{"id":181982,"date":"2026-03-17T14:59:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T18:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=181982"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:59:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T18:59:44","slug":"former-laker-says-hed-love-to-own-seattle-expansion-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/03\/17\/former-laker-says-hed-love-to-own-seattle-expansion-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Laker Says He\u2019d \u2018Love to Own\u2019 Seattle Expansion Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the NBA <\/span>votes on two expansion franchises<\/span><\/a> next week, the result could begin to turn a former All-Star\u2019s dreams into reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Former Laker Says He\u2019d \u2018Love to Own\u2019 Seattle Expansion Team<\/h2>\n

AC Green on NBA\u2019s Possible Return to Seattle<\/h3>\n

In a Mar. 3 <\/span>interview with The Action Network\u2019s Matt Moore<\/span><\/a>, three-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers legend <\/span>AC Green<\/span><\/a> said he would welcome the league\u2019s return to the Pacific Northwest\u2014even more so under one condition:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially if I owned them \u2014 yeah, that would be awesome. Absolutely. And being a Northwest guy, I\u2019m biased. I\u2019d love to see that happen, just for the sake of having basketball back in the Northwest outside of Portland. So yeah, I\u2019d love to see it. I\u2019m all for it \u2014 and yeah, I\u2019d love to own the team as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When asked whether he is in talks to one day own the Seattle <\/span>expansion team<\/span><\/a>, Green <\/span>replied, \u201cI\u2019m always in those kinds of conversations, and I\u2019m always interested.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Green\u2014who spent a majority of his career with the Lakers before playing for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat\u2014is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest. Born in Portland, Ore., Green attended Oregon State before the Lakers took him 23rd overall in the 1985 draft. The NBA\u2019s <\/span>\u201cIron Man\u201d<\/span><\/a> averaged 9.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.8 steals throughout his 16 years in the league.<\/span><\/p>\n

Green is far from the first Laker (former or current) interested in helping an expansion team. Besides him, three other LA legends are eyeing Las Vegas as the league moves west. <\/span>Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/span><\/a> said he wants to be <\/span>\u201cheavily involved\u201d<\/span><\/a> in bringing a team there. <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> shared a similar sentiment<\/span><\/a> to get the NBA in Sin City. Even Green\u2019s former teammate, <\/span>Magic Johnson<\/span><\/a>, could join the fray, as he’s reportedly <\/span>part of an ownership group<\/span><\/a> looking to bid on a Vegas franchise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Proposals and Process of NBA Expansion<\/h3>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

As the league eyes its first expansion since 2004, ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania outlined how the process works and what potential bids may look like:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Industry executives project proposals in the $7-10 billion range for each team and estimate that both markets would be among the NBA’s top eight revenue generators. The market appeal of Las Vegas and Seattle, plus the parity-friendly collective bargaining agreement, will likely lead to a robust purchase market for expansion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis marks the first of multiple critical steps toward NBA expansion. This first vote will allow the league to focus on Las Vegas and Seattle and have a bidding process for the teams. There will then be a potential final vote later in the year to finalize the transactions to 32 teams. In both voting rounds, 23 of 30 governors must vote in favor.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SuperSonic Revival?<\/h3>\n
\"Oct
Oct 10, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Fans hold a flag for the Seattle Supersonics during the fourth quarter of a game between the Utah Jazz and LA Clippers at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for how the NBA\u2019s <\/span>potential return to Seattle<\/span><\/a> would play out, the Oklahoma City Thunder plan cede all SuperSonics history back to the original franchise, according to <\/span>ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst<\/span><\/a>. And for all of Green\u2019s interest, he will have notable competition. The group that owns the NHL’s Seattle Kraken is preparing to bid on the NBA’s expansion team there (per ESPN). Founding owner David Bonderman holds ties to the Boston Celtics\u2019 ownership group, which may strengthen the hometown team’s case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the NBA votes on two expansion franchises next week, the result could begin to turn a former All-Star\u2019s dreams into reality. Former Laker Says He\u2019d \u2018Love to Own\u2019 Seattle Expansion Team AC Green on NBA\u2019s Possible Return to Seattle In a Mar. 3 interview with The Action Network\u2019s Matt Moore, three-time NBA champion and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":181985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[3683,38,755,49304,1031,261],"class_list":["post-181982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-las-vegas","tag-lebron-james","tag-magic-johnson","tag-nba-expansion","tag-seattle-supersonics","tag-shaquille-oneal"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181982"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182008,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181982\/revisions\/182008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}