“Super-Sonics! Super-Sonics!”

With Sonics legends Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and Lenny Wilkens among others on the sidelines, the chant from the sold out crowd at KeyArena grew louder and louder as Jamal Crawford stepped to the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“I was almost about to start cheering with them,” Crawford said. “It’s amazing. The rest of the country sees how our fanbase is. You look at the Sounders, you look at the Mariners, you look at the Seahawks. The only thing we are missing is a team.”

It was a who’s who of Seattle basketball. The Glove. The Reign Man. Lenny. Detlef. Jamal. Isaiah. So many to count and they were at back at KeyArena for a reuniting of Seattle basketball on Friday night.

It was the second game of the night and the opener of the Seattle Basketball Pro-Am season on a night that began with the Storm’s game against the Phoenix Mercury.

On every dunk, the crowd oohed. On every crossover, the fans aahed. It was a celebration of Seattle basketball in front nearly 10,000 fans.

“It’s late at night but everybody showed energy,” Crawford, who helps organize the Pro-Am league, said. “They were very, very excited to see some of their heroes with Shawn and Gary and Slick and Lenny. It really is a community.

“It’s not about me or anybody. We’re all doing this together and hopefully we’ll get the attention of the NBA and hopefully one day we’ll get the Seattle Sonics back.”

The loudest ovation came when Kemp and Payton were introduced as the coaches for Team Brand Black.

“The energy they got when they got introduced, they got chills. I got chills because I used to actually work here,” Crawford said. “I used to sneak into games and watch those guys. It’s special.”

Wilkens, who coached Team Ball is Life, was excited to see the energy inside the arena.

“It was fun,” he said. “It shows people that Seattle is alive as well. I want to see an NBA team as soon as possible. I don’t know when that will be but I would like to see it happen.”

With 5:54 left in the fourth and his team leading 100-82, Crawford got on the microphone and declared it a tie game and the scoreboard was changed to 100-100. The changed allowed Ball is Life to pull ahead and take the unofficial 120-119 win. The official final score was 119-102. Boston Celtics forward and former Gonzaga star Kelly Olynyk led all scorers with 27 points.

 

ROSTERS

BrandBlack

Coaches – Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Randy Redwine

 

#1 Tre Simmons 6’5” University of Washington

#3 Gary Bell Jr. 6’2” Gonzaga University

#10 Aaron Broussard 6’4” Seattle University

#11 Jamal Crawford 6’5” University of Michigan Los Angeles Clippers

#13 Rashaad Powell 6’4” University of Idaho

#24 Chris Sprinker 6’10” Central Washington University

#32 Martell Webster 6’7” Seattle Prep High School Washington Wizards

#34 Jon Brockman 6’8” University of Washington

#35 Ken Ottrix 6’8” University of Ohio

#40 Kelly Olynyk 7’0” Gonzaga University Boston Celtics

#43 Evan Matteson 6’10” Texas A & M – International

 

Ball Is Life

Coaches – Lenny Wilkins, Slick Watts, Doug Christie, Mike Bethea

 

#0 Abdul Gaddy 6’3” University of Washington

#3 Isaiah Thomas 5’9” University of Washington Boston Celtics

#10 Justin Holiday 6’6” University of Washington Golden State Warriors

#13 Isiah Umipig 6’0” Seattle University

#19 Terrence Williams 6’7” University of Louisville

#20 Davonte Lacy 6’5” Washington State University

#24 Donald Watts 6’5” University of Washington

#34 Spencer Hawes 7’0” University of Washington Charlotte Hornets

#35 Terrence Jones 6’9” University of Kentucky

#40 Kaj Sherman 7’0” University of Texas-San Antonio

#43 Marcus Goode 6’10” Benedict College