The Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA title on Sunday night, and the sun did indeed rise in Seattle on Monday.

It was a sunrise that the vast majority of longtime Seattle sports fans had never hoped to see. After all, that bright sun shining on Mount Rainier and the Space Needle meant that the franchise that began as the Seattle SuperSonics was standing on top of the basketball world.

Since the Thunder relocated from Seattle and began play in Oklahoma City in 2008, Sonics fans have made their voices loud and clear about the circumstances surrounding the relocation. Those voices clamored for OKC fans to get nothing but heartache with the Thunder. For nearly 17 years, they got their wish.

But when the final seconds ticked off the clock inside the Paycom Center on Sunday night, the Thunder had outlasted the Indiana Pacers in a memorable seven-game series to earn OKC's first NBA title. 

The moment the clock hit zero should also be the moment that Seattle turned its eyes away from Oklahoma City and toward the future.

So much energy, voodoo, prayers and everything else that could be thrown into the universe from the Pacific Northwest for Oklahoma City's NBA team to fail finally ran out of steam. It's now time to move on.

Yes, that's easier said than done for a fan base that has been so focused on Clay Bennett's decision to move Seattle's oldest sports franchise to the plains almost 15 years ago. 

The Thunder have been referred to as the "Zombie Sonics" for years by Seattle fans, a swipe at the team never been able to replicate the success it had in Seattle, including the NBA championship won by the Sonics in 1979. One writer on Sunday night, however, called the Thunder the "Vampire Sonics," because the title had now made them immortal.

Maybe the change in nickname means a change in outlook as well for Sonics fans.

The Sonics will most likely live again, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver hinting on Monday that league expansion could once again have the league back in Seattle. While there is no formal timetable in place for a Sonics return, it's clear that when the league is ready to expand, the Emerald City will be on the short list.

That's the future, and it's a future Seattle sports fans deserve. It's also the next chapter of the Sonics legacy... and one that will complete separate itself from anything Oklahoma City-related.

When the day comes that the Sonics return and play the Thunder in their first regular-season game back at Climate Pledge Arena (the NBA has to make that happen, right?), the joy for the Sonics will far outweigh the anger for OKC in the building.

Until then, Sonics fans can hope and wait for their team to return, looking ahead and not back.