As they say, “Elvis has left the building,” and the Sonics apparently left Seattle because they didn\u2019t have a suitable building at the time of their departure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So tonight, I turn to a different Elvis-ism in regard to the recent NBA news about a possible Sonics return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As his song goes, “It\u2019s now or never.”<\/p>\n
This week, the NBA\u2019s Board of Governors will formally vote on whether to explore expansion to the specific cities of Seattle and Las Vegas. 23 of 30 votes are needed to pass, and multiple reports expect it will, based on the momentum expansion has among the league\u2019s owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It means we\u2019re officially two votes away from a Sonics return to Seattle \u2013 a yes vote this week and then another yes vote on a formal bid later this year.<\/p>\n
But it also means that a “no” vote either time will officially break our hearts all over again \u2013 hence my statement, “It\u2019s now or never.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let me be clear: This city is ready to welcome the NBA back with open arms. The passion Sonics fans had will be reignited in an instant, and most people\u2019s reaction to this week\u2019s NBA news is a prime example of that. But either this specific effort results in a team, or count me out. For too long, we\u2019ve been strung along, from the failed effort to relocate the Sacramento Kings in 2013 to the last five years of delays upon delays. First it was the new labor deal, and then the new TV deal, and then the sale of the Celtics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So while I\u2019m incredibly excited that we\u2019re finally here, I hope the NBA and all parties involved understand that we can\u2019t take much more. Either this plan works, or don\u2019t bother stringing us along any further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, I understand that the current circumstances put even more pressure on a potential ownership group to find an exorbitant amount of money to make this work. I can\u2019t begin to imagine the challenge of meeting an asking price of at least six billion dollars for an expansion franchise, especially at the same time the Seahawks are seeking even more for new ownership themselves.<\/p>\n
And they\u2019re also having to do so in the midst of a new “Millionaires Tax” in this state \u2013 another potential hurdle which I\u2019m sure is one reason commissioner Adam Silver is meeting with governor Bob Ferguson and Seattle mayor Katie Wilson tomorrow.<\/p>\n
But my point is, while we\u2019ve never been able to control the timing, now is still our best chance. And either the league approves a vote this week, and a local group steps up with a suitable bid, and then the league approves that bid and brings the Sonics home, or I\u2019m done. Because fans here do not deserve any more emotional turmoil. They\u2019ve been hopeful and supportive long enough.<\/p>\n
To the NBA, an entire generation has passed now and we\u2019re still more than ready.<\/p>\n
But this time, it either happens, or don\u2019t tease us again.<\/p>\n
As Elvis said, it\u2019s now or never \u2013 our love will no longer wait.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sports<\/a>Sports Commentary<\/a>NBA<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As they say, “Elvis has left the building,” and the Sonics apparently left Seattle because they didn\u2019t have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85,162698],"class_list":["post-558491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-sports-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}