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Seattle SuperSonics History
The city's first major professional sports team, the Seattle SuperSonics joined the NBA for the 1967-68 season and have reached the upper echelon of the league during two different decades. The Sonics first reached the top of the mountain in the late 1970s. They reached the NBA Finals in two straight seasons, winning the crown in 1978-79 with an efficient team of interchangeable players led by Jack Sikma, Fred Brown, Dennis Johnson, and Gus Williams and coached by the legendary Lenny Wilkens, one of just three men enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a coach and a player. After an up-and-down decade of the 1980s, Seattle was resurgent in the 1990s. Once again the team featured an unconventional lineup, a deep rotation, and an innovative array of defensive schemes. The stars of these Sonics - power forward Shawn Kemp, one of the most creative slam dunkers of his era, and brash point guard Gary Payton - reflected the personality of their coach, the volatile and imaginative George Karl. Following Karl's departure, the Sonics managed to rebuild without falling to the depths of the NBA, a process that culminated in their winning the first-ever Northwest Division Championship after the NBA realigned for the 2004-05 season. One of the NBA's most successful franchises all-time, the Sonics have finished .500 or better 25 times in 38 seasons, including 15 straight years from 1987-88 through 2001-02. 2004-05 was the franchise's sixth division title after winning the Pacific Division five times, and the Sonics boast the longest active streak of having a player in the All-Star Game dating back to 1993. For a more detailed recap, click on the season/era, or read from start to finish for the complete story of Sonics history.
1967-69: Seattle Sings The Expansion Blues 1969-71: The Golden Rule 1971-73: ABA Superstar Haywood Joins Sonics 1973-74: Players Respond Well To Bill Russell 1974-77: Finally! Seattle Makes The Playoffs 1977-80: Back-To-Back Finals 1980-81: Changing Times 1981-83: "The Wizard" Returns 1983-85: Ackerley Purchases Team 1985-86: Wilkens Era Comes To An End 1986-88: Seattle's "Big Three" Make NBA History 1988-90: Chambers Leaves, But Ellis Steps Up His Game 1990-91: K. C. Can't Repeat Celtics Magic 1991-92: By George! Karl Engineers Turnaround 1992-93: One Win Away From The Finals 1993-94: Sonics Cruise In Regular Season, Fall Short In Playoffs 1994-95: Deja Vu 1995-96: Sonics Shed Monkey, But Can't Stop Bulls 1996-97: Sonics Stay Super But No Finals Return 1997-98: Sonics Reload, Recapture Pacific 1998-99: Home for the Postseason 1999-00: Return to the Playoffs 2000-01: A Season of Change 2001-02: Exceeding Expectations 2002-03: Payton's Place Becomes Allentown 2004-05: Inaugural Northwest Division Champs 1967-69: Seattle Sings The Expansion BluesSeattle was awarded an NBA franchise on December 20, 1966, and the club began play in 1967-68 along with the San Diego Rockets (who soon moved to Houston). Seattle won a draft-order coin toss and selected 6-8 Al Tucker of Oklahoma Baptist at No. 6 in the 1967 NBA Draft. Tucker lasted only a season and a half with the Sonics. San Diego took Kentucky's Pat Riley with the seventh overall pick. In the Expansion Draft, Seattle picked up Tom Meschery, Walt Hazzard, Bob Weiss, and Rod Thorn. The fledgling club hired Al Bianchi to serve as its first head coach. Bianchi had logged a 10-year playing career as a reserve guard with the NBA's Syracuse Nationals and Philadelphia 76ers before retiring in 1966. Seattle's first NBA season ended at 23-59, second worst in the league to San Diego's 15-67 mark. The Sonics lost their first game, 144-116, to San Francisco. They finally got a win in their third game against fellow expansion team San Diego. After that first victory, the Sonics lost 12 of their next 13 contests. In other words, it was a typical expansion season. Defensively, the team had some rough outings. On December 20 Philadelphia riddled the Sonics for 160 points, the highest opponent total in franchise history. Seattle yielded 150 or more points on four other occasions, and opponents averaged 125.1 points per game for the season. The Sonics' biggest offensive night was on February 11, when they beat San Francisco, 146-118. For the season, Seattle averaged 118.7 points per game. Walt Hazzard, a 6-2 guard, made the West All-Star Team. He finished the season ranked seventh in the NBA in scoring (23.9 ppg) and fifth in assists (6.2 apg). Rookie Bob Rule, a 6-9, 220-pound second-round pick, added 18.1 points per game, good for 19th in the league. Rule also had the Sonics' best scoring performance of the season when he poured in 47 points in a November 21 win over the Lakers. Rule and Al Tucker made the NBA All-Rookie Team. With Bianchi retaining the head coaching job for a second year, the 1968-69 Sonics inched up seven games to finish at 30-52. The club had a few stretches when it was playing superb, winning basketball, but like any other young team it had neither the talent nor the depth to maintain much positive momentum. Near the end of November, Seattle put together a five-game winning streak and took seven of eight games. But immediately thereafter the Sonics went