The NBA Board of Governors met on March 24 and 25 to discuss the expansion of teams in Seattle and Las Vegas. They decided that it was a good idea and that they could implement them in the 2028-29 season if someone buys the team for $7 to $10 million.
“I was jumping up and down in my house, texting my friends that they were coming back,” eighth grader Sebastien Wiggers said.
UPrep staff and students may be happy, but looking back on the moment when it was announced that the Sonics were leaving, science teacher Tom Strouse was enraged.
“Oh, I was so mad. Oh, I was so mad. It was one of the most irritating things you’ve ever seen,” Strouse said. “It was like a slow-motion train, where you knew it was gonna happen. There were a lot of people saying no, maybe this isn’t gonna happen. But everybody knew the second Howard Schultz sold that team to these Oklahoma people. We’re just like, ‘They’re going to take our team. They’re going to take them.’ Everybody knew it.”
Years later, fans are still sharing those same emotions.
“It was stupid that the owner made them go to Oklahoma City,” Wiggers said. “Nobody in the city wanted them to leave because everybody loved the Sonics. They need to come back.”
While some fans are still reminiscing on the loss, others, like seventh grader Hatcher Hughes, are turning their anger toward the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle SuperSonics).
“I call them the Joke-lahoma City Blunder,” Hughes said.
Strouse was on the same page as Hughes, letting out his anger on the team that once was the Sonics but is now Oklahoma’s team.
“I hate them because they took our team, but I also just don’t like them, their style of play. They’re floppers. Shai [Gilgeous Alexander] oh, he’s such a flop. He’s the worst, and he slows the game to a crawl,” Strouse said “It’s just not good basketball.”
NBA legend Kevin Durant had some of his best years in OKC, but he still respects Seattle.
“It’s about time Seattle gets basketball back, it’s been sorely missed in the Northwest,” Durant said, according to the official NBA website.