Russell Wilson Wants To Help Bring The Sonics Back to Seattle

Anna Wilson, Kevin Durant, Russell Wilson
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It’s been seven years since the Zombie Sonics shambled their way south from the Emerald City, but that hasn’t stopped several prominent Seattle sports figures from publicly proclaiming their intention to help bring the NBA back to the basketball-starved city.

One of those figures is Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson who, along with Richard Sherman, has voiced his support for such a venture. SI.com caught wind of this Tweet from Saturday.

Seattle, recall, lost their NBA franchise back in 2008 after the Sonics ownership group failed to secure funding for the crumbling KeyArena, which was at the time the smallest venue in the league and hadn’t been upgraded since the mid-90s. They eventually sold the team to an ownership committee led by Oklahoma City financier Clay Bennett, who, after a nasty legal imbroglio, was able to convince to the city to accept an early buyout on the building’s lease, which was originally set through 2010.

Last summer, an ownership group led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen made a bid to buy the Sacramento Kings and relocate them to Seattle, but that bid was ultimately rejected by the NBA’s Board of Governors.

The future of the NBA in Seattle remains unclear. For now, they’ll have to be content with Jamal Crawford’s always entertaining Seattle Pro-Am, which returns this summer.

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