Ralph Walter: Spokane’s distant NBA connections, and how future Seattle expansion – with a Stockton-like assist from Gonzaga basketball – could stir imaginations here

Although home to maybe the greatest point guard in the history of professional basketball, Spokane has never been known as an NBA city.

But with Seattle and Las Vegas looking like favorites to land new teams if and when the league finally decides to expand – with several reports suggesting it might happen by 2027 – the Lilac City could be on the verge of owning one of the NBA’s most passionate fan bases.

Why would a return of pro basketball to Seattle make any difference to a region that lost its lukewarm connection with the team the first time around?

Easy. Spokane – aka Hooptown USA – is literally a basketball hotbed now.

And as long as Gonzaga basketball remains among the nation’s elite college programs, and its players continue to dot NBA rosters across the country, Spokane fans will likely follow – especially if it means more chances to see ex-Zags in action.

With a little imagination, it’s not hard to envision several scenarios that could connect Spokane to the NBA like never before, from the obvious, to the plausible, to the absurd.

First, some history

Before Gonzaga legend John Stockton embarked on his 19-year Hall of Fame NBA journey, Spokane was probably more a hockey and baseball town than it was basketball.

The Seattle SuperSonics’ arrival to the NBA in 1967 introduced professional basketball to the Lilac City that November – a 119-105 loss to the Chicago Bulls at the Spokane Coliseum.

The team returned to Spokane on and off after that, including a game during Expo ’74. Playing without Spencer Haywood and “Downtown” Freddie Brown, the Sonics lost again to the Bulls before what The Spokesman-Review’s Harry Missildine called a “less-than-rapt” crowd of 5,737 at the Coliseum.

The city’s embrace of the Sonics – whose 41-year run in Seattle included an NBA title in 1979 and two other finals appearances – seemed to mirror that of the team’s performances on the court. If the Sonics soared, Spokane roared.

When the Spokane Arena played host to the Sonics and Stockton’s Utah Jazz for a preseason game in 1995, nearly 12,000 showed up to see the Supes – a team that featured Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp and eventually lost in six games to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.

In 2002, the first of six straight losing seasons for Seattle, a matchup between the Jazz and Sonics drew 9,464 fans to the Arena. A 2004 game against the Jazz drew just 4,507, the smallest Spokane crowd since 1991. By 2006, the last preseason game played in Spokane, 4,860 watched the Ray Allen-led Sonics beat Golden State.

We were classic bandwagoners.

NBA interest in Spokane took another blow when Stockton – who remains the league leader in career assists and steals – decided to call it quits in 2003.

Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison, a Mead High School alum coming off a 2006 season during which he led the nation in scoring, appeared to grab the local NBA baton from Stockton after getting drafted third by the Charlotte Bobcats. But a torn ACL in his left knee during a 2007 preseason game thwarted his NBA potential.

Then came the Sonics’ final demise in 2008. Two years earlier, then-NBA commissioner David Stern paved the way for owner, Starbucks founder and Grande Pumpkin Spice pushover Howard Schultz to sell the team to an Oklahoma-based huckster, err, businessman Clay Bennett with a vow to keep the Sonics in Seattle. When local taxpayers – already on the hook for new football and baseball stadiums – refused to fund a new basketball arena, Bennett – with Stern’s blessing – hightailed it to Oklahoma City where the Thunder, featuring young stars Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, rolled to the NBA Finals just four years later.

A new Sonic boom

At the very least, a new Seattle franchise would seem likely to return to Spokane every fall for a preseason game, and it’s a good bet local fans would be on board. Enthusiasm about having an NBA team again could be enough to keep fans happy until the team became competitive.

With so many former Gonzaga players in the league now – 11 on 11 different NBA rosters – it’s also not out of the question that Zag fans would find their way to Climate Pledge Arena to catch Chet Holmgren and OKC, Domantas Sabonis and Sacramento or Jalen Suggs and Orlando, even if the drive to Seattle can be a bit dicey during the winter months.

There’s even more potential for local NBA interest with Washington State basketball on the rise. The NBA features four ex-Cougs on rosters this season, led by Klay Thompson at Dallas.

Plus, every expansion comes with an expansion draft. In past drafts, teams could protect only eight players from its rosters, which could put former Zags like Kelly Olynyk in Toronto or Brandon Clarke in Memphis or even an aging star like Cougars legend Thompson in play for the new Sonics.

G League, anyone?

If expansion does happen, a Seattle franchise would need a G League affiliate where it could develop players.

Why not Spokane? Call them the SubSonics.

It’s easy to imagine a roster that includes Drew Timme, David Stockton, Jeremy Pargo, Admon Gilder and Malachi Smith. Why? Because all five former Zags played in G League games a season ago.

Of course, someone with deep pockets and a love of basketball would also need to imagine it to make it even remotely possible. Maybe a certain Hall of Fame point guard might be interested?

If so, a Gonzaga-heavy lineup – one that eventually could include on-the-cusp NBA talent like Graham Ike, Nolan Hickman, Ryan Nembhard or even an aging David Stockton – could pack the Spokane Arena with GU fans who can’t get into the Kennel and might settle for the next best thing.

Some Clay payback

Twenty years after swiping a Sonics team that featured the rookie Durant and a No. 4 draft pick that would become Westbrook, Bennett and his Thunder franchise will open a new arena in 2028.

A quick note about Bennett: Last winter, his OKC ownership group convinced voters to fund a $900 million arena, while announcing they’d pitch in just $50 million to help fund it – leaving taxpayers on the hook for nearly 95% percent of the tab.

Maybe being rid of this guy – even if he did take our NBA franchise – wasn’t such a bad thing after all. But it would still be fun to stick it to him.

That’s where commissioner Adam Silver comes in. With one bold stroke, Silver could get out of David Stern’s shadow while correcting one of Stern’s biggest mistakes as commissioner – allowing Bennett to take the team in the first place.

Let Bennett take the expansion franchise and build his own team to play in his new arena – that’s really all he wanted when he bought the Sonics anyway – and give Seattle its franchise back.

Think of it as a trade: a young Durant and Westbrook for Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On paper, that seems pretty fair.

Speaking of dream scenarios

It’s the summer of 2027, and our recently reacquired Sonics franchise, coming off an NBA title in OKC led by Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren, needs a coach.

The team could use a big name from the Northwest, someone with a stellar record, Hall of Fame credentials and an Olympic gold medal who might very well be an NCAA champion by then.

Mark Few will be 64 in 2027 and likely ready for one last challenge. What’s better than reuniting with Holmgren in the NBA.

And why stop there? Through trades – did we mention the Thunder roster is stocked with young talent and draft picks? – the Sonics can easily provide Few with some familiar faces.

With a few far-fetched deals and free-agent signings, you could put together a starting five of Sabonis, Holmgren, Julian Strawther, Gilgeous-Alexander and Suggs. Bring Olynyk, Zach Collins, Rui Hachimura, Clarke, Corey Kispert and Andrew Nembhard off the bench.

The New York Knicks were toying with a lineup featuring four Villanova players before trading Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota a few weeks ago. These Sonics could put that ‘Nova dream to shame and go nearly all-in with Zags.

And sure, we could trade Gileous-Alexander for Anton Watson.

But really, that’s just getting ridiculous.