As rumors swirl about possible NBA expansion in the Emerald City, it’s worth remembering that the region is a hotbed for hoops.
It was bedlam. Unlike any moment the city had seen in more than a decade. When Kevin Durant, then playing for the reigning champion Golden State Warriors, came out onto the hardwood at KeyArena in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle on 5 October 2018, you couldn’t hear yourself shout in ecstasy. You could only hear the roar of the whole crowd, which included many Seattle luminaries, from Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to the rapper Macklemore, deafening and raucous all at once.
Why? Because Durant came out ahead of that preseason NBA game wearing a forest-green Shawn Kemp jersey, No 40. It was a reminder that the city has not had an NBA team since the SuperSonics left town for Oklahoma City (where they became the Thunder) in 2008.
