Commentary: The Sonics left 15 years ago today, the darkest day in Seattle sports history

SEATTLE – Like for everyone else on this planet, it has been more than a decade and a half since George Karl and Brian Robinson have seen a Sonics game. But the team’s former coach has partnered with perhaps the team’s biggest advocate to keep the memories of the former Seattle franchise fresh in locals’ minds.

They do this via the “Iconic Sonics” podcast, a show that reminisces on some of the great moments in the organization’s history and exists, essentially, for two reasons: 1) to entertain and 2) to make sure fans are as proud of the past as they will be pumped for the future should the Sonics return.

See, the announcement that the Sonics would be relocating to Oklahoma City came 15 years ago today. While acknowledging Russell Wilson’s interception from the 1 in Super Bowl XLIX, this was the biggest blow to the Seattle sports scene to date.

The team that won an NBA title in 1979, challenged Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the 1996 Finals, and introduced the likes of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp to the country were up and gone. There are a series of explanations as to why this took place – but none of them sit well with Karl.

“I still don’t have a good understanding on why the team ever left,” Karl said. “I’ve heard all the thoughts – my daughter works in the legislature and she tells me what happened there, and I hear what the league office says, and it just doesn’t seem like it should have happened. It seemed like it was just a couple angry people who said, ‘Screw it, we’re moving on.’ ”

It’s not quite that simple, as Karl himself acknowledges. The CliffsNotes of the CliffsNotes version is that Sonics owner Howard Schultz sold the team to Oklahoma City tycoon Clay Bennett, who moved the team to his native town after two years of drama that drained the emotions of Sonics die-hards.

Among them was Robinson, who co-founded Save Our Sonics and dedicated every fiber of his being to keeping the team in the Emerald City. Among his more salient memories is getting off a ferry in Whidbey Island two days after the relocation announcement to spend the Fourth of July with family members who treated him as if they were at a wake.

“It was like my spouse had just died,” Robinson said. “It was like I was getting ready to go to a big family party and everyone knew that I had just gotten a divorce or someone had died and everyone tiptoed around me.”

And yet, Robinson viewed the departure as somewhat of a “relief” – not because he wanted to see the Sonics go, but because years of fighting to keep them had finally reached a resolution and he could turn his focus to bringing them back. Soon.

Robinson initially used examples such as the Cleveland Browns and Charlotte Bobcats as reference points – cities that lost a franchise, only to see a team return (even if it was with a new name in Charlotte’s case) within three years.

That was in 2008, though. Now it’s 2023.

“I don’t think anybody felt like it was going to be 15 years” (and counting) said Robinson, a real-estate executive who has led and championed a number of groups to bring the Sonics back.

But he added that, given NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s recent comments about focusing on expansion after the media-rights deals are negotiated next year – and the fact that an NBA-ready venue is in place with Climate Pledge Arena – he is getting excited for “what seems like an inevitable return.”

We’ll see.

People such as Karl and Robinson seem to represent the majority of Seattle sports fans in wanting the Sonics back, but this columnist will acknowledge that his inbox still gets plenty of “good riddance” notes from locals who felt spurned. The general reading of the town, however, suggests that whatever adoration was heaped on the Kraken over the past couple years will pale in comparison to a successful Sonics squad.

“I believe in karma, and I think the loyalty of the fans have not only shown the league office but has shown the world that they want a team back here,” said Karl, who also coached the Cavs, Warriors, Bucks, Nuggets and Kings yet still wears a Sonics hat at least once a week. “I hope they’re right.”

July 2 has been a mournful day for Seattle sports fans for 15 years. And though that date will always sting to some extent around here, hope remains that an NBA announcement in the near future will alleviate all that pain.