"Sonics remain the last team to date in the NBA to win a playoff series with a losing regular season record. 1986–87 Seattle SuperSonics season The 1986–87 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 20th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association. Bernie Bickerstaff returned for his second season as head coach of the franchise and, despite a modest improvement over their previous season's 31–51 record, managed to clinch a spot in the playoffs, where they defeated the Dallas Mavericks in four games in the First Round, and then the Houston Rockets in six games in the Semifinals, reaching"
"SuperSonics from the Professional Basketball Club LLC in order to keep the team in Seattle. However, this initiative failed, and the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where they now play as the Oklahoma City Thunder. In June 2012, Ballmer was an investor in Chris R. Hansen's proposal to build a new arena in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle and bring the SuperSonics back to Seattle. On January 9, 2013, Ballmer and Hansen led a group of investors in an attempt to purchase the Sacramento Kings from the Maloof family and relocate them to Seattle for an estimated $650 million."
"2013 if certain conditions are met. The owners agreed to leave the SuperSonics name, logo and colors in Seattle for a possible future NBA franchise; however, the items would remain the property of the Oklahoma City team along with other ""assets,"" including championship banners and trophies. On September 3, 2008, the team name, logo, and colors for the Oklahoma City franchise were revealed to the public. The name ""Thunder"" was chosen due to Oklahoma being a frequent victim of powerful storms due to its location in Tornado Alley, and Oklahoma City housing the 45th Infantry Division, the Thunderbirds. The Thunder"
"included ""Energy"", ""Wind"", ""Marshalls"", ""Barons"", and ""Bison"". With a 28–2 vote by its Board of Governors, on April 18, 2008 the NBA had provided conditional approval for the franchise to move to Oklahoma City for the 2008–09 season provided the ownership could free themselves from the legal challenges that existed with the city of Seattle. On July 2, 2008, the city of Seattle reached an agreement to terminate the Sonics' lease and allow the team to relocate to Oklahoma City. Clay Bennett determined that as of July 3, 2008 the relocation of the now-defunct Seattle SuperSonics would commence. The team"
"April 18, 2008, the NBA Board of Governors approved the team's relocation to Oklahoma City by a 28–2 vote. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Paul Allen of the Portland Trail Blazers were the only ones against the move. On July 2, 2008, the City of Seattle and the Sonics' ownership reached a settlement that allowed the franchise to move to Oklahoma City. According to the settlement, items associated with the SuperSonics' history in Seattle, including trophies, banners, and retired jerseys, stayed in the city and were placed in the Museum of History and Industry. 2007–08 Seattle SuperSonics"
"their first Western Conference championship as the Thunder in the 2011–12 season, appearing in the NBA Finals for the fourth time in franchise history and first since 1996, when the team was based in Seattle. The Thunder's previous incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics, were formed in 1967. In their 41 seasons in Seattle, the SuperSonics compiled a () win–loss record in the regular season and went () in the playoffs. The franchise's titles include three Western Conference championships and one NBA title in 1979. In 2006, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sold the SuperSonics and its Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)"
"SuperSonics NBA franchise from relocating to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Nickels was also heavily criticized for the city's policy of not using salt for snow removal due to potential environmental concerns, which contributed to the city's congested traffic in December 2008 after one of the greatest snowfalls in the city since 1996. The Proposed replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and a tax on plastic bags at grocery stores were two key issues of the campaign. Joe Mallahan is a telecommunications executive, former Chicago community organizer and unsuccessful candidate in the 2009 Seattle mayoral election. In preliminary results in the August"
"was also home to a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise: the Seattle SuperSonics, who were the 1978–79 NBA champions. The SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2008–09 season. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held in Seattle twice, first at the Kingdome in 1979 and again at Safeco Field in 2001. The NBA All-Star Game was also held in Seattle twice: the first in 1974 at the Seattle Center Coliseum and the second in 1987 at the Kingdome. Seattle also boasts two collegiate sports teams based at the University of Washington and"
