or so, it was always, ‘We’re thinking about it or we’re going to talk about it.’
“There was never any vote on actually, ‘Hey let’s pursue this.’ So, it’s not a done deal, but at least they’re willing to pursue it if it makes sense for the NBA, financially.
“We have a great argument that we have a basketball city. We have a great fan base. We have a history. We have everything in place from a great arena and great ownership. I feel positive about it. Is it going to happen tomorrow? No. There’s a lot of work to be done, for sure, but I think we’re on the right path.”
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.