Hall of Famer teases Kevin Durant’s return to SuperSonics, igniting excitement

There’s an alternate history where the city of Seattle never loses the SuperSonics, and in that scenario, Kevin Durant goes down as one of the most iconic athletes in Seattle professional sports history. Of course, this is not the version of events that we lived through. Instead, Durant played one just season in Seattle — winning Rookie of the Year in the process — before the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008. The next eight years of Durant’s career played out in OKC, and they included an NBA Finals appearance in 2012, three additional appearances in the Western Conference Finals, an MVP Award in 2014, and a stretch of five consecutive All-NBA 1st Team nods from 2010 to 2014.

And to think, all of that could’ve happened in the Emerald City, which would’ve easily put Durant in the running as the greatest SuperSonic of all-time. That list, as it stands now, includes players like Ray Allen, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Jack Sikma, Dale Ellis, and Spencer Haywood.

Spencer Haywood could easily be considered the first great Seattle SuperSonic. In his five seasons with Seattle, Haywood averaged 24.9 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, making four All-Star appearances and two top ten MVP finishes before he was traded to the New York Knicks in 1975. Even after being traded from the team, Haywood still has nothing but love for the city of Seattle. So much love, in fact, that he and Durant apparently have recently had conversations about NBA expansion and bringing the Sonics back to Seattle.

“Me and Durant are still talking about Seattle. We talked about it at the All-Star game,” Haywood told Jake Uitti of HoopsHype. “I can’t go any further – there’s some sneaky stuff going on that I can’t talk about because it’s private. But I wouldn’t be surprised if I see him in a Sonics uniform. I was with his mother at the All-Star game – with him and his mother, everybody. I’m just saying.”

This is a bit ambitious and slightly far-fetched to say the least. Durant is already 35 years old and has nearly 45,000 regular season and playoff minutes on his odometer. And while the NBA’s eventual expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle may be the league’s worst-kept secret, there’s still nothing imminent or confirmed on that front. Realistically, I can’t imagine the NBA expanding before the 2027-28 season, and at that point, KD would be 39 years old.

Durant has already voiced his interest in being a part of the ownership group that eventually brings professional basketball back to the Pacific Northwest, and I don’t doubt for a second that this would be in play. KD has big ambitions off the hardwood, and getting into the business of owning a professional sports team is never a bad idea.