What Adam Silver said

I know what I wanted…

Kevin Durant would come to half court and announce “The Sonics are coming back.”

Mayor Jenny Durkan would tweet from her seat, ”It’s true. #NBASEATTLE! #2022!”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would respond via Twitter, “Press Conference tomorrow: See you in 2022 @MayorJenny! #NBASEATTLE!”

Just like that, it would all be over and the conversation would change. Our path would become easy and all of the uncertainty erased…

But nobody expected it to go like that. We have all known intuitively, and been told repeatedly, that this process will continue to be slower and more difficult than anyone would like. All parties have been consistent that the answer regarding expansion is going to be “no” right up until the moment it becomes “yes.” Nobody is sugarcoating how far out that day may be or how difficult it is to acquire a coveted NBA franchise by expansion or other means.

Instead of focusing on the things that did not happen and fantasies we know won’t come true, perhaps Seattle is best served paying close attention to the clues we are given, especially when the speaker is NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, the most important person in this whole process.

Earlier this week on ESPN’s Wingo and Golic show, the commissioner reaffirmed everything we know about the schedule of expansion and scarcity of franchise opportunities.

He also said this:

“I love Seattle. Personally, I think it’s a great market. They are doing all the right things in terms of building a new arena, or revitalizing KeyArena.”

As our city has stumbled along a difficult road without any type of playbook or set plan, I’ve always hoped that the NBA would find a way to offer some type of guidance for our process. Brevity aside, I am thrilled at this very clear and unequivocal affirmation of recent actions. People who believe we are on the wrong path and have urged the city to alter its course should listen closely to the only voice that matters.

As of yesterday we are under construction and the commissioner has stated explicitly that we are doing “all the right things.”

That is enough for me.