into a steep decline, dropping 10 in a row - the second-longest losing streak in team history - en route to a 2-18 skid. Before the season began, the Sonics made the biggest trade in their brief history when they dealt Walt Hazzard to the St. Louis Hawks for Lenny Wilkens. A smooth 6-1 point guard, Wilkens was an All-Star in his first season in Seattle, finishing ninth in the league in scoring (22.4 ppg) and second in assists (8.2 apg). Second-year man Bob Rule emerged as a team leader and solid contributor, averaging 24.0 points and 11.5 rebounds. He ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring. Art Harris scored 12.4 points per game and made the NBA All-Rookie Team. 1969-71: The Golden RuleLenny Wilkens was named player-coach of the Sonics for 1969-70 and the team improved to 36-46. Seattle finished fifth in the Western Division, 12 games behind the first-place Atlanta Hawks. The Sonics got off to a rough start, losing their first six games and going 5-15 through their first 20. But the club hung tough through the middle of the year, then closed with a 17-12 run that began in late January. Coach Wilkens's most dependable performer was player Wilkens, who led the league in assists (9.1 apg) and scored 17.8 points per game. Bob Rule averaged 24.6 points per game, seventh in the NBA, and pulled down 10.3 rebounds per contest. He set a new team high when he scored 49 points against Philadelphia on November 15. Wilkens and Rule, both of whom played in the All-Star Game, got solid support from veterans Bob Boozer (15.2 ppg), Dick Snyder (13.6), and Tom Meschery (12.3). In 1970-71 the Seattle continued to take baby steps in the right direction, improving two games to 38-44. Since Wilkens was doing such an admirable job as player-coach, the front office made Meschery player-assistant coach. The Sonics were hard to handle at home, posting a 27-13 record. They were a high-scoring unit, averaging 115.0 points per game. But the Sonics suffered a crushing blow in their fourth game of the season when leading scorer Rule went down with a torn Achilles tendon on October 23 against Portland, thereby ending his season. Although he played four more years in the NBA, Rule would never regain his All-Star form. Wilkens played in his third straight All-Star Game as a Sonic and earned the game's MVP honors by scoring 21 points. For the season, he averaged 19.8 points and 9.2 assists, finishing second in the NBA in assists to Cincinnati's Norm Van Lier. Snyder added 19.4 points per game and finished fifth in the league in both field-goal percentage (.531) and free-throw percentage (.837). 1971-73: ABA Superstar Haywood Joins SonicsThe biggest news of 1970-71 in Seattle - and in the NBA - involved the Sonics' December 30 signing of ABA superstar Spencer Haywood. The 6-9 Haywood had left the University of Detroit in 1969 after his sophomore season to sign with the ABA's Denver Rockets. NBA rules prohibited a team from signing a player until his class had graduated, which made Haywood off-limits until after the 1971-72 season. But the Sonics challenged the NBA's rule, and after a series of lawsuits, negotiations, and settlements, Haywood was allowed to play. The landmark case paved the way for all future college players who would enter the NBA as underclassmen. Back on the basketball court, Haywood played 33 games for the Sonics and scored 20.6 points per game. Seattle's sub-.500 finish gave the team the sixth overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, and the Sonics selected Iowa guard Fred Brown. The 1971-72 Sonics posted the first winning season in franchise history, at 47-35, and finished in third place in the Pacific Division, a distant 22 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers. Lenny Wilkens was still coaching and playing. The team's assistant coach for the season was Rod Thorn. Two decades later Thorn would serve as vice president of operations for the NBA. Seattle got off to a decent start and on January 1 stood at 22-18. The new year invigorated the Sonics, who went on a 7-1 tear. In February they caught fire again, posting a 12-1 mark between February 8 and March 3. Seattle seemed to be on its way to an outstanding season, but the club lost eight of its last nine games. Haywood made the All-NBA First Team, started in the All-Star Game, and finished fourth in the league in scoring with 26.2 points per game. He also hauled in 12.7 rebounds per contest and scored a season-high 48 points on January 7 against Cleveland. Wilkens added 18.0 points per game and finished second in the NBA in assists, averaging 9.6 per game. Sharp-shooting Dick Snyder averaged 16.6 points and shot .529 from the field, the fourth-best field-goal average in the league. After that solid season Seattle had high hopes. However, the team unraveled in 1972-73, finally landing with a thud at 26-56. Player-Coach Wilkens had gone to Cleveland in a trade for Butch Beard. Owner Sam Schulman forced Wilkens to choose between playing and coaching, and after he chose to play, Schulman feared Wilkens would not be loyal to his replacement. Wilkens's absence was felt both on the floor and on the bench, as Seattle shuffled through two coaches, Tom Nissalke and Bucky Buckwalter, during the year. The Sonics' lone bright spot