If you’re a long-suffering Seattle Supersonics fan, Samantha Holloway is someone you need to know.

Holloway, co-chair and co-owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, leads the ownership group hoping to lure one of the NBA’s proposed two expansion teams.

Rumors have swirled for years that Seattle would be next in line for expansion, especially after the NBA signed a new broadcast rights agreement. That dream took a big step forward last September, when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league would deal with expansion at some point this season.

“When the Sonics come back, it’s going to be out of control,” she said on an Iconic Sonics podcast. “The excitement is there. There’s a huge history. It’s a tremendous honor to even have this opportunity.”

Holloway is the daughter of the late Kraken founder David Bonderman. She co-founded Hat Labs, a startup studio based in Denver that builds software products, and co-founded private investment company 2nd & Fillmore, also in Denver. She moved to Seattle in 2022.

The Sonics left Seattle after the 2007-2008 season for Oklahoma City. Their departure came after the city and state failed to secure public funding to build a new arena. Since then, the city has rebuilt the old Key Arena — now called Climate Pledge Arena — with the goal of securing another NBA franchise. Climate Pledge is home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, and will again host NCAA tourney games in March.

“It’s a very unique city,” Holloway said on the podcast. “We understand why no one leaves. We understand why people support the teams here.”