Erik Spoelstra is from Portland. He grew up as a Trail Blazers fan, which means he absolutely could never bring himself to root for the Seattle SuperSonics.
But the idea of NBA games in Seattle again — about two decades after the SuperSonics were relocated to Oklahoma City — most certainly appeals to the Miami Heat coach.
Spoelstra’s reaction to Wednesday’s news that the league finally is going forward with formal exploration of expansion — and will be looking at Seattle and Las Vegas as the two candidate cities — largely mirrored the thoughts of many in the NBA.
He’s for it.
“It would be fun,” Spoelstra said Wednesday. “I think all the Pacific Northwest people were sad when it left. I loved the games there. I grew up disliking the Sonics very much because I was a Trail Blazer fan, but it was an awesome environment. It’s a city that can really rally around their team.”
Spoelstra wasn’t the only coach thinking that way on Wednesday.
San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson’s father, John Johnson, played for the SuperSonics and was part of their 1979 NBA title-winning team. He said it would “only take you one event or experience” in either Seattle or Las Vegas to realize why the NBA fits in both places.
“Obviously, my ties and history with Seattle are deep,” Mitch Johnson said. “It’s crazy that I now know a generation of kids that haven’t had an NBA team in their city when I had such an intimate relationship with that organization. … Adam Silver and his crew will do all the due diligence and do all the hard work, but I won’t be mad at adding a road trip to Seattle and Vegas.”
Added Becky Hammon, the coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces: “Well, long before the Aces were even here, you had UNLV and the Runnin’ Rebels. Going back to the ’80s, ’90s, Las Vegas has always been a basketball town. So, I have no doubt that the new franchise coming in is going do great.”
It’s not a guarantee that expansion will happen, and the earliest possible season for a new team, or teams, to be added is likely 2028-29. Still, just getting to this point is significant.
From the Las Vegas perspective, MGM Resorts CEO & President Bill Hornbuckle offered his thanks to the league’s owners for the vote.
“It’s only the first step, but it’s a big step,” Hornbuckle said. “A new team would be great for both locals and visitors, while creating jobs and providing a boost to the economy. … We would welcome the opportunity to work with the NBA on creating an unforgettable fan experience.”
And from the Seattle perspective, Tod Leiweke — the CEO of the NHL’s Kraken and someone who’ll also be CEO of One Roof Sports and Entertainment, which is in the process of becoming the majority owner of the city’s Climate Pledge Arena — said “the hardest part of this is now done.”
“We will put together a bid that has it all,” Leiweke said. “And I would say the most important thing in our bid is the ability to do it and do it well. And that’s going to be very important for the NBA if ultimately they push ahead and want to expand, they’re going to want to make sure that it’s done well, that there’s no drama, that there’s no slips, there’s no mistakes.”
The early returns certainly suggest that most current NBA players and coaches want to see expansion happen.
“I think we’re adding two good teams, two good markets,” Spoelstra said. “It’ll be a big positive for the league.”
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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson and Associated Press Writer Clay Bailey contributed to this report.