Adam Silver Faces Fan Fury Over 40-Minute NBA Games Idea

"Don't screw this up, please."

That was one fan's message to Washington Governor Bob Ferguson as news broke that he will meet virtually with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday.

Another fan wrote: "Well that seals it… Sonics ain't comin' back."

"It's over," a third added.

"Oh, we're doomed," someone else commented.

The tone is not what you would expect from a city that has spent 18 years trying to get its NBA franchise back.

Ferguson announced the meeting Wednesday during a press conference at the state Capitol in Olympia.

KOMO News senior reporter Chris Daniels first reported the virtual sit-down.

This will be at least the third meeting between Ferguson and Silver in 2026.

They first spoke on February 5 in a virtual introduction Ferguson requested.

They met again in March as the NBA moved closer to formally exploring expansion.

"I still remain optimistic," Ferguson said Wednesday.

"I follow the same news that you do, you know, about what's going on with Las Vegas and Seattle."

The governor is trying to stay upbeat.

But the fans who lived through the SuperSonics' departure in 2008 are not buying it.

Seattle has been without an NBA team since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.

The SuperSonics won the NBA championship in 1979.

That history is exactly what Ferguson is counting on.

"What I do know is, Seattle has a deep history here with Sonics basketball," Ferguson said.

"I lived it as a kid, living close to the old coliseum."

"And look, I think fans and NBA players across the country understand that really NBA basketball needs to return to Seattle."

Ferguson described the investor offer for a Seattle expansion team as "strong."

He said the city checks "each and every box that the NBA could possibly hope for."

"My role in this is to maintain communication with the commissioner," Ferguson said.

"My suspicion is, we reached out to make sure that I'm doing what I can to be helpful in that process, to bring a team back to Seattle."

"So I certainly remain optimistic and look forward to talking to the commissioner."

The governor used his State of the State address in January to call for the SuperSonics' return.

That speech came one month before his first virtual meeting with Silver.

In March, the NBA's Board of Governors voted unanimously to explore expansion into Seattle and Las Vegas.

The league also hired an investment bank to evaluate both markets.

That evaluation includes studying arenas, potential ownership groups, and other economic factors.

If both cities join, the NBA would expand from 30 to 32 teams.

That would be the league's first expansion since the Charlotte Bobcats joined in 2004.

An expansion team is reportedly expected to pay between $7 billion and $10 billion to join the league.

Those fees would go to the NBA's current owners, not to the players.

Silver has said the league hopes to resolve the expansion discussion by the end of 2026.

But he has also said there is "absolutely a chance" that expansion does not happen at all.

Or that it could happen in only one city.

That uncertainty is what has Seattle fans on edge.

One observer was particularly critical of Washington state itself: "We all know there is zero chance of the Sonics coming back to this mess of a state."

Another fan made a direct appeal to Ferguson: "Bring it home."

The skepticism runs deep.

It has been 18 years since the SuperSonics played a game in Seattle.

The team was sold to a group from Oklahoma City in 2006.