"be renamed the Seattle SuperSonics pending the approval of the sale and relocation by the NBA. On February 6, 2013, NBA Commissioner David Stern stated the Seattle ownership group had filed with the NBA for franchise relocation. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson fought the move, forming an ownership group led by Vivek Ranadive which wanted to keep the Kings in Sacramento. On May 16, 2013, the NBA Board of Governors met to vote on the move. The final vote was 22-8 in favor of the Kings staying in Sacramento. In 2000, AAA minor league baseball returned to Sacramento with the Sacramento"
"Katrina in New Orleans. The team was originally established as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team that joined the NBA for the . The SuperSonics moved in 2008 after a settlement was reached between the ownership group led by Clay Bennett and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington following a lawsuit. In Seattle, the SuperSonics qualified for the NBA playoffs 22 times, won their division six times, and won the 1979 NBA Championship. In Oklahoma City, the Thunder qualified for their first playoff berth during the 2009–10 season. They won their first division title as the Thunder in the 2010–11 season and"
"4, 2018, the NHL officially approved a franchise for Seattle, which will play at the arena starting in 2021. KeyArena was the home of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, WHL Seattle Totems and the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds. the Oklahoma City-based ownership group of the SuperSonics (Professional Basketball Club LLC) reached a settlement deal with the city of Seattle on July 2, releasing the team from the last two years of their lease with the city and allowing the team to relocate to Oklahoma City for the 2008–09 season. After forty-one seasons in Seattle (and Tacoma), the team became the Oklahoma City"
"on March 26, 2001. Heisley selected Memphis because it offered a better deal and had better local executive leadership than Louisville. Eventually, the NBA Board of Governors approved the team's plans to move to Memphis on July 4, 2001 and the team became the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2001–02 NBA season. The Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City after the 2007–08 NBA season. After failed efforts to persuade Washington state government officials to provide funding to update KeyArena, the SuperSonics' ownership group, led by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, sold the team to Professional Basketball Club LLC (PBC), an investment group"
"prior to the start of the 2016-17 NBA Season. In February 2013, they agreed to sell the Sacramento Kings to a group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, who promised to relocate the team to Seattle and rename them the Seattle SuperSonics. Kevin Johnson brought a group together led by Vivek Ranadive to keep the team in Sacramento. The local fan base rallied behind him in an effort to keep the team. The new ownership group was established and a deal struck with the city to build a new arena in downtown Sacramento. On May 15, 2013, the NBA"
"Katrina put Oklahoma City in position to become the temporary home. For two seasons, the team played 35 games annually at the Ford Center. On December 20, 2007, Cornett announced an initiative to renovate Ford Center in hopes of securing an NBA team. The initiative went to the voters of Oklahoma City on March 4, 2008 and passed by a 62% margin. On July 2, 2008, it became official that the NBA's SuperSonics franchise, headed by local businessman Clay Bennett, were relocating to Oklahoma City for the 2008–2009 season. Inspired by his own 42-pound weight loss, on December 31, 2007,"
"had previously appeared as the SuperSonics in 1996, where they lost to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. It also marked the Miami Heat's third appearance in the NBA Finals. The Heat previously appeared in 2006 and 2011, both times against the Dallas Mavericks. It was the first NBA Finals in 14 seasons that was not held in either the states of California or Texas; the 3 teams that won the previous 13 Western Conference titles the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs were eliminated by Oklahoma City in that order. The series began on June"
"first time since 1952, and the first time in the Kingdome, then home to the NBA SuperSonics as well as the MLB Mariners and NFL Seahawks. The Kingdome became the third domed multipurpose stadium, after the Astrodome and the Superdome, to host a Final Four. Three cities – East Rutherford, Memphis and Milwaukee – became host cities for the first time. East Rutherford, located between New York City and Newark, was the fourth site to host games in the New York metropolitan area. The Mid-South Coliseum and MECCA Arena would only host one time, with future games in Memphis held"
