Leigh Burmesch contacted Sonics Rising last year on a project she was doing covering our very own Kris Brannon - aka “Sonics Guy”. She’s been gracious enough to share to final product with us here at Sonics Rising. What follows below are her project and story.
I wanted to tell a story of what it's like to lose your team. In 2015 I was a graduate student in a documentary storytelling class and trying to find a subject. I was basically looking for a superfan. I had only been living in Seattle for about a year but the loss of the Sonics was still palpable seven years after they left town and became the Oklahoma City Thunder. After a night of Googling combinations of vague nouns like "SuperSonics" and "fan,” I found Kris Brannon.
Of course, if you’ve been to a Seattle or Tacoma sporting event (or political event, or farmers market, or concert) in the last eight years, you already know Kris. He’s become a fixture in the Pacific Northwest, towering above the crowds (he’s 6’5”, 6’7” counting his afro), in head-to-toe Sonics gear, and advocating for the return of the Sonics to anyone who will listen.
I followed Kris around at a few of these events. For our first interview, we met at a University of Washington Husky tailgate. He was dressed in green and gold and carrying a handmade “Save Our Sonics” sign. People invited him into their tents to eat or just to talk about the Sonics and what's new in the fight to bring them back. Passersby gave him high-fives, handshakes, and thank-yous. Parents even pulled him aside so their kids could meet him. Kris has been going out to events like this for eight years. Eight years! He estimates he’s been to more than 4,000.
Over the nine weeks I spent making this film, it became evident to me that for Seattle's NBA fans, Kris keeps the dream of getting a team back alive.
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