Durant sporting the Sonics Shawn Kemp 40 ? comes out to massive ovation in Seattle pic.twitter.com/72T87uJiMB
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) October 6, 2018
You’d be hard pressed to find a veteran NBA player or coach who doesn’t have fond memories of the Seattle SuperSonics. Kevin Durant, who won Rookie of the Year with the SuperSonics in 2008, only had that one year in Seattle. But the memories have never faded.
Durant has publicly called for the NBA to bring a franchise back to Seattle, as has Steve Kerr. The last week has been filled with constant press about Seattle leading up to tonight’s Warriors-Sacramento Kings matchup in KeyArena. While the Warriors were not allowed to wear throwback Sonics jerseys, Durant obliged himself before the game when he addressed the Seattle crowd in a Shawn Kemp throwback jersey.
“First off, I want to give a shoutout to the Seattle Storm for holding it down and winning a championship,” Durant said.
He continued, thanking the Seattle fans.
“I know it’s been a rough 10 years,” Durant said. “The NBA is back in Seattle for tonight, hopefully it’s back forever soon… Thanks for the love.”
In 2013, there were talks of the Kings potentially moving to Seattle. The owners of the Kings, the Maloofs, had reportedly reached an agreement to sell the franchise to a Seattle-based ownership group led by Chris Hansen. Eventually, the plans fell through, but Durant and Kerr have re-stoked the flames of a potential Seattle franchise.
In attendance for the game were Gary Payton, Brandon Roy, Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, Sue Bird and others.