**SEATTLE** — After 18 years without an NBA franchise, Seattle basketball fans received another major breakthrough Wednesday when commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that the league remains extremely interested in continuing to be interested in bringing the SuperSonics back.
The latest encouragement follows Silver's recent comments praising Seattle's arena, basketball tradition, and potential as an expansion market.
Unfortunately, none of those things currently constitutes an actual basketball team.
Seattle already has Climate Pledge Arena, an established fan base, prospective ownership groups, and decades of NBA history.
The only remaining obstacle is the NBA deciding whether any of that qualifies as sufficient evidence that Seattle should have an NBA team.
League officials have spent months evaluating expansion possibilities in Seattle and Las Vegas, with financial bids and ownership arrangements still under consideration.
The process has reportedly advanced from preliminary discussions to advanced discussions about when preliminary discussions might become official decisions.
Silver has emphasized that expansion is not guaranteed, with the league still considering adding zero, one, or two franchises.
Seattle fans have therefore been advised to remain cautiously optimistic, while also preparing emotionally for the possibility that 18 years of waiting could produce an official announcement that the waiting will continue.
The NBA insists it is conducting a thorough evaluation.
Seattle, meanwhile, has already completed the considerably more difficult task of constructing an arena, maintaining a basketball culture, and surviving nearly two decades of encouraging updates.
Silver remains optimistic that a decision could be reached by the end of 2026.
Seattle fans are cautiously optimistic that the decision will involve making a decision.
