Commentary: On the heels of Caitlin Clark’s sold-out stop, is basketball in Seattle about to boom?

SEATTLE – The spotlight stayed on Caitlin Clark.

But Seattle was the story.

On Wednesday, this city served up a resounding reminder of its appetite for basketball, as a franchise-record 18,343 fans crammed Climate Pledge Arena. They crowded the concourses in Storm and Sonics jerseys, a chaotic parade of green and gold, to watch two teams with a combined record of 1-7.

To put it plainly: They came to see Clark – a prodigy whose logo 3s and swiveling swagger have captivated a country, whose age (22) matches the jersey number countless kids will replicate, whose 3,951 points in four unparalleled college seasons at Iowa are the most of any player, ever.

And in an 85-83 Storm win over the Indiana Fever, Clark did not disappoint, overcoming a slow start to post a team-high 21 points (including 16 in the second half).

But from my seat in the corner of Climate Pledge, I saw more than a shooting star. I saw a celebration of Seattle basketball, what it has been and can be. I saw proof of the possibilities. I saw Sonics great Detlef Schrempf sitting courtside and former Storm forward Gabby Williams grinning sheepishly while being broadcast on the video board. I saw a slew of Seahawks – who happily played second fiddle – toss T-shirts into the crowd.

I saw more than 18,000 drops of water in the wave.

“We’re going into our 17th season owning this team, and the first 15 probably, we did the work to get people here,” Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel told Times beat writer Percy Allen on Wednesday. “As we moved into this arena, you start to see the momentum from the city, and they get behind it, and we start to really fill this arena. Then you look at the nation and they’re starting to feel the same thing, like, ‘Hey, this is amazing to watch, amazing to experience, creating heroes out there.’ And then it just explodes.

“Now we just sit back and ride that wave, baby.”

Since the Sonics left town in 2008, similar waves have crested and crashed. In 2022, the Storm led the WNBA in average attendance (10,631), flocking to Climate Pledge Arena’s maiden flight and Sue Bird’s grand finale.

On Aug. 20, 2022, fans camped at Seattle Pacific University to see NBA stalwarts LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Paolo Banchero, Isaiah Thomas, etc., make cameos at The CrawsOver – Jamal Crawford’s Seattle summer Pro-Am – before the star-studded scrimmage succumbed to slippery floors in the second quarter.

On Oct. 5, 2018, a sold-out crowd of 17,074 similarly crammed KeyArena to hail the homecoming of Kevin Durant, who donned a throwback Shawn Kemp Sonics jersey while addressing his audience … then dropped 26 points in the Golden State Warriors’ preseason win over Sacramento.

On Feb. 3, 2018, UW guard Dominic Green gathered a loose ball and heaved a 22-foot three at the buzzer to give the Washington men’s basketball team a 78-75 win over No. 9 Arizona – inducing a sold-out crowd (capacity: 10,000) to storm the court at Hec Edmundson Pavilion for the first time since 2009.

And on Jan. 29, 2017, Seattle saluted UW standout Kelsey Plum – whose NCAA women’s scoring record was surpassed by Clark last season – with the program’s first sellout in school history, providing a boisterous backdrop for a 72-68 loss to Stanford.

The Sonics left, but the waves keep coming.

There was another one Wednesday.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be in Seattle, where they show up when we need them,” said reigning WNBA scoring champion Jewell Loyd, who outshined Clark with a team-high 32 points Wednesday. “It was nice to have that atmosphere here. We definitely needed it and used it for an advantage, for sure. But our fans always come out and support us. So we definitely appreciate it. But we’re going to have a lot of games like that.”

That’s the hope, at least.

While it’s unlikely Wednesday’s turnout – the largest attendance for a WNBA regular-season game since 2018 – will be routinely repeated, more waves are on the way. Clark and the Fever will be back in Seattle for another meeting next month, while fellow rookies like Los Angeles’ Cameron Brink and Chicago’s Angel Reese have also driven added interest. ESPN recently reported, “The Storm sold more tickets and made more ticket revenue during the preseason than they did in the entire 2023 season.”

Likewise, the league saw a 14% year-over-year spike in attendance in its first week of the season, according to the Associated Press. The WNBA’s first five games on ESPN networks averaged 1.43 million viewers, up 181% from its start last season and 226% from the 2023 average.

Whether these waves are sustainable remains to be seen.

But when Loyd said “we’re going to have a lot of games” like Wednesday night, that could apply to two teams. The Sonics’ return might (finally) be creeping closer, with an agreement for the NBA’s next national television package considered imminent. Once the league’s lucrative media deal is secured, expansion might be next – with Seattle and Las Vegas the rumored favorites to join the fray.

When asked Wednesday about the atmosphere inside a sold-out Climate Pledge Arena, Storm coach Noelle Quinn said: “To have an ability to put new eyes on the game and generate this magnetic energy that’s coming from basketball … I love it. I love that I was a part of it and hopefully we can keep it flowing.”

As the WNBA surges, a Sonics return teases and waves increasingly crash in Climate Pledge, Seattle might soon hit high tide.