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Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's tease of Sonics return a whiff

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Published  February 18, 2025 8:45pm PST
Sports
FOX 13 Seattle

Seattle mayor teases Sonics return

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell gave Sonics fans quite the tease during Tuesday's State of the City address.

The Brief

    • Mayor Bruce Harrell teased an announcement while pulling a basketball out from the podium at his State of the City address at Benaroya Hall.
    • Harrell quickly revealed that no announcement was coming, and he was merely joking with the maneuver.
    • While the NBA has mulled league expansion, no plans are yet in place as Seattle is in its 17th season without the SuperSonics.

SEATTLE - Mayor Bruce Harrell teased the potential return of the NBA and the Seattle SuperSonics in his State of the City address on Tuesday before revealing it was only a joke.

Harrell pulled a basketball out from behind his podium at Benaroya Hall and teased an announcement he was about to make. The implication was obvious to anyone hoping for the return of the NBA to Seattle.

But while spinning the ball in his hands, Harrell quickly revealed he was joking and no announcement was coming.

"This is a long speech. I had to break it up a little here," Harrell said with a laugh.

Bruce Harrell teases Sonics return

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell teases the return of the Sonics at his 2025 State of the City address.

The backstory:

The teasing remarks come after an NBA All-Star weekend that delivered nothing new about possible league expansion. Commissioner Adam Silver wasn't asked about expansion in a rather short availability with reporters this weekend in San Francisco.

While the belief remains high that Seattle will get a team when the NBA decides to begin expansion talks, there are several hurdles to clear before that becomes a reality.

The Boston Celtics are currently for sale and the NBA will want to get that transaction completed before looking to expand. Additionally, the value the Celtics are sold for will help set the bar for the expansion fees the league will command for franchises to join.

Additionally, Las Vegas – long rumored to be the city that will join Seattle in league expansion – is still in flux as plans for an arena built by the Oak View Group south of the Las Vegas Strip fell apart.

For basketball fans, the loss of the Sonics in 2008 remains a sore subject. It's already been 17 years since the team left for Oklahoma City and could reach 20 years before a team is back in green and gold in Seattle. 

The Source: Information in this story is from Mayor Bruce Harrell's State of the City address on Tuesday.

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