Why Sonics fans will be biggest winners if Thunder lose Game 7

If the Oklahoma City Thunder lose Game 7 of the NBA Finals, don't expect every basketball fan to grieve, especially not in Seattle. In fact, for Sonics loyalists, it might feel like poetic justice.

To this day, Seattle basketball fans still refer to the Thunder as "The Stolen Team." And no, that's not some catchy slogan born out of internet culture. It's a living, breathing truth that defines a fan base abandoned in 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics were stripped from the Emerald City and relocated to Oklahoma City. Two different cities. Two different franchises. No matter what the NBA record books say, there is no shared lineage in the hearts of Sonics fans.

That's why, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (MVP) and Jalen Williams chase a championship, a large segment of the basketball world won't be rooting for confetti in OKC; it'll be rooting for closure in Seattle, not once ... but TWICE!

The infamous "NO-KLAHOMA" sign was not made for shock value. It's become a cultural symbol of resistance and memory. It's seen everywhere from banners at local pickup games to printed signs at sports bars, where Sonics gear is still worn proudly like battle armor. It stands for something larger than basketball, the betrayal of a city, and the undying hope that one day the green and gold will return to KeyArena via NBA expansion.

For 17 years, Sonics fans have lived with the pain of watching the team they grew up with succeed elsewhere. They watched Kevin Durant's MVP season and shocking departure, Russell Westbrook's triple-double era, Paul George's arrival and departure to L.A. and now the Shai-Jalen-Chet Big Three, all while their arena sat without an NBA tenant. A Game 7 loss for OKC won't bring the Sonics back, but it would get something else: a little bit of peace. A pause in the parade of Thunder success that Seattle was never allowed to celebrate.

This is not bitterness. It's remembrance. When the Sonics return (and they will), they will not share a trophy case with Oklahoma City. I believe the records and rights will be reacquired from OKC, and Seattle will reclaim what was lost and build something new. Until that day comes, Sonics fans will continue to exist in a strange in-between: a proud legacy with no present, only a future they are still waiting on.

If Game 7 ends with Oklahoma City's dreams dashed by the Pacers, don't be surprised if the first parade is 2,000 miles away. It won't be for Indiana yet. First, it'll be for Seattle. For the city that never stopped believing.

Because for Sonics fans, the fight is not over until the banner reads: SEATTLE SUPERSONICS: NBA CHAMPIONS. Not Oklahoma City. Not the team that left. Just Seattle.