SEATTLE – There’s nothing like fresh salmon, oysters, Alaskan halibut and local Dungeness crab in the Pacific Northwest. So, naturally, I ended up at Elliott’s Oyster House, a Seattle staple a few blocks from Pike Place Market and next to the Seattle Ferris Wheel overlooking the Puget Sound.
But the wait at Elliott was 40 minutes, and I had time to burn. I walked into a local gift shop to browse their selection. Space Needle keychain. Beech cheese. Coffee mugs with the Seattle skyline. Then I came across hats.
Despite Seattle being home to four-time WNBA champion Seattle Storm, the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks have won a Super Bowl in the past decade, MLB’s Seattle Mariners have ended the longest active drought in the Friday night playoffs after 20 years, and the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. debuted a year ago, it was the SuperSonics, a franchise that last played in Seattle in 2008 before being relocated and renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder, who dominated the scene.
“Seattle is a hoop town – it’s our sport,” former NBA lottery pick and Seattle native Spencer Hawes, who spent 10 seasons in the NBA from 2007-17, told The Athletic. I love the Seahawks. I mean, I’m as big a fan as anybody. But I always tell people at the end of the day, this is a basketball town.
For the first time since 2018, when the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings played at Key Arena, the NBA is returning to Seattle.