Latest news with #SuperSonics
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
SuperSonics fans feel no allegiance to the Thunder in these NBA Finals. Go Pacers, the scornful say
SEATTLE (AP) — It's logical to think someone like Danny Ball is a fair representation of Seattle these days. Ball, a hoops fan who runs an Instagram account called 'Iconic Sonics,' is pulling for the Indiana Pacers over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. There are no deep ties between Seattle and Indianapolis. The Seahawks play the Colts this December, so the cities will be foes that weekend. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever probably won't be warmly welcomed when they visit the Emerald City later this month to play the Seattle Storm. But right now, Seattle may as well be an Indy suburb. Seattle fans lost their NBA franchise, the SuperSonics, in 2008 when it was stolen from them and rebranded in Oklahoma City. For the scornful, that means one thing: Go Pacers. 'I'd love to see the Pacers pull it off in six games,' Ball said. The NBA Finals begin Thursday night. For some in Seattle, it'll be a heaping helping of fresh salt on the wounds that opened when the Sonics were taken away. And people like Ball, who grew up in Seattle hearing stories of Sonics legends like Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, aren't exactly rooting for Oklahoma City right now. The Thunder are heavy favorites to beat the Pacers. Should they pull it off, the Thunder would claim their first NBA title in Oklahoma City, but technically their second as a franchise after Seattle won the title in 1979. It's no secret the city wants the league to come back. Expansion is on the NBA's to-do list, and it's likely that talks — the first of many, many steps in this process — could start in earnest with interested cities in the next few months. Commissioner Adam Silver, however, hasn't fully committed to adding new teams. 'The issue I would not have anticipated at the time I sort of began talking about the timeline is how much unknown there is about local media right now,' Silver said earlier this year. 'Having said that, though, I would just say again to our many fans in Seattle, and I hear from them often, and the legacy of the Sonics is still very strong and it's a fantastic basketball market, is that we are very focused on it. … We don't take those fans for granted. We're thankful that the interest has remained over all these years.' Any mention of expansion sends fans into a tizzy. Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, spoke to the crowd before a preseason game in Seattle — his hometown — in 2023, and made a thinly veiled reference to how fans need to remind the league's New York office how much the city loves the game. 'All night long, it better be loud enough in this building to hear us all the way back in New York, if you get me,' Ballmer told the crowd. 'Let's make sure we're loud tonight.' And then came the Ballmer bellow: 'Go Seattle,' he screamed. It's something Seattle takes seriously, as Mayor Bruce Harrell learned earlier this year in his address to the city. 'Right now, at this moment, I have an announcement to make,' Harrell said, reaching into the lectern where he was standing and pulling out a basketball, spinning it in his hands as he displayed it to the crowd — which began roaring. 'Ah, I'm just kidding.' The crowd wasn't amused. Harrell later was interviewed by Seattle's KOMO News and apologized for the attempt at humor, getting reminded that residents of the city aren't happy that the NBA hasn't returned yet. 'Count me among them,' Harrell said. A very real void has been left in the SuperSonics' absence. The NHL's Seattle Kraken entering the fold has helped, as has the success of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, both of whom play at Climate Pledge Arena, which sits on the site of the SuperSonics' former home. That same arena received a significant remodel ahead of the Kraken arriving, which could make it suitable for NBA games. That would ultimately be up to the association to decide one day, but Ball hopes it would be the Sonics' former home in the Queen Anne neighborhood they get to triumphantly return to one day. 'A lot of Sonics fans that I know I'm sure never got over the wounds of what happened here 17 years ago with them leaving (for) Oklahoma City,' SuperSonics fan Eric Phan said. 'All of the Sonics fanbase (is) rooting for the Indiana Pacers.' Seattle seemed to have a chance at getting a team back in 2013 when the Maloof family put the Sacramento Kings up for sale. But investor Chris Hansen's bid to relocate the team to Seattle was rejected by the NBA's Board of Governors. For fans like Ball and Phan, hope lives on. Ball recognizes that's partially because he is an inherently positive person, and he's hoping for a Hollywood ending. 'It would be poetic if the year that OKC wins the finals — if that occurs — is in the same summer that the league comes out and says, 'Hey, we're forming an expansion committee to start really exploring this process,'' Ball said. 'I think that would help damper or therapize the feelings and emotions that would come along with seeing the Thunder hoist the Larry O'Brien.' Phan pointed out that just because the Sonics don't play in Seattle, it doesn't mean the team is truly gone. 'You can see people walking the sidewalks and streets of Seattle, and even the suburbs,' Phan said. 'People are wearing Sonics gear like they never really left.' ___ AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Oklahoma City contributed. ___ AP NBA:
USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Please stop using SuperSonics' history like it belongs to the Thunder
Please stop using SuperSonics' history like it belongs to the Thunder Excuse me, while I step on my soapbox about one of my least favorite technicalities in sports. (Ahem) Nothing about new reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Oklahoma City Thunder is even tangentially connected to the former Seattle SuperSonics. Not a single damn thing other than the fact that the Thunder used to reside in the Pacific Northwest hub before a hasty move to the Sooner State spurred by owner Clay Bennett's boundless greed for a shiny, new publicly-funded stadium. Not one thing. Note: To be clear, this is not a sanctimonious rant about Seattle losing its NBA team. That's a separate discussion altogether. So, as we get ready for these precocious Thunder to host the 2025 NBA Finals, here's my plea to any would-be sportswriters, sports announcers, social media editors, what have you. If the Thunder do wind up winning the title, and it sure looks like they probably will, please, PLEASE refer to this as the first championship in Thunder franchise history. In a just world, it should not be labelled as their "first title since 1979," which you may have heard a lot in recent weeks during the Thunder's playoff run. You know, 1979, a.k.a. when they were referred to as the SuperSonics ... in Seattle. Lenny Wilkens' and Dennis Johnson's champion 1979 SuperSonics are Seattle's history. Their lore belongs to the memories of Seattle fans, past, present, and future (maybe?). That should stay with them while these Thunder, who have now qualified for their second Finals appearance since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008, are allowed to write their own story with their passionate local fans charting all of their accomplishments to remember for years to come. Along those lines, it is frankly gross and disrespectful to the memory of the SuperSonics, all of their fans, and the Thunder, who, at this point, couldn't be any more distanced from their old city and supporters. I know this problem is born from a loose technicality where sports leagues like the NBA transfer over team history to franchises that skip town. It happened in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts when they became the Indianapolis Colts, and later when the Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens (before the Browns returned). It happened in MLB when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals. It'll also likely happen with the Athletics, assuming they ever actually do make a clean break from Oakland. Maybe it's an issue of deciding where to keep a franchise's extensive database when it moves cities. This feels solvable by no longer archiving that history for the new city or by suspending operations outright rather than continuing a charade. But I digress. Pretending a sports team's history stays with an organization when it uproots itself from a community doesn't sit right with me. Because that's not what this whole sports obsession thing is all about. No reasonable person from Oklahoma City watching Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. ruthlessly dismantle their competition even associates the Thunder with Seattle anymore. They are too far gone and have experienced too much success in a short time in their no-longer-new digs. The Thunder have their own moments of brilliance, heartbreak, and joy that exclusively belong to the people in Oklahoma now. And no reasonable person who reveled in the 1979 Sonics and the later glory days of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton in the 1990s can make a connection to the unrecognizable Oklahoma City version. It's not their jerseys, their arena, their players, or their team. It's not a pillar of their community. It just isn't. The Thunder and the SuperSonics, as we knew them, are two entirely separate entities with two entirely separate histories only merged together by one of the more painful happenings Seattle sports fans have ever experienced. That's it. Please, for my sanity and both of these fanbases' sakes, let's stop pretending any sort of connection remains.