was Haywood. He started in the All-Star Game and, for the second year in a row, was voted to the All-NBA First Team. He finished third in the league in scoring (29.2 ppg) - the top mark in Sonics history - and tenth in rebounding (12.9 rpg). Haywood tallied a club-record 51 points in a 107-101 victory over Kansas City-Omaha on January 3 and pulled down 25 rebounds on March 25 against Los Angeles. Newcomer Jim Fox, a 6-10, 230-pound banger out of South Carolina, ranked fifth in the NBA with a .515 field-goal percentage, while Snyder finished seventh in free-throw shooting (.861). Second-year guard Brown showed promise, scoring 13.5 points per game. 1973-74: Players Respond Well To Bill RussellIn 1973-74, Seattle sprang another surprise on the league when it signed the legendary Bill Russell as coach and general manager. Russell, whose NBA career spanned 13 years and 11 championships with the Boston Celtics, had been a player-coach at Boston for three seasons. The players responded well to Russell, and the team improved by 10 wins to 36-46. The Sonics finished third in the Pacific Division, 11 games behind the Lakers. The 1973-74 team boasted a couple of exceptional individual performances. On December 26, Jim Fox grabbed a club-record 30 rebounds against the Lakers. Then, on March 23, Fred Brown went wild against the Golden State Warriors, setting a Sonics record by pouring in 58 points. Brown, whose long-range shooting prowess earned him the nickname "Downtown," eventually became the leading scorer in Seattle history for a time. In 1973-74 he averaged 16.5 points. Spencer Haywood continued to rule the paint. The versatile forward finished ninth in the NBA in scoring (23.5 ppg), seventh in rebounding (13.4 rpg), and 11th in blocked shots (1.41 per game). Dick Snyder provided 18.1 points per game and ranked seventh in the league in free-throw percentage at .866. 1974-77: Finally! Seattle Makes The PlayoffsThe 1974-75 season marked a milestone for the franchise as the Sonics compiled a 43-39 record and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in their eight-year history. The team played .500 ball, or just below, for nearly the entire season, then closed out the regular season with a seven-game winning streak and carried that momentum into the playoffs. In a best-of-three First Round series against Detroit, the Sonics played like postseason veterans. They disposed of the Pistons in three games and advanced to face Golden State in the Western Conference Semifinals. The teams split the first four games before a Championship-bound Warriors squad won the next two contests to close out the series. In addition to the team's accomplishments as a whole, several individual Sonics had impressive seasons in 1974-75. Spencer Haywood started in the NBA All-Star Game for the third time in four appearances and finished ninth in the NBA in scoring with 22.4 points per game. "Downtown" Freddie Brown added 21.0 points per game, good for 15th in the league, and was fifth in steals with 2.31 per contest. Slick Watts, a 6-1 guard who sported a shaved head and a headband, finished fourth in the NBA in steals (2.32 per game) and seventh in assists (6.1 apg). Rookie 7-2 center Tom Burleson ranked eighth in blocked shots (1.87 per game) and made the NBA All-Rookie Team. Despite trading Haywood to New York for a first-round pick and cash, Seattle continued to play well in 1975-76, turning in a 43-39 season, good for second place in the Pacific Division behind Golden State. The Sonics were a rugged unit at home, fashioning a 31-10 mark in the shadow of the Space Needle. Seattle had an exciting, scrambling offense that produced 106.4 points per game, fifth best in the NBA. The Sonics advanced to the postseason for a second straight year but lost to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals. All-Star Brown finished fifth in the league in both scoring (23.1 ppg) and free-throw percentage (.869). Backcourt-mate Watts averaged 13.0 points and led the NBA in both assists (8.1 apg) and steals (3.18 per game), earning selection to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Tom Burleson averaged 15.6 points and 1.83 blocks. After two straight winning campaigns, the Sonics dipped to 40-42 in 1976-77. Seattle finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division, 13 games behind the Lakers. Brown led the squad in scoring with a modest 17.2 points per game, at the time the lowest team-leading mark in franchise history. Eight Sonics, including rookie guard Dennis Johnson, averaged better than 9.0 points per game. 1977-80: Back-To-Back FinalsThe club underwent major restructuring during the summer of 1977. Assistant Coach Bob Hopkins replaced Bill Russell as head coach for the 1977-78 campaign. New faces included veteran 6-7 rebounding specialist Paul Silas, 6-11 rookie Jack Sikma, 7-1 shot-blocker Marvin Webster, explosive 6-2 guard Gus Williams, and dependable 6-7 "point-forward" John Johnson. Fred Brown and Dennis Johnson were the key holdovers from the previous year. Coach Hopkins lasted only 22 games. After the team got off to a 5-17 start, owner Sam Schulman brought back Lenny Wilkens, who had guided the Sonics for three earlier seasons as a player-coach and had served as the Sonics director of player