Rain City Showcase @ Climate Pledge Arena

Monday, Oct 3 •  7:30 pm

The last time an NBA game was played in Seattle was in 2018 when the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings played in a preseason match-up at the KeyArena (remember her?). To the crowd’s delight, Kevin Durant took the court for warmups adorned in a Sonics jersey, showing love to the city that had originally drafted him. A lot has changed in the world since that game in 2018, but one thing hasn’t… Seattle’s hunger for an NBA franchise.

Monday, October 3rd, the Los Angeles Clippers will host the Portland Trailblazers at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena in this 2022 NBA preseason game dubbed the “Rain City Showcase.” It will be the first NBA event since the former KeyArena was gutted and reconstructed as the home of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and NHL’s Seattle Kraken. The Seattle connection is significant between the two teams. The Paul G. Allen trust owns the Trailblazers—they also own the Seahawks—and Steve Ballmer, former head of Microsoft, owns the Clippers.

Ever since the NBA transformed (stole) the Seattle SuperSonics into the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, there’s been a desire to bring a franchise back to the Emerald City. According to reports, the league is expected to announce two new expansion teams once the NBA’s current media rights deal expires in 2024. Seattle and Las Vegas are the two expected locations. The SuperSonics should have never left Seattle. That’s a wrong the NBA needs to make right. Until then, get a taste of the NBA back in Seattle this fall.