Looking at NBA teams that have vacated cities in the past, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Mike Lewis finds that, with the exception of Charlotte, when NBA teams are gone, they're gone:
If the Sonics should go -- and privately many people close to the situation expect exactly that -- there are a few things the Emerald City should expect: a negligible economic impact; a long, wistful hoops hangover; and no replacement team for a generation at the earliest.
One highly placed league official who asked to remain anonymous noted: "If an NBA team is going to relocate from a city, it's highly unlikely that the NBA would return to that city anytime soon."
Just ask sports fans in San Diego, which lost its last team in 1984. Or in Kansas City, which lost the Kings the following year.
As it happens, Kansas City's best shot at getting back in the game might be those very same Sonics.
