Seattle Growth Podcast 7.8: pandemic resilience and the return of the Sonics

The COVID-19 pandemic has spelled the tragic loss of life or livelihood for many in the Pacific Northwest. But it also has stirred myriad demonstrations of resourcefulness, resilience and even plans for future. One such promising future includes a National Basketball Association franchise returning to Seattle, former home of the Seattle Supersonics.

Season 7 of the Seattle Growth Podcast continues to share stories of personal and professional adaptation and resilience in the face of a global pandemic.

Episode 8 looks to the future—and the possible return of NBA hoops.

Wally Walker, an NBA champion and former GM and CEO of the Supersonics, gives an update on his quest to bring an NBA franchise to a SODO arena, and shares his perspective on whether the pandemic makes success more or less likely.

And Sonics superfan Josh Shea—him and his dog decked out in Sonics gear—shares the changes he is seeing in his South Lake Union neighborhood and sends a plea to listeners.

The Seattle Growth Podcast is hosted and produced by Jeff Shulman, the Marion B. Ingersoll Professor of Marketing at the UW Foster School of Business.

Shulman is also the co-director and producer of On the Brink, the acclaimed documentary of history, hope and determination to save the soul of Seattle’s vanishing Central District.