personnel after being fired by the Portland Trail Blazers. Under Wilkens, who took over on November 30, the Sonics made a terrific run, posting a 42-18 record to close out the year. Seattle finished at 47-35 for third place in the Pacific Division. Then the real fun began. Seattle upset Los Angeles, two games to one, in a best-of-three series to start the playoffs. The Sonics then dispatched Portland and Denver to reach the NBA Finals against the Washington Bullets and Wes Unseld. Like the Sonics, the Bullets had put together a modest regular season before gaining late-season momentum that catapulted them into the Finals. In the championship series, the teams traded victories through the first six games, but Washington prevailed, 105-99, in Game 7 to claim the title. The Sonics' defense was the key to their success in 1977-78. They allowed opponents only 102.9 points per game, second-best in the NBA. Gus Williams finished second in the league in steals with 2.34 per game, and Marvin Webster ranked ninth in blocks with 1.98 per contest. Webster was also ninth in rebounding with a 12.6 average. Six Seattle players posted double-figure scoring averages: Williams (18.1 ppg), Brown (16.6), Webster (14.0), Dennis Johnson (12.7), Sikma (10.7), and John Johnson (10.7). Sikma was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team at season's end. The 1978-79 season was an epic campaign for Seattle, as Wilkens guided the Sonics to the NBA Championship. The club posted a 52-30 record, the first 50-win season in franchise history. The team also captured its first-ever Pacific Division title, finishing two games ahead of the Phoenix Suns. Seattle started Williams and Dennis Johnson at guard, Sikma at center, and Lonnie Shelton and John Johnson at forward. Rebounding ace Silas and long-range threat Brown were the key reserves. For the second straight season, six Sonics averaged in double figures, led by Williams's 19.2 points per game. The Sonics' stingy defense yielded a league-low 103.9 points per game. Dennis Johnson Seattle defeated the Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals, then needed seven games to oust Phoenix in the conference finals. That set up a rematch of the previous season's NBA Finals with the Washington Bullets. After Washington took Game 1, Seattle won four straight to claim the title. The NBA-champion Sonics featured no big-name superstars. Dennis Johnson would go on to greater fame with the Boston Celtics, and Sikma would become a perennial All-Star. But this year the Sonics were composed of small parts that added up to something big. Seattle followed its championship season with a 56-26 record in 1979-80, including a 33-8 mark at home. The Sonics finished in second place in the Pacific Division behind a Los Angeles Lakers team that had been bolstered by the arrival of rookie Magic Johnson. Seattle finished third in the NBA in defense, allowing only 103.8 points per game. Dennis Johnson scored 19.0 points per game and was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the second consecutive season. Other individual laurels went to Williams, who led the team in scoring (22.1 ppg), and to Sikma, who ranked fifth in the league in rebounding with 11.1 boards per game. For the second straight year Wilkens coached Sikma and Dennis Johnson in the NBA All-Star Game. The 1979-80 season marked the advent of the 3-point shot in the NBA, and Brown capitalized on the new rule, hitting at a .443 clip on long-range attempts to become the league's first-ever 3-point percentage leader. After a stellar regular season, the Sonics dumped Portland in the opening round of the 1980 NBA Playoffs. Seattle then needed all seven games to edge Midwest Division Champion Milwaukee in the Conference Semifinals, escaping with a 98-94 victory in Game 7 in Seattle. The Sonics met the Lakers in the Western 1980-81: Changing TimesThe team chemistry that had been the catalyst for Seattle's success was scrambled in the 1980-81 season. The Sonics nose-dived to a 34-48 record, 22 games worse than the year before, coming to rest at the bottom of the Pacific Division. Guard Gus Williams did not sign a contract and sat out the entire season, while backcourt-mate Dennis Johnson went to Phoenix in a trade for Paul Westphal. Steadying influence Paul Silas retired and became coach of the San Diego Clippers. Jack Sikma was still around, and the All-Star center led the squad in scoring with 18.7 points per game. He also grabbed 10.4 rebounds per contest, fifth best in the NBA. Westphal, who missed the second half of the season because of injuries, added 16.7 points per game in 36 appearances and joined Sikma in the 1981 NBA All-Star Game. More modest contributions came from Fred Brown (15.5 ppg), James Bailey (14.0), Vinnie Johnson (13.0), and John Johnson (11.5). 