The battles waged were bitter and fierce. Feelings were hurt. Grown men cried.
When the fight was over, the outcome was clear. Sacramento won. Seattle lost. Fans in the Pacific Northwest witnessed the unfortunate demise of the Seattle SuperSonics while Sacramento reveled in the rebirth of the Kings.
The tale of these two cities will be retold Friday night when the Kings face the Golden State Warriors in a preseason game at KeyArena in Seattle, the city that came so close to claiming Sacramento’s team as its own after the Sonics left town. Old wounds could be brushed open, but so, too, could a sense of hope for a city still desperate to see NBA basketball return a decade after the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City.