SEATTLE — The Seattle Sonics’ return seems certain, but before the expansion, fans can take a walk down memory lane at the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI).
“Sonic Boom” is an opportunity for hoops fans to see some 5,000 pieces of memorabilia, hoping to entice the next generation of fans who may not have even been born when the team left.
All in anticipation of their return.
The exhibit opens at MOHAI on March 27. It will be a six-month installation featuring jerseys, trophies, and artifacts. It’ll even feature the 1996 Western Conference Championship Banner, which is currently too big to unroll.
“Literally everything I’ve touched…I’m not supposed to touch them. I didn’t touch them. I touched them with gloves on, okay?!” joked the exhibit’s curator, former Seattle Times writer Glenn Nelson.
“Everything I looked at, touched, sparked some kind of memory. Either from my childhood, because I grew up in Seattle, I grew up with the team. Or, the 17 years that I spent covering the Sonics. It’s been amazing,” Nelson reflected.
He told KIRO 7 that the coolest part of looking at all the gear is thinking about the personal interactions he had covering each of those players.
He also says this memorabilia never left the Pacific Northwest. It’s a collection that’s been stocked and is a testament to the history, as a new crop of fans waits for an inevitable return.
Meanwhile, the NBA expansion vote is expected by the end of the year, with a target of December. A Seattle expansion would be slated for the 2028-29 NBA season, alongside a new team in Las Vegas.
Fans clamoring for a taste of the departed franchise won’t have to wait for the league’s blessing.
The exhibit celebrates the Sonics’ 41 seasons in Seattle. And, while it’s been nearly two decades since the team left for Oklahoma City, Nelson is hoping that this display invites a new wave of fans.
“We’re guessing that most of the people, a lot of the people that come through here will not have been born between the time the team was here and left,” Nelson says. “So, it’s important to remember. But it’s important to remember because of the influence the team had on the city.”
Nelson has been immersed in putting the exhibit together, which runs from March to September next year.
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