1981-83: "The Wizard" ReturnsGus Williams returned for the 1981-82 season and made an 18-game difference as the Sonics bounced back to 52-30, their third 50-win campaign in four years. Seattle was 11-8 on December 9 when they caught fire. During the next two months, they reeled off winning strings of six, eight, and seven games while compiling a 23-5 record. Williams, Jack Sikma, and Lonnie Shelton, who averaged 14.9 points, made up the Sonics delegation to the All-Star Game. Stellar play by Williams and Sikma helped the club to second place in the Pacific Division, five games behind the Los Angeles Lakers. Seattle bumped Houston from the first round of the playoffs but was then blown off the court in five games by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals. Williams was selected to the All-NBA First Team at season's end. He finished seventh in the league in both scoring (23.4 ppg) and steals (2.15 per game). Sikma ranked second in rebounding (12.7 rpg) and 10th in free-throw percentage (.855). As usual, the Sonics were stingy on defense, finishing fifth in the league by allowing 103.1 points per game. Seattle slipped a bit in 1982-83, finishing at 48-34 and in third place in the Pacific Division. The team started the season on a roll, winning its first 12 games to set what was at the time a club record. The Sonics stood at 23-7 on December 30 but then returned to reality with an eight-game losing streak. Sikma, Williams, and the newly-acquired David Thompson represented the Sonics at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game. Williams (20.0 ppg), Sikma (18.2), and Thompson (15.9) led the team in scoring. Sikma grabbed 11.4 rebounds per game, good for fifth in the league, while Williams ranked sixth in assists (8.0 apg) and seventh in steals (2.28 per game). The club sputtered until early March, then reignited for a 15-2 run. That boosted the Sonics into the playoffs, but two straight losses to Portland in a best-of-three first-round series made Seattle's postseason stay a short one. 1983-85: Ackerley Purchases TeamThe franchise changed hands before the 1983-84 season when Sam Schulman sold the team to Barry Ackerley. On the court, the year was unremarkable, as the club managed a 42-40 record, including a solid At the top of the team's scoring charts were Jack Sikma (19.1 ppg), Gus Williams (18.7), and newcomer Tom Chambers (18.1), who had been acquired from the San Diego Clippers in a preseason trade. Sikma, an All-Star for the sixth time, finished sixth in the league in rebounding (11.1 rpg). Williams ranked seventh in assists (8.4 apg) and third in steals (2.36 per game). At the end of the 1983-84 campaign Fred Brown retired after 13 seasons with the Sonics. He left as the team's career leader in games played (963), scoring (14,018 points), field goals (6,006), and steals (1,149). Brown had captained Seattle's 1978-79 NBA Championship team. His number 32 uniform was retired in 1986. The 1984-85 version of the Sonics fell all the way to 31-51, the fewest wins the team had earned since 1972-73. For most of the season the squad was not as bad as their final record suggested. With three weeks left in the season, the Sonics stood at 30-39 and had a chance to finish with a respectable record. Instead they rolled over and went 1-12 the rest of the way. 1985-86: Wilkens Era Comes To An EndCoach Lenny Wilkens was bumped up to the front office after the 1984-85 season. He would go on to coach Cleveland and then Atlanta, becoming the winningest coach in NBA history. He had directed the Bernie Bickerstaff replaced Wilkens as head coach for the 1985-86 campaign. The results were the same-a 31-51 record and a sideline view of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. But there were a few signs of hope. The main cause for optimism was ferocious 6-7 rookie Xavier McDaniel, who had led the NCAA in both scoring and rebounding in his senior season at Wichita State. McDaniel scored 17.1 points per game for the Sonics, grabbed 655 boards, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Jack Sikma matched McDaniel's 17.1 scoring average, while Tom Chambers led the team with 18.5 points per game. 1986-88: Seattle's "Big Three" Make NBA HistoryIn 1986-87 Seattle put an entertaining team on the floor, scoring like crazy and unexpectedly running all the way to the Western Conference Finals. The Sonics had retooled during the off-season, sending long-time center Jack Sikma to Milwaukee for Alton Lister. That move signaled a change from a stolid half-court offense to a looser, up-tempo approach that featured pressure defense and a bombs-away attack. When Sikma left the Sonics, he had accumulated more rebounds (7,729), blocked shots (705), and free throws made (3,044) than any player in team history. His number 43 jersey was raised to the Seattle Center Coliseum rafters in 1992. The team had also acquired Dale Ellis from Dallas in exchange for Al Wood. Ellis, rescued from the purgatory of the Mavericks bench, turned out to be one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in NBA history. For the season, he led Seattle in scoring with 24.9 points per game and was named the NBA's Most Improved Player. Tom Chambers, the All-Star Game MVP, added 23.3 points per game, and Xavier McDaniel threw in 23.0 points per contest. It marked the first time in league history that a team had three players average 23 points or better, and all three ranked among the league's top 15 scorers. McDaniel also hauled in 705 rebounds and finished second on the team in rebounds per game (8.6) to Lister (9.4). Lister ranked fifth in the NBA in blocked shots with 2.4 per game. Rookie Nate McMillan, the Sonics second-round pick also showed flashes of brilliance. On