SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Jamal Crawford calls out the NBA for keeping Sonics on the bench
Mar 14, 2016, 12:20 PM | Updated: 4:15 pm
Years after the team's departure from Seattle, locals are still fans of the SuperSonics. (AP)
(AP)
While the Seattle City Council will be making a major decision soon about the future of basketball in Seattle, there is, at least, one NBA player working as a SuperSonics cheerleader.
Seattle native Jamal Crawford published an article titled “Bring Back the Sonics!” Monday on The Cauldron, calling his hometown a “premier basketball city” but that the “NBA doesn’t seem to be paying attention.”
Related: O’Neil: No plausible scenario for NHL or NBA to return to KeyArena
Crawford, who starred at Rainier Beach High School and currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, reminisced about playing in KeyArena and described how close he was to living out his dream as a SuperSonic.
I was playing for the Knicks in 2008 when Seattle’s relocation to Oklahoma City was made official. I remember being in total disbelief. Sure, there had been rumors that ownership might sell the team if it didn’t get a new arena, but I never thought it would actually happen. The fans in Seattle are too passionate, too loyal – and the team had just been to the NBA Finals in 1996.
It dawned on me immediately that I had already played my last professional game in the city of Seattle. It was an emotional moment, but mostly because it also sunk in that I’d never get a chance to actually suit up in a Sonics jersey. I just kind of took it for granted that my playing for the franchise was meant to be. At that point in my career, I had never even experienced free agency. There’s no doubt in my mind that I would’ve signed with Seattle had the team not relocated, but once again, it wasn’t meant to be.
Crawford pointed out that he’s had many NBA stars come to Seattle as part of his basketball Pro-Am, including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and John Wall. He said Griffin came away particularly impressed with the city.
“Even some NBA players have told me that they want Seattle to have a team again,” Crawford wrote. “Blake isn’t from Seattle, and had never played an NBA game there, but after his first time at the Pro-Am, he told me, ‘Wow, I love it here.'”
The Seattle City Council will hear the final public pitches for the $500 million Seattle Arena project at hearings Tuesday, deciding whether to vacate a one-block stretch of Occidental Avenue.
