The nickname for this franchise, which entered the NBA in 1967, was inspired by the Boeing plant in Seattle. One year earlier, the company had begun work on a Concorde-like airplane, which was to be called the Supersonic Transport.
The plane never got off the ground, but Boeing’s involvement left quite an impression on the citizens of Seattle. When asked to name the new club, SuperSonics won by a landslide. The nickname frequently is shortened to Sonics.