February 23, 1987, in a game against the Clippers, he set a franchise mark and tied the NBA rookie record by handing out 25 assists. Despite finishing below .500 at 39-43, Seattle made the playoffs. The Sonics met the heavily favored Dallas Mavericks in the first round. After getting waxed in the first game, 151-129, the Sonics shocked the Mavericks and the world by running away with the next three contests. The Conference Semifinals matched Seattle with Houston, and that series went six games. The decisive contest was an epic struggle, as Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon made a Herculean effort, including 49 points and 25 rebounds, that nevertheless fell just short. The Sonics won Game 6, 128-125, in double overtime. Seattle took its Cinderella story to Los Angeles for the Western Conference Finals, but the Lakers weren't playing along. They smashed the Sonics in four straight games. In 1987-88 the Sonics continued to show gradual improvement, bumping their record up to 44-38. Once again the "Big Three" of Ellis (25.8 ppg), McDaniel (21.4), and Chambers (20.4) provided most of the scoring. Ellis had the season's biggest scoring night when he tallied 47 points against San Antonio on January 9, a single point better than the total Chambers had put up against Houston the night before. McDaniel represented the Sonics at the 1988 NBA All-Star Game. McMillan finished sixth in the league in assists (8.6 apg) and eighth in steals (2.06 per game). Alabama product Derrick McKey, a 6-10 forward who possessed a host of subtle skills, was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. 1988-90: Chambers Leaves, But Ellis Steps Up His GameThe 1988-89 Sonics improved slightly, to 47-35, but had a somewhat different look. Figuring that there weren't enough basketballs to go around among Tom Chambers, Dale Ellis, and Xavier McDaniel, management let Chambers go to Phoenix via free agency and brought in rugged rebounding champ Michael Cage from the Los Angeles Clippers. Seattle still had plenty of firepower, however. Ellis averaged 27.5 points per game, third in the NBA and second in team history to Spencer Haywood's 29.2 clip in 1972-73. Ellis scored 46 points on opening night against Utah and hit for 49 on January 5 against Sacramento en route to setting team single-season records for total points (2,253) and three-point field goals (162). Ellis also finished second in the NBA with a .478 3-point field-goal percentage, and he represented Seattle at the 1989 NBA All-Star Game. McDaniel added 20.5 points per game, and second-year forward Derrick McKey chipped in 15.9 points per contest. Nate McMillan was developing into a solid player and finished fifth in the league in assists with 9.3 per game. After a third-place finish in the Pacific Division, Seattle drew Houston in the first round of the 1989 NBA Playoffs. The Sonics bumped the Rockets, three games to one, then ran into the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Lakers made quick work of the series, winning in four straight. In Bernie Bickerstaff's last year as head coach, the team dipped to 41-41 in 1989-90 and missed the playoffs. Ellis (23.5 ppg) and McDaniel (21.3) occupied their usual spots at the top of the Sonics' scoring charts, even though Ellis missed 27 games because of injuries suffered in a late January auto accident. Cage finished ninth in the NBA in rebounding, pulling down 10.0 boards per game. On November 9 the Sonics tangled with Milwaukee in a seemingly endless five-overtime game. The contest finally went to the Bucks by a single point, 155-154; the Sonics' total matched their all-time high. In that game Ellis scored 53 points, the second-highest total in club history to Fred Brown's 58 in 1974. On The most intriguing player on the Sonics' roster was 6-10 rookie Shawn Kemp. He had never played a college game, and for this reason he was an unknown quantity. The handful of past players drafted straight out of high school had included Moses Malone, Bill Willoughby, and Darryl Dawkins. Kemp played few minutes but got into 81 games, averaging 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds while blocking 70 shots. 1990-91: K. C. Can't Repeat Celtics MagicIn 1990-91, K. C. Jones, who had coached the Boston Celtics to two championships in the 1980s (and had won eight as a player), was brought in to guide the Sonics. But Seattle remained mired in mediocrity, finishing at 41-41 and grabbing the last Western Conference playoff spot. On November 18 the Sonics, normally a high-scoring team, turned in the weakest offensive performance in franchise history, scoring only 65 points in a loss to the Clippers. By midseason Seattle's front office had begun restructuring the squad. First, Xavier McDaniel was sent to the Phoenix Suns on December 7 in exchange for superb sixth man Eddie Johnson and a couple of draft picks. Next, Dale Ellis departed for Milwaukee on February 15 in a trade for Ricky Pierce, another scoring threat. Finally, on February 20, the Sonics sent young center Olden Polynice to the Los Angeles Clippers for big Benoit Benjamin. Of the players who were on hand for the entire season, Derrick McKey (15.3 ppg) and Shawn Kemp (15.0) topped the team in scoring. Kemp also grabbed 8.4 rebounds per game and set