Swish! ... Storm stays in Seattle

The Seattle SuperSonics' more accessible half, the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association, will be connected to Seattle for a long time. Local owners have stepped forward to buy the team and keep it here.

This sale sends a message about the power of local ownership in professional sports. In the ongoing battle between the Sonics' new owners and the Puget Sound community, one important point seemed lost. If the ownership group, led by Oklahoma businessman Clay Bennett, is serious about moving the men's team to Oklahoma, it makes no sense to take the Storm along.

Few experts expect Oklahoma fans would support a women's basketball team in the passionate way Seattle embraces the Storm.

Fans here are loyal. The team provides approachable, entertaining fun at KeyArena. That should continue for many years.

The Puget Sound region is fortunate that a group of successful women stepped forward. The group is led by Anne Levinson, former Seattle deputy mayor, and includes Lisa Brummel, Dawn Trudeau and Ginny Gilder.

Brummel and Trudeau have Microsoft ties. Gilder owns an investment business. Levinson helped create the Seattle Reign of the now defunct American Basketball League.

New local owners can generate huge excitement around the team and make it a successful business. The scale of women's basketball means it will be easier to work with the city to make arena adjustments that may be necessary.

The purchase represents the kind of independent civic-mindedness often evident in our city. Hurrah for them — hurrah for us.

Women's basketball still needs to expand its appeal to broader audiences, but the Storm has a better chance to do that in Seattle than in Oklahoma City.

The economics of the sport still make more sense than men's basketball. That said, Bennett would do well to sell the men's club to local owners.

But today is not about the Sonics. It is about four women who consider the Storm a cherished local asset and who came together to make a huge difference for their community.