SEATTLE — In Tuesday's State of the City address, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell declared that the city stands "at the ready" to resurrect the Supersonics, an NBA basketball team that left Seattle about 17 years ago.
"I'm ready to add another point to our 46 points of our Downtown Activation plan: bringing the Sonics back,” said Harrell to a cheering crowd.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently went on the record saying, “There’s great cities out there that want teams, and I think there’s enough great players in the world where we could fill two more teams."
Harrell wants to be sure Seattle is considered.
"NBA teams are already choosing to play preseason games right here," said Harrell in his address Tuesday. "And that’s a clear sign that Seattle Center and Climate Pledge Arena are ready for NBA action. We stand ready to do whatever it takes to bring back the green and gold, and we all know we’ve won championships here before, and we will again.”
To learn more about the interest in a Supersonics comeback, KING 5 visited Simply Seattle, a souvenir store on the waterfront.
"These guys here, I mean, that’s an epic era," said Paul Branham, assistant manager at Simply Seattle.
Get this: Branham said they sell more Supersonics merchandise than even Mariners or Seahawks merch.
"By a longshot," he told us. "When they left, no one wanted them to go.”
Bryan Cidborrero is one of those people. He happened to buy a Sonics tee shirt at the store while we were there Tuesday.
"I'm from LA, but I-- I’m a huge NBA fan," said Cidborrero.
He is not the only one.
They might be called the Seattle Supersonics, but they're loved by fans everywhere.
"I sell tons and tons of Supersonics gear every single day of the year because people just love it," said Branham.
Cidberrero said he has been actively engaged in conversations about potential expansion and which cities would be chosen.
"Vegas and Seattle, they are the top two places that are being spoken about," said Cidberrero.
Harrell is hoping a Seattle NBA team would attract tourism dollars from visitors like Cidborrero.
Cidberrero said he would return to Seattle if the Sonics do, too.
"I've never booked a flight or a ticket to go see another team other than the Lakers... but I would totally come in and see it.”
At this point, it's still speculation whether the comeback will really happen for Seattle.
In the coming months, KING 5 will monitor the situation closely and bring you the latest as we learn it.