the Sonics single-game record for blocked shots by snuffing 10 Lakers attempts on January 18. First-round draft pick Gary Payton, who had been Sports Illustrated's College Player of the Year at Oregon State, took over the point guard duties from Nate McMillan and led the team with 6.4 assists per game. 1991-92: By George! Karl Engineers TurnaroundSeattle was still in transition during 1991-92, but the Sonics headed in a positive direction during the second half of the season. After a 7-3 start the team seemed to lose focus and, with their record at 18-18, Coach K. C. Jones was fired on January 15. On January 23 the Sonics hired George Karl, and the team immediately began to heat up, playing 27-15 ball the rest of the way. Their 47-35 regular-season record was good for fourth in the Pacific Division. Karl was an interesting character. After playing five years with the San Antonio Spurs in the mid-1970s he had embarked on a coaching career that included two-year stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. In each case the teams improved, but Karl began to acquire a reputation as an "egotistical genius." Cut loose from the NBA, he coached Albany of the Continental Basketball Association (his 1990-91 team was 50-6) and then Real Madrid in Europe. That's where Seattle President Bob Whitsitt tracked him down. The Sonics drew a powerhouse Golden State team in the first round of the 1992 playoffs, but Seattle stunned the Warriors by winning the series, three games to one. The key was Shawn Kemp, who dominated the Warriors inside despite being six months shy of his 23rd birthday. After averaging 15.5 points and 10.4 rebounds during the regular season, Kemp exploded against Golden State with averages of 22.0 points and 16.3 rebounds per game. The Sonics advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals but lost, four games to one, to the Utah Jazz. For the season, Ricky Pierce led the club in scoring with 21.7 points per game, and he finished third in the NBA with a .916 free-throw percentage. Cage ranked fifth in the league with a .566 field-goal percentage. Dana Barros, who had been selected one pick before Shawn Kemp in the 1989 NBA Draft, won the NBA 3-point field-goal percentage title with a .446 clip from long range. 1992-93: One Win Away From The FinalsEverything fell into place for the 1992-93 Sonics, who played an exciting, unconventional brand of basketball. Seattle fashioned a 55-27 record, second best in club history and good for second place in the Pacific Division behind the Phoenix Suns. The team consisted of a potent mix of talent, masterfully molded by Coach George Karl. Power forward Shawn Kemp, who had always been capable of spectacular offensive moves and dramatic slam dunks, began to acquire a mature focus. Vociferous point guard Gary Payton developed a jump shot to augment his offensive repertoire and also gained a reputation as a tenacious on-the-ball defender. In fact, the entire Sonics team relied on an innovative defensive strategy devised by Assistant Coach Bob Kloppenburg to disrupt opponents with relentless pressing, trapping, and double-teaming. Ricky Pierce led the squad in scoring with 18.2 points per game, followed by Kemp at 17.8. Kemp finished 12th in the league in rebounding (10.7 rpg) and blocked shots (1.87 per game) and played in his first NBA All-Star Game. Veteran Eddie Johnson finished third in the league with a .911 free-throw percentage. Steady Nate McMillan was fourth in the NBA in steals with 2.37 per game, while At midseason Seattle dealt center Benoit Benjamin and unsigned draft choice Doug Christie to the Los Angeles Lakers for Sam Perkins. The veteran Perkins provided a crafty inside game but also contributed an unexpected long-distance shooting touch, which would emerge as a secret weapon in the postseason. The playoffs were an exhilarating ride for Seattle fans. The Sonics defeated nemesis Utah three games to two in the first round, then prevailed in overtime of the seventh game in their Conference Semifinal series against Houston. The Western Conference Finals pitted Seattle against the Charles Barkley-led Phoenix Suns. The series went seven games before the Suns finally vanquished the Sonics, 123-110, in Game 7. 1993-94: Sonics Cruise In Regular Season, Fall Short In
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Sonics in the All-Star Game
From Walt Hazzard, their first representative during their expansion 1967-68 season, to Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, their most recent selections this year, the Sonics have been well represented on basketball's highest individual stage, the NBA All-Star Game.