New York Times
28-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Ex-Sonic Shawn Kemp facing possibility of jail time after pleading guilty to assault in 2023 shooting
Former Seattle SuperSonics forward Shawn Kemp pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree assault for shooting at two men in a vehicle in Tacoma, Wash., in 2023, according to Pierce County Superior Court records. Kemp, 55, was initially charged with first-degree assault, but prosecutors recently added the second-degree assault charge. Kemp reached a plea agreement to avoid trial, and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Howe recommended a nine-month jail sentence for Kemp, a year of supervision by the Department of Corrections and for Kemp to pay restitution. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 22. Advertisement On April 14, 2023, Kemp was charged with one count of assault in the first degree for his involvement in a shooting at a local shopping mall on March 8 of that year. Authorities initially arrested Kemp but did not charge him. One of Kemp's attorneys, Scott W. Boatman, previously said Kemp had multiple items, including his cell phone, stolen from his vehicle three days before the shooting. According to Boatman, Kemp tracked his phone to a vehicle in a mall parking lot. Kemp approached the vehicle to retrieve his stolen property when two men (Dajaun Jackson and Joshua Puente) shot at Kemp, who returned fire. The Tacoma Police Department said at the time that a car fled from the scene and a gun was recovered from a bush, which Kemp later admitted to having used and discarded. No injuries were reported. 'Shawn is committed to moving forward in a positive direction,' Tim Leary, Kemp's attorney, said in a statement to The Athletic on Wednesday. 'The Pierce County Prosecutor's Office presented him with an offer that allowed him to take responsibility, but also recognized the self-defense aspects of how this incident transpired. It was undisputed that Dajaun Jackson and Joshua Puente were in possession of Mr. Kemp's stolen property while driving a stolen vehicle. 'The agreement allows for Mr. Kemp to ask for a sentence of no jail time based upon the actions of Mr. Jackson and Mr. Puente.' Kemp spent the first eight seasons of his playing career in Seattle, where he became known for his highlight-reel dunks and helping lead the Sonics to the 1996 NBA Finals. He also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic across his 14-year career. He retired a six-time All-Star with 15,347 career points.
Reuters
28-05-2025
- General
- Reuters
Shawn Kemp pleads guilty to 2nd-degree assault in shooting incident
May 28 - Six-time NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp pleaded guilty on Tuesday to second-degree assault in relation to a shooting incident outside a Tacoma, Wash., mall in March 2023. According to reports, the prosecuting attorney suggested to the Pierce County Superior Court judge that Kemp be sentenced to nine months in jail plus a year of community custody while paying restitution to his victims. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 22. Kemp, 55, pleaded guilty to firing at two men in a Toyota 4Runner. Kemp testified he had his cell phone, sports memorabilia and other belongings stolen from his truck. He traced his phone to the Toyota 4Runner and accosted the driver without any resolution. Later, per his account, Kemp traced his phone to the Tacoma Mall and saw the same Toyota 4Runner. Though Kemp said he fired in self-defense after being targeted by someone in the car, a video showed Kemp started shooting as he emerged from his vehicle. Kemp's shots did not hit anyone, but they damaged the 4Runner and another car. Both of his alleged targets are currently in jail on unrelated charges. Kemp was selected by the SuperSonics in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft and spent the first eight of his 14 NBA seasons in Seattle. The "Reign Man" averaged 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game during his career. He made six consecutive All-Star appearances from 1993-98. --Field Level Media
Fox News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Former NBA star Shawn Kemp pleads guilty to Seattle area mall shooting
Shawn Kemp, who spent the majority of his NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics, entered a guilty plea in the 2023 shooting outside the Tacoma Mall in Washington state. The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office confirmed that Kemp admitted to second-degree assault in the incident. The six-time NBA All-Star initially faced charges for first-degree assault with a firearm. Prosecutors later tacked on a second count of first-degree assault and a charge of drive-by shooting. If he had been convicted on the original charges, the 55-year-old could have been up against a considerably longer prison sentence. Tacoma police received a call stating shots were fired from a passerby's vehicle in the parking lot of the Tacoma Mall, FOX 13 reported in March 2023. The former NBA center reportedly claimed property was stolen from his car and he tracked his iPhone to the Tacoma Mall. A source close to Kemp said when the retired NBA player approached the vehicle, a suspect shot at him, and he fired back in self-defense. Police said nobody was injured in the shooting. Two individuals inside the car remain in police custody on unrelated charges. Video of the incident was shared on social media. Some of the video footage appeared to contradict Kemp's account of the events in question. Kemp still faces the possibility of prison time. A second-degree assault in Washington carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 22. Kemp played in the NBA from 1989 to 2003. He was a first-round pick of the SuperSonics and played for the team until the 1996-97 season. Seattle played the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in the 1996 NBA Finals and lost in six games. Kemp later played with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic. He finished his career with a 14.6 points per game average along with 8.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
