The Homes of the Sonics
When you think about Sonics memories, what home floor do you remember?
Is it the Kingdome, where the team played during the 1979 championship season? Is it KeyArena, where the Supes played the Bulls in the NBA Finals in 1996? Or maybe it’s the Tacoma Dome, Seattle’s short-term home when the Coliseum was being renovated into what became KeyArena and is currently under construction and will now become the Climate Pledge Arena?
For every game you attended the venue is a key piece of the memory.
While the Sonics only played at the Tacoma Dome in 1994-95, it is a building that makes up my first in-person NBA memory. I remember two games in particular, one featuring Reggie Miller and the Pacers. The other was a matchup with Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic.
I was a teenager at the time and I don’t remember the score of the games. I wasn’t particularly concerned with which team won. I was overcome with the opportunity to watch an NBA game in person.
Considering the games were my first experience with live NBA basketball, The Tacoma Dome felt like walking into Madison Square Garden. It felt momentous. It felt iconic.
I was able to stand courtside postgame and watch the players walk off the floor. It was surreal watching O’Neal. It didn’t seem possible a human could loom so large.
Having attended many events at the Tacoma Dome since, it’s interesting how ordinary the building became. But the memory makes the building feel impressive.
It’s like KeyArena in ’96. The building felt alive with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp bringing down the house as the Sonics tried to derail the Bulls’ dynasty. While the Key lost some of its shine toward the end and was used as part of Clay Bennett’s strategy to poach the team and move it to Oklahoma City, the memories of that season in that arena remain vibrant for those who experienced those games.
So, for you, maybe the memory is the team’s Game 4 win over the Bullets in 1979 at the Kingdome – the team won the title in Washington – or maybe it’s the years in the Coliseum/KeyArena.
But the buildings that housed our team maintain our memories, even though those buildings have since either been imploded or remodeled and remade. We think about where we sat and what we ate. We think about the wins and losses and who we were with.
Maybe you used to wait outside the players lot at the Key for an autograph. Or maybe you had the chance to watch your favorite player walk off the floor close enough to experience a feeling similar to the one I had when I was a teenager at the Tacoma Dome.
But, wherever you watched the Sonics. One thing remains certain, today, and every day, we miss our team. We miss the Sonics when the NBA season starts and we miss them when it ends. We wait for the news that we’re getting a team.
And, the only thing that remains certain is that, when a team comes back, we’ll be ready.
So, until then, which arena/stadium most reminds you of the Sonics?
The Homes of the Sonics
Coliseum (1967-78)
Kingdome (1978-85)
Coliseum (1985-94)
Tacoma Dome (1994-95)
KeyArena (1995-2008)