Silver Linings Day, 2017

It's NBA All Star Weekend, and “Silver Linings” Day!

We are in the middle of NBA All Star weekend, but you wouldn't know it in Seattle. Nobody is in a Sonics jersey there representing Seattle on-court. There hasn't been since Kevin Durant. The celebrity game, Rising Star Challenge, might be something to turn on or, for most, turn off. The All Star Game on Sunday will draw greater attention yet lose many Seattle fans once we are reminded of how terrible the game is when nobody plays defense, and again no Sonics jersey representing Seattle.

The reality is that the game fans in Seattle pay most attention to now is called Silver Linings. This is an off-court game where Seattle fans hang on every word of every answer that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver gives in response to any question during his state of the game presser. This cloud of the NBA leaving the fans in Seattle still hangs over the league largely because the only way to get a team back has been due to fans like you. So, Adam Silver’s words matter to us, as much as anybody else.

Today will be no different from our end. As Chris Hansen said on the radio this week, we would likely know when he knows if the league plans to actually do something now that the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the players has been finalized. The players and owners got what they wanted; the fans are last. We are a distant 4th, or is that a persistent 4th?

I am your Silver Linings Fantasy Basketball League Commissioner

Is today the day the NBA makes right what they contributed in making wrong? Not likely. No matter what is said, Seattle still has two competing arena ideas: a right-now plan and a much-later (if at all) plan. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver could significantly change the focus and attention for the better here, and for a few other markets, by saying something, anything.

Here is the on-court schedule of events. The off-court Silver Linings game will be later this afternoon, 4-ish.

NBA All-Star oncourt festivities tip off Friday, Feb. 17, with the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, where the league’s top rookies and second-year players will compete in a U.S. versus World game format for the third consecutive year. On Saturday, Feb. 18, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will feature current NBA players showcasing their unique abilities in exciting basketball competitions, including the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, where participants compete head-to-head in a series of passing, shooting and agility drills; the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest; and Verizon Slam Dunk. The weekend concludes on Sunday, Feb. 19, with the NBA All-Star Game. NBA.com

Statement from the Silver Linings Fantasy League Commissioner

No matter how our game goes today, we have a couple things on the horizon. The City of Seattle will receive proposals to re-remodel KeyArena sometime in 2022. The Seattle City Council also has an opportunity to say yes to a privately-funded arena by voting (again) on the Occidental Street vacation to make the arena in Seattle’s Stadium District shovel-ready. Both of those actions are impediments to the NBA considering righting what went wrong in Seattle in July of 2008. No matter what Adam Silver says (or doesn't say) today, we are all waiting on the Seattle City Council and Mayor Ed Murray to do something. What would be helpful is if Adam Silver actually said something, anything.

The timing of what the SODO arena proponents do is rarely by accident. This past week they have submitted a revised proposal to the city, petitioned for a street vacation, met with anybody they think is potentially interested in a viable solution, and given many interviews. If you have a few minutes, you should listen to KJR’s Dave “Softy” Mahler interview Chris Hansen.

Mike Baker

Silver Linings Fantasy League Commissioner

Go Sonics!