In all, 20 Sonics players have been selected a total of 45 times to play in the All-Star Game. 16 times, those selections have been as starters. The Sonics have placed at least one player in 31 of the 37 All-Star Games in their history - including each of the last 12, the longest active streak in the NBA - and have had a pair of coaches on the sidelines a total of five times. It all got started with Hazzard, an expansion draft pick and one of the NBA's leading scorers that season at 23.9 points per game. On the strength of that performance, Hazzard was chosen for the 1968 All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden in New York. In 20 minutes of action, he scored nine points, grabbed three boards and handed out three assists. After the season, Hazzard was traded for another Western Conference All-Star, Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens would become the franchise's first superstar as well as the first of several players to make multiple All-Star appearances. Wilkens was an All-Star his first three seasons in Seattle, averaging 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Wilkens won the first of two Sonics All-Star MVP awards in 1971, when he scored a game-high 21 points (12 in the second quarter) on 8-for-11 shooting in the West's 108-107 victory. The other All-Star MVP did it in storybook fashion. Tom Chambers wasn't even supposed to be an All-Star, but he was selected as an injury replacement for Houston's Ralph Sampson to give the host Sonics a representative. Chambers ended up starting and dominating. Chambers led the way as the West rallied to force overtime, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter alone. He scored four more in overtime as the West pulled out a 154-149 win, finishing with a game-high 34 on 13-for-25 shooting. In front of his home fans, Chambers was picked as an unlikely MVP. Naturally, the Sonics player with the most All-Star appearances is guard Gary Payton, who was selected to nine straight games between 1994 and 2003 (there was no All-Star Game in 1999 because of the NBA's lockout), and as a starter in 1997 and 1998. Payton certainly had his memorable All-Star moments, mostly playing distributor. He averaged 9.4 points, 8.1 assists and 2.1 steals in his All-Star appearances. In 2002, Payton led the West with four three-pointers as the team set an All-Star record with 13. He also scored 18 points in the game, as he did in 1996. Payton handed out ten or more assists three times, with a high of 15 in 23 minutes in 1995. During his All-Star career, Payton is tied with Allen for the most three-point attempts of any player with 23. Right behind Payton is center and current assistant coach Jack Sikma, who made seven straight All-Star appearances for the Sonics from 1979-1985. Sikma's most notable All-Star moment came in 1981, when he had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, but missed a three at the buzzer. His best game was in 1984, when Sikma put together a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. All told, he averaged 7.4 points and 6.0 rebounds.
A pair of athletic power forwards who entered the NBA early made several All-Star appearances for the Sonics. Spencer Haywood was selected to the team from 1972-1975, three times as a starter, while Shawn Kemp went from 1993-1997, the last four times as a starter. Kemp grabbed 12 boards during the 1994 game. Haywood averaged 12.0 points and 7.8 rebounds, putting up 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in 1974. Some other players from the great Sonics teams anchored by Sikma got their chances as well. Gus Williams was selected in 1982 and 1983, and, like Sikma, also missed a chance to pull out a win when his own three was off with eight seconds to play in ‘82. Fred Brown, one of four Sonics with their jerseys retired, was picked in 1976, and Dennis Johnson, who Brown later backed up, went in 1979 and 1980, scoring 19 points and making seven of 13 shots the latter year. Lonnie Shelton, David Thompson and Paul Westphal - considered a bust because of injuries during his one season with the Sonics, but a 19-point scorer during his appearance - were all All-Star starters once apiece during the early 1980s. Meanwhile, the Sonics third star during the 1990s, Detlef Schrempf, was selected in 1995 and 1997. In 1998, Vin Baker made his only Sonics All-Star appearance. Unsurprisingly, those two Sonics squads, the ones of the late-70s and early-80s and those from the mid-90s, also produced the team's All-Star coaching appearances, by Wilkens (1979 and 1980) and George Karl (1994, 1996 and 1998, because of a subsequent rule that prevented coaches from coaching the All-Star team in consecutive years). Karl had the most auspicious All-Star coaching berth in 1994. Making his All-Star debut, Karl took the game more seriously than most coaches, sending double- and triple-teams at center Shaquille O'Neal, then with the Orlando Magic. O'Neal finished 2-for-12 from the field, but Karl angered the young superstar and also lost the game, 127-119. In fact, Karl lost all three times he coached in the All-Star Game, while Wilkens split his two appearances. At 34 points, Chambers had the most of any Sonics All-Star. His teammate, Dale Ellis, did threaten him in his only All-Star appearance in 1989. The noted sharpshooter hit 12-for-16 from the field and scored 27 points. In recent years, the Sonics All-Star torch has been carried by Payton, the team's only representative from 2000 to 2003. With Payton gone, the player he was traded for, Allen, picked up where Payton left off in 2004, scoring 16 points and playing down the stretch of a 136-132 Western Conference victory. Allen will be joined in Denver this year by Lewis, the first time since 1998 the Sonics have had two representatives. Allen and Lewis promise to provide the Sonics many more All-Star memories in the years to come. |
