Potential Sonics Ownership Knows How To Play The Game, On Court & In Boardroom

Technically, Samantha Holloway has already been an NBA owner. When her dad, David Bonderman, died in December, 2024, his minority stake in the Boston Celtics transferred to his estate.

That stake (less than 5%) has since been divested, since Holloway and fellow investors are after a more substantial prize: owning Sonics 2.0, should Seattle be awarded an expansion franchise. Already owner of the NHL Kraken, Holloway is heavily involved in bringing basketball back to the Emerald City.

She’s not fazed by the constantly moving targets of the expansion process. “Different people have different levers,” Holloway said to FrontOfficeSports.com. “Some care about price, some care about timing. There’s all kinds of different things folks care about.

“We are getting our ducks in a row and having initial conversations, but there’s still so many unknowns. It’s really fascinating to put a deal together for something that may or may not ever happen at a price that nobody knows, at a timeline that nobody knows.”

Waiting Game

Between the lines of Holloway’s comments is a remarkable quality not normally associated with hard-driving high achievers: patience.

Through all the stops and starts and premature anticipation, the ownership group has repeated the mantra of “not getting ahead of the commissioner.” In other words, no public displays of restlessness, irritability, agitation at the seemingly glacial pace of league expansion plans. Nothing to draw the ire of NBA governors. Everything to show they’ll be good partners.

These accomplished businesspeople know how boardroom games are played. In this case, their strategy is controlling the things they can control, confident that good things will come to those who wait.

Seattle Hockey Canaries Not Only Survived, They Thrived

“Canaries” wasn’t considered as a name for Seattle’s NHL team. But from a basketball standpoint, the name would have fit.

Canaries at one time were used to test for carbon monoxide and other toxic gases in underground mines. (So the canaries were guinea pigs?)

Make no mistake: the Seattle Kraken are a magnificent, unique addition to the city’s sports landscape. I dare you to go to a game and not be hooked for life.

Shameless plug: our sister site, Davy Jones’ Locker Room, is a go-to source for the ice sport.

The Kraken were also the canary in the coal mine for the return of NBA Basketball. The NBA league office was absolutely taking notes to see whether the hockey ownership group could check the corporate boxes important to them.

• Could they get Seattle to support a winter pro sports franchise, even if it wasn’t the one they were most hoping for?
• Could the arena support the demands of a pro sports franchise?
• Could a business operation be built from the ground up?
• Most important of all, would the ownership group prove stable and competent?

Fortunately for Kraken fans – and for Sonics fans – we can now determine the answers are Yes… Yes… Yes… and Yes. Everything about the Kraken ownership group is rock-solid, and in the language of Climate Pledge Arena, sustainable. That’s why the owners of the Kraken, who also built the arena, are the clear front-runners to also be the owners of Sonics 2.0.

Are there legitimate fan gripes over the way the ownership has run its hockey team? Sure. Name a franchise where fans don’t question the owners. But it’s irrelevant in this case. That stuff is down in the weeds.

This ownership group, led by Holloway and CEO Tod Leiweke, has proven it can get a venue built, finance a franchise at the same time, and get that franchise up and running – during a pandemic, no less. These are the metrics considered by NBA owners deciding whom to welcome into their club.

Ownership Who’s Who

Here’s a more detailed look at key members of the Kraken’s ownership:

• Samantha Holloway: Daughter of original team founder David Bonderman, she is the leader among owners as executive chair. Holloway has also run successful startups in the tech sector.
• Tod Leiweke: CEO of the Kraken. Formerly a Seahawks executive and Chief Operating Officer of the NFL, Leiweke boasts a boundless energy and a magic ability to get people to say “Yes.”
• Jerry Bruckheimer: A prominent film producer. Think Top Gun and Pirates of the Caribbean.
• Adrian Hanauer: Majority owner of the Seattle Sounders.
• Andy Jassy: CEO of Amazon.
• Chris Ackerley: Son of former Seattle SuperSonics owner Barry Ackerley, who owned the team for 18 years. Along with brother Ted, Chris runs Ackerley Partners  LLC, investing in Seattle tech startups.
• Tim Leiweke: Todd’s Brother, CEO of Oak View Group. OVG is one of the world’s leading development and investment companies in the sports and live entertainment space.
• Marshawn Lynch: That’s right. Beastmode of the Seahawks.
• Macklemore: Musician.