12,000 tickets sold in an hour as fans anticipate Seattle's first NBA game in years

SEATTLE - Local fans hungry for pro basketball action waited in line for hours outside Seattle's KeyArena on Tuesday to snap up tickets for the first NBA game to be played here in years.

The preseason game, featuring the back-to-back NBA champion Golden State Warriors against the Sacramento Kings, is set for Friday, Oct. 5, at Seattle’s KeyArena.

The matchup will be the first NBA game in Seattle since the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 - and the Warriors' first appearance in Seattle since December 2007.

The game also will be a homecoming of sorts for Kevin Durant, who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics as the No. 2 overall pick of the 2007 draft. He played his rookie season in Seattle before the team moved to Oklahoma.

An official with the Warriors said over 12,000 tickets were sold in just the first hour and by early afternoon the game was a near sell out.

Fans waiting to buy tickets for the game in the August sunshine were enthusiastic about the upcoming game and the chance to watch Durant in action.

"I want to see Kevin Durant," said one fan, Sam Cook. "I love the Sonics, I want them to come back, and I'm excited to come down to KeyArena for the first time in years. ... I wanted to get down here and get (tickets) in person."

He said he expected the atmosphere in KeyArena to be "electric" on the day of the game.

SuperSonics supporter Brian Robinson, who also was waiting in line, said the upcoming matchup will be "just a great opportunity for the NBA and Seattle to get to know each other again."

"People are excited to have Kevin Durant come to town, and we're going to have a lot of fun. We're going to get all of our friends together, and we're going to have a really great time."

He said he expected the atmosphere at the game to be "cathartic."

"I think people have a lot of emotions around the NBA's departure, and I think we're going to go in, and we're going to heal, and get excited and get ready for the next chapter in bringing the Sonics back."

Officials say the Kings-Warriors contest is currently the last public event scheduled in KeyArena before a planned two-year redevelopment project to build a new Seattle Center Arena under the existing roof structure.