SEATTLE (AP) — The NBA is returning to Seattle — for the preseason, that is.
The Portland Trail Blazers and LA Clippers will play a preseason game at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on Oct. 3, the teams announced Wednesday.
It will be the first NBA event since the former KeyArena was gutted and reconstructed as the home of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and WNBA’s Seattle Storm.
The final event in the previous version of the building was an NBA preseason game between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings in October 2018. That game was the first NBA event in the arena after the departure of the SuperSonics for Oklahoma City following the 2008 season.
Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker said the idea for playing the game in Seattle was the brainchild of Los Angeles coach Ty Lue and Portland coach Chauncey Billups, who have been longtime friends.
The game between the Blazers and Clippers is being dubbed the “Rain City Showcase” and has significant Seattle ties. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was the former head of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft. The Blazers are owned by the family trust of the late Paul Allen, which also owns the Seattle Seahawks.