"SuperSonics. The Blazers started play in the 1970–71 NBA season, along with the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team was led by coach Rolland Todd, brought from the University of Nevada, and was based around Geoff Petrie, a first-round choice in the 1970 NBA draft out of Princeton University, and LeRoy Ellis, whom they acquired in the 1970 NBA Expansion Draft. In their first season, the Blazers finished with a 29–53 record, which was the best of the three new teams in the NBA. Petrie was named co-Rookie of the Year after averaging"
"league approval, it was announced on July 2, 2008 that the Sonics franchise would be relocating to Oklahoma City and would play at what was then the Ford Center. The agreement retires the ""SuperSonics"" moniker, color, and logos, possibly to be used by a future NBA team in Seattle. On September 2, 2008, the team announced they would be called the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder have been a playoff mainstay since arriving in Oklahoma. Chesapeake Energy Arena hosted playoff games every year between 2010 and 2014, as well as 2016. In 2012, the arena became host of the NBA"
"Sonicsgate Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team is a 2009 documentary film chronicling the history of the Seattle SuperSonics. The SuperSonics (also known as the Sonics) were a professional basketball franchise based in Seattle, Washington, that was a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Sonics played from 1967 until 2008, but relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and were renamed as the Thunder. ""Sonicsgate"" chronicles the SuperSonics move to Oklahoma City, focusing on the more scandalous corporate and political reasons why the Sonics left Seattle and became the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2008. The film contains interviews"
"a settlement agreement. The terms awarded the city $45 million to get out of the remaining lease at KeyArena, and would have provided an additional $30 million payment to Seattle in 2013 if certain conditions had been met. The owners agreed to leave the SuperSonics name, logo and colors in Seattle for a possible future NBA franchise; however, the items would remain the property of the Oklahoma City team along with other ""assets"", including championship banners and trophies. On September 3, 2008, the team name, logo, and colors for the Oklahoma City franchise were revealed to the public. The name"
"to the Mavericks playing just outside downtown Dallas at American Airlines Center. The remaining WNBA team, the Seattle Storm, was formerly the sister team of the now relocated SuperSonics but was sold to a Seattle-based group before the SuperSonics moved and become the Oklahoma City Thunder. The now defunct Charlotte Sting, Miami Sol, Portland Fire, Cleveland Rockers, Orlando Miracle, Houston Comets and Sacramento Monarchs were also sister teams of the Hornets, Heat, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, Magic, Rockets and Kings, respectively. The Utah Starzz were affiliated with the Jazz before relocating to San Antonio as the Silver Stars under the ownership"
"their father's alma mater, Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa. Nick Collison Nicholas John Collison (born October 26, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played his entire 15-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder franchise. He was drafted by the SuperSonics in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft and retired as a member of the Thunder in 2018. As a college player, Collison went to two Final Fours with the Kansas Jayhawks. Collison was born in Orange City, Iowa and grew up in Fort Dodge and Iowa"
"from Texas and forwards Carl Landry and Glen Davis in the second round. Davis and Landry were traded on draft day to the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets respectively. The SuperSonics kicked off a ten-game pre-season on October 9, with a 98–104 loss visiting the Sacramento Kings. Following a victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their next match three days later, the SuperSonics went on a 5-game losing streak before closing the exhibition tour with a victory against the Phoenix Suns in Vancouver, Canada. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green's regular season debuts were in doubt, since each player had"
"was sold to Chris Hansen, who intended to move the franchise to Seattle for the 2013–2014 NBA season and rename the team the Seattle SuperSonics. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson fought the move, forming an ownership group led by Vivek Ranadive to keep the Kings in Sacramento. On May 16, 2013, the NBA Board of Governors voted 22–8 to keep the Kings in Sacramento. Sacramento has two other professional teams. Sacramento Republic FC began play in April 2014 at Hughes Stadium before a sellout crowd of 20,231, setting a USL Pro regular-season single game attendance record. They now play in Papa"
"ownership group was reached, with the contingency that the NBA Board of Governors approve the deal. The Maloof family said in a statement that they had agreed to sell the team to a Seattle group led by investor Chris Hansen, but the deal was pending approval by the NBA Board of Governors. The sale would have been for 65% of the franchise and based upon a $525 million valuation, with the new owners expected to relocate the franchise to Seattle and utilize the SuperSonics name. The Maloofs would have had no ongoing stake in the team. On February 6, 2013,"
