Bring Back the Sonics! (And the Comets!)

I do feel for fans of the Connecticut Sun (and I have plenty of friends who are), who'll be losing their WNBA team after this upcoming season.  I also can't help but be excited by the news that the Sun are being sold and relocated to Houston, where the assumption is they'll become the reborn Comets.  The Houston Comets were the marquee franchise of the WNBA's early days, building a dynasty that won the first FOUR WNBA championships with Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson.  The original Comets, unfortunately, fell victim to financial trouble and were folded in 2008 when the WNBA couldn't find a new owner.

The Comets aren't the only former WNBA team returning.  The Portland Fire, who joined the WNBA as an expansion team in 2000, only to fold just two years later, have risen out of the ashes and will begin their second incarnation this season.  Ditto with Cleveland, which had the Rockers from 1997-2003 and will have its second WNBA team begin play in 2028 (the new team can't be called the "Rockers" since the WNBA no longer holds the trademark).  And Detroit, whose original WNBA team has relocated twice and is now the Dallas Wings, will be back in the WNBA fold in 2029.

None of those franchises are the Houston Comets, though.  The Detroit Shock did win three championships in their 12 seasons of existence, but their relocation to Tulsa wasn't met with the same type of disappointment as the original Comets' demise.  It's really felt like the WNBA has been missing something without them.  So, while upsetting for the fans in Connecticut, it's a great thing for the WNBA that one of their marquee original franchises will be back.

While not official yet, it wouldn't surprise anyone if they inherit the old Comets' history, basically picking up where the original left off 18 years ago.  We've seen it in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.  We've seen it in the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets, who reclaimed the original team's name and history when New Orleans rebranded as the Pelicans.  And we'll soon see it in the NBA again.

Another basketball team that left its city in 2008 is, presumably, about to be reborn.  I'm, of course, talking about the Seattle SuperSonics.  It's been nearly 20 years, and the scars are still real from the Sonics' relocation to Oklahoma City.  Most fans agree that it was an ill-advised move and have clamored for Seattle to get its NBA team back ever since.  And we're thisclose to it finally happening.

Later this week, the NBA is expected to vote on whether to approve expansion from 30 to 32 teams.  That will likely be merely a formality.  NBA expansion to 32 teams has been seen as inevitable for a while.  And they already know where they're putting the two new teams--Las Vegas and Seattle.

It's sort of funny if you think about it.  The NBA was the first league associated with Las Vegas.  When I was in grad school, we had a "Create a Franchise" project and my group did an NBA team.  We called it the "Las Vegas Rounders" (I came up with the name, thank you very much).  That was 20 years ago!  Then they had the NBA All*Star Game there in 2007, furthering the belief that it was just a matter of time.  Yet, the NBA still isn't in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, they've seen the NHL launch an expansion team in Las Vegas to phenomenal success.  Ditto with the Aces, who moved there from San Antonio in 2018 and have won three of the last four WNBA Finals.  Then the Raiders moved to Las Vegas, with the Oaklamento Athletics set to make their way to Sin City in 2028.  The common assumption was that the NBA would be the first major pro league to put a team in Las Vegas.  Instead, it'll be the last.

Likewise, it wasn't a matter of if Seattle would get its beloved Sonics (the city's first pro team) back.  It was a matter of when.  So, when the NBA made its inevitable move from 30 to 32, the cities were also inevitable.  It just so happens they're expanding into the same two cities the NHL added in the last decade.  And both markets make sense.  Hence no competition among cities for where the NBA will expand (as if the results of that "contest" wouldn't have been a foregone conclusion).

Las Vegas and the NBA are a perfect fit.  And it's already hosted its fair share of NBA action.  The Championship Game of the NBA Cup has been played at the Golden Knights' T-Mobile Arena since its inception.  Las Vegas is also the primary home of the NBA Summer League.  The league and the city have been interconnected for so long that it's hard to believe Las Vegas doesn't have its own NBA team.  Although, it looks like that will soon be changing.

For a change, though, Las Vegas won't be the headliner when the expansion franchises are approved and officially announced.  Seattle will be.  And it deserves to be.  Especially with the way the Sonics left and how it's been nearly two decades waiting for their return.  A return that finally seems oh-so-close to becoming a reality.  (Please make their first game at home against the Thunder!)

When they return, there's no doubt that the NBA's expansion franchise in Seattle, much like the WNBA's relocated franchise in Houston, will take the name of the city's original team.  The SuperSonics.  And with it, the Sonics' history and records will be returned to their rightful place (just like the Hornets' history and records were).  That was actually part of the deal when the Thunder moved to Oklahoma City.  When/if the NBA returned to Seattle, they'd hand over everything Sonics-related to the new team.

Although, there is one guy who isn't excited about the prospect of the Sonics returning.  There's a Thunder beat reporter who wrote an asinine article suggesting that, once the Sonics come back, Seattle fans should apologize for their "misguided anger" and actively rooting against Oklahoma City.  He also suggested that the Thunder could/should hold the Sonics' history hostage until then (even though, legally, they can't since it was literally part of the settlement...they don't even acknowledge the Sonics' NBA title as their own).  So, yeah, I wouldn't expect that apology anytime soon.  He should probably prepare himself for that chorus of "boo's" to be even louder for that first Sonics-Thunder game in Seattle, in fact.

Everybody else is beyond thrilled to see this wrong made right.  Basketball fans in Seattle had their team ripped away from them and have been waiting a generation for its return.  Which appears as if it's finally about to happen.  Las Vegas, welcome to the NBA.  More importantly, welcome back Sonics!  Back where you belong!