SEATTLE — Kevin Durant began his professional basketball career in Seattle and would like to one day be responsible in part for bringing the NBA back to the Emerald City.
While speaking at a CNBC event co-hosted by his media company "Boardroom," Durant spoke about his NBA ownership aspirations with Andrew Ross Sorkin. Rumors about Seattle being an NBA expansion city target continue to percolate, and Durant said he would be thrilled to own that new franchise.
"That would be cool for sure," Durant said on CNBC. "I mean in a perfect world, but I can't be, whatever opportunity comes up, hopefully, I can be part of something special. But, yeah, Seattle would be the ideal spot. They deserve to have a team there again and I would love to be a part of the NBA in that fashion."
Durant was drafted No. 2 overall by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2007 NBA Draft and played one season in the city before the team was purchased and relocated to Oklahoma City. Durant, now 34, is a member of the Phoenix Suns and has at least a few more years of elite play in him.
However, any possible NBA expansion reportedly is not going to even be broached by the league until a new media rights contract is ratified. Most expectations point to 2025 as the earliest that all could be finalized, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month that Seattle is among the options the league likely would consider if it did expand.
Durant did speak about another potential hold-up on the expansion timeline for Seattle. One or two more franchises in the NBA means the league's revenue is split more ways, decreasing the cash flow of each existing franchise slightly. That being said, the National Football League (NFL) and National Hockey League (NHL) have expanded to 32 teams and have remained successful.
The NHL in particular added franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle within the last decade, which leads many to believe those two cities are ideal choices for the NBA to expand. Whether they will happen one at a time or two teams at once remains to be seen.
KD is not the only current NBA player expressing a strong interest in owning a franchise following their playing career. LeBron James has been adamant about wanting to own an expansion franchise in Las Vegas when and if the league elects to add a team in Sin City.
Steph Curry recently told Buzzfeed that he would like to see Seattle get an NBA team once again, as he spent some time in the city as a child while his father, Dell, was playing in the league.
Durant is not alone in pursuing a potential Seattle franchise. The Oak View Group, which owns Climate Pledge Arena and the Seattle Kraken, likely would be a possible ownership group for an NBA franchise in the city. The group famously built a locker room in Climate Pledge Arena with NBA specifications, and it will host its second consecutive NBA preseason game in October.
Don't expect it to happen anytime in the next 12 months, but momentum continues to mount for Seattle to once again be home to an NBA franchise.
