Former, current NBA players sound off on NBA expansion as vote looms Marcus D. Smith, USA TODAYSun, March 22, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC 0 Former, current NBA players sound off on NBA expansion as vote looms It seems like a foregone conclusion that the NBA will lean toward adding more teams to its league. The league's board of governors will meet next week to further discuss an expansion to a 32league team and approve moving forward on bid offers for a future market in Las Vegas and returning to Seattle, according to ESPN.
Former, current NBA players sound off on NBA expansion as vote looms
Marcus D. Smith, USA TODAYSun, March 22, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC
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Former, current NBA players sound off on NBA expansion as vote looms
It seems like a foregone conclusion that the NBA will lean toward adding more teams to its league.
The league's board of governors will meet next week to further discuss an expansion to a 32-league team and approve moving forward on bid offers for a future market in Las Vegas and returning to Seattle, according to ESPN.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said during a February news conference that in the March meeting the league won't be officially voting, but "will likely come out of those meetings ready, prepared to take a next step in terms of potentially talking to interested parties."
"It doesn't have to be a two-team expansion. Frankly, it doesn't have to be any number of teams. I think the logical next move would be to say, all right, we've had those discussions internally, we've made decisions about cities to focus on and what the opportunity is, and now we've got to go out into the marketplace," Silver said. "I think that's probably the most important step, to find out who is potentially interested in owning a franchise in particular cities, what's the value of that franchise. There's some work to do in terms of potential conference realignment. That's the next step there."
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If passed, it potentially would bring NBA franchises to Las Vegas and back to Seattle, for the assumed return of the SuperSonics, starting in the 2028-29 season.
"I think in fairness to the cities, Seattle and Las Vegas in particular, I've been very clear I don't want to tease teams, I don't want to tease cities or mislead anyone," Silver said. "I think we wanted to get through collective bargaining, national television deals. We've done that, and now we've turned to it as a league."
The meeting is expected to take place March 24 or 25.
Although an official decision won't come until July, it gives reassurance to potential suitors and bidders that an NBA team could come to a city near them.
To make it happen, 23 of the 30 league owners would need to agree to add teams to the Association. Additionally, bids would cost anywhere between $7 and $10 billion per team, according to ESPN.
Seattle-raised NBA players building excitement
Just the thought of the possibility has brought excitement to many within the NBA community whom were raised in Seattle.
Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero was born and raised in Seattle. He was a five-star power forward out of O'Dea High School, which he led to a Class 3A state title as a sophomore.
Banchero was 5 years old when the team relocated to Oklahoma City. Although he has no recollection of Sonics basketball, he understands the magnitude of a return and what that'd do for the city.
"If that was to happen that would be a crazy experience just for me. I never got to watch the NBA in Seattle so I don't know what that's like but I know that the city loves basketball," Banchero told USA TODAY Sports. "Big basketball town, even when the NBA did leave, obviously I grew up in that culture. Everyone's been talking about it for going on 10 years about them coming back so if the NBA was to make that happen then I'm sure that the city would be really excited."
Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II, another Seattle native, already has his sights set on suiting up for the same franchise that drafted his dad, Gary Payton Sr., with the second pick of the 1990 NBA Draft.
"I would probably request a trade immediately," Payton said, joking with reporter Brian "Scoop B" Robinson. "Even though I love where I'm at, it's about being able to throw on that Sonics jersey before my career is over. I really hope they end up getting that done so I can go hoop for the hometown one time."
Playing NBA games in your hometown is special
There's a special feeling that comes with playing in your hometown as you see all your family members, old teammates and friends that you grew up with.
Memphis Grizzlies second-year guard Jaylen Wells still gets a joy out of going home to play the Sacramento Kings. The Grizzlies visited California's capital twice this season, winning both, most recently on Feb. 4 when Wells had nearly 100 people − fans, friends, you name it − waiting to greet him after the game.
"Never gets old man, just seeing familiar faces after a game. Can't complain," Wells, a Sacramento-native, told USA TODAY Sports. "It's fun. It kind of like, reminds me, kind of like a high school game where you kind of just know a lot of people in the crowd, so kind of just feels like a second home game."
Wells graduated from Folsom (Calif.) High School, where he averaged 26.3 points and 3.2 rebounds as a senior. He said he made some of his best memories in Sacramento at Folsom and at Sacramento Country Day School, a private, co-ed college preparatory school which has served pre-kindergarten to 12th graders since 1964.
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Whether he knows it or not, he's a hometown hero and a positive example to those who come from the same city, or even play on the same high school or AAU teams as he did growing up.
"I hope that's what I could be labeled as," Wells said. "I feel a lot of people kind of leave Sacramento to get the spotlight, so I was happy to be able to stay in Sacramento, go to Sacramento trainers and play on Sacramento teams just to make a name for myself in Sacramento instead of having to leave."
That homecoming feel that Wells gets at least twice a season is a feeling that Banchero would absolutely welcome given the opportunity.
Hypothetically, maybe in a venue in Uptown Seattle such as Climate Pledge Arena, in front of its capacity-filled 18,300 attendees who would be there to cheer on the SuperSonics but also show love to one of their many homegrown hoopers.
"For me to get to go back and play there one day, that would be a hell of an experience for me and my family. So if that was to happen I would definitely excited for that," Banchero told USA TODAY Sports.
SuperSonic significance in Seattle
If anyone knows how special the Sonics are to Seattle, it's Kings head coach Doug Christie.
Christie is born and raised in Seattle, having attended Rainier Beach High School after spending time in Longview, Washington. He saw the positive effects of the city's lone NBA championship in 1979, and he's seen the team leave for Oklahoma City in 2008.
He told USA TODAY Sports that he'd be "crazy excited" for the Sonics return.
"As a kid, growing up in the inner city of Seattle, that's what probably in many ways saved my life was the Sonics," Christie said. "Gus Williams and DJ [Dennis Johnson], and Jack Sikma and the '79 team that beat the Bullets. Like all of a sudden, you got hope that there's a greater capacity for your life than just what you're seeing everyday."
A city's sports team can have that affect. They breathe life and inspiration. Their presence allows some kid watching them to see a version of themselves they've never imagine.
It gives an opportunity for them dream. For the everyday working person to have a moment where they forget about the problems in their life but instead fraternize amongst fellow sports fans -alike.
"Those people in Seattle are rabid, they want a team," Christie told USA TODAY Sports. "There is everything that is built in there to make it happen. So I would be very excited, on top of the fact that, you know, Portland, Seattle, it just makes a lot of sense. A lot of money there. I would be super excited for that."
It's time that the NBA pays its debt to the city of Seattle and bring back the SuperSonics.
The team left after the city wouldn't renovate KeyArena or build an arena. The owner then decided to take the team to Oklahoma and rename them the Oklahoma City Thunder, taking their history with them in 2008.
The league pump faked the town with discussions of relocating the Kings to Seattle and rebranding them as the Sonics, however the vote was rightfully denied by the board of governors in 2013.
Years later, KeyArena is now Climate Pledge Arena and has since been redeveloped with private financing and reopened as of 2021.
It's one of the state-of-the-art facilities which house the four-time WNBA champion Seattle Storm and NHL's Seattle Kraken. The best part is it's co-owned by Seattle and a group known as Oak View Group.
Let bygones be bygones. Bring back Seattle's NBA team.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA expansion sparks thoughts from former and current NBA players
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: March 22, 2026 at 01:27PM on Source: RED MAG
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