"Thunder and the owners agreed to leave the SuperSonics name, logo, and colors in Seattle for a possible future NBA franchise. The Thunderbirds, who had called the Seattle Center Coliseum and KeyArena home for 32 years, also left in 2008 for the ShoWare Center in Kent, a southeast suburb. KeyArena was the first publicly financed arena in the area to be fully supported by earned income from the building. Following the 2008 settlement with the SuperSonics after relocation to Oklahoma City, KeyArena finances were bolstered for several years by a settlement fund but the current level of activity and revenue"
"the Dallas Mavericks and Paul Allen of the Portland Trail Blazers voted against the move. The approval meant the Sonics would be allowed to move to Oklahoma City's Ford Center for the 2008–09 season after reaching a settlement with the city of Seattle. On July 2, 2008, a settlement was reached that allowed the team to move under certain conditions, including the ownership group's payment of $45 million to Seattle and the possibility of an additional $30 million by 2013 if a new team had not been awarded to the city. It was agreed that the SuperSonics' name would not"
"city $45 million immediately in exchange for breaking the lease, and an additional $30 million if Seattle was not given a replacement team in five years. According to the conditions of the settlement, the Sonics' name and colors could not be used by the team in Oklahoma City, but could be taken by a future team in Seattle, although no promises for a replacement team were given. The Oklahoma City team would retain the franchise history of the SuperSonics, which could be ""shared"" with any future NBA team in Seattle. The team moved to Oklahoma City immediately and announced it"
"the relocated team, currently performing as Rumble the Bison, the Thunder's mascot. Squatch Squatch (a derivation of Sasquatch) was the team mascot for the Seattle SuperSonics, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise formerly based in Seattle, Washington. Between his 1993 debut and the team's relocation to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 2008, Squatch appeared at more than 175 events annually, and was with the organization during their run to the 1996 NBA Finals. In 2007, Chris Ballew of the rock band The Presidents of the United States of America wrote and performed a song about the mascot. That same year, Squatch"
"Kansas City Soul The Kansas City Soul is an American basketball team who plays in the American Basketball Association professional league. Based in suburban Kansas City the team began play in the 2011-12 ABA season. The Soul play their home games at Grandview Christian School in Grandview, Missouri. Established in 2010 as the Missouri Rhythm, the team made it to the ABA Playoffs its first season, losing to the Conway Cyclones 146-114 in the first round. The Rhythm played host to the ABA All-Star Game on 19 April 2014. The team announced in May 2016 it was rebranding as the"
"the Seattle SuperSonics by Oklahoman Clay Bennett and his ownership group. His support for the surprising move from the nation's 14th-largest market to the 45th was questioned by many both in the public and media. Stern also led the NBA to intervene against a 2008 legal attempt by Howard Schultz to keep the team in Seattle. Additionally, leading up to and lasting throughout the 2010–11 season, Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver made a number of statements regarding the drafting of a new collective bargaining agreement for the 2011–2012 season. During the All-Star game in Los Angeles, an open meeting"
"2008. The team, however, could not move until it had settled a lawsuit filed by the city of Seattle, which was intended to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle for the remaining two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena. Following a court case, the city of Seattle settled with the ownership group of the SuperSonics on July 2, 2008, allowing the team to move to Oklahoma City immediately in exchange for terminating the final two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena. The Oklahoma City Thunder began playing in the 2008–09 season. The first outdoor game in the modern era"
"Other major sporting events include Thoroughbred and Quarter horse racing circuits at Remington Park and numerous horse shows and equine events that take place at the state fairgrounds each year. There are numerous golf courses and country clubs spread around the city in addition to tennis clubs and high school level sporting activities including the well known ""Polo Bowl"" between Casady School (Cyclones) and Heritage Hall School (Chargers). On July 2, 2008 the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Seattle SuperSonics franchise announced the team would relocate to Oklahoma City, and begin play at the city's sports arena (then known as the"