The 1982 Sonics would be the last 50-plus win team ever coached by the legendary Lenny Wilkens.
The team was led by long time Sonics greats Jack Sikma and Gus Williams, as well as power forward Lonnie Shelton who made the only all-star appearance of his career this season; Sikma and Williams were also all-stars.
Shelton and Sikma were both named to the All-Defensive second team while Williams landed on the All-NBA first team.
In the draft, the Sonics landed Utah PF Danny Vranes with the fifth overall pick. Vranes would go on to play in the NBA until 1988 before going to play overseas. Vranes had his best season in 1985, making the NBA's All-Defensive second team. In his rookie season, Vranes averaged just 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. In the second round of the 1981 draft, the Sonics took combo guard Mark Radford from Oregon State.
The Sonics made their way through the season and ended with 52 wins; it was the fifth best record in the league, good enough for 2nd in the Pacific division, and a trip to the post season. The Sonics also finished 3rd in defensive rating this season.
In the first round, the Sonics handled Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes and the Houston Rockets in three games, beating the Rockets 2-1 in the series.
The second round wouldn't be as easy for the Sonics though, as they were running up against the "Iceman" George Gervin and his San Antonio Spurs squad. The Spurs, led by Gervin's and Mike Mitchell's 24-plus points-per-game in the series took the Sonics down in five games. The Sonics were in every game though, with three of the five games being decided by two points, and the only game Seattle won (game two) was decided in their favor by 15 points, the largest margin of victory in the series.
Here's how the roster shaped out:
ROSTER
|
No. |
Player |
Pos |
Ht |
Wt |
Exp |
College |
|
20 |
James Bailey |
PF |
6-9 |
220 |
2 |
Rutgers University |
|
32 |
Fred Brown |
SG |
6-3 |
182 |
10 |
University of Iowa |
|
40 |
James Donaldson |
C |
7-2 |
275 |
1 |
Washington State University |
|
22 |
Bill Hanzlik |
SF |
6-7 |
185 |
1 |
University of Notre Dame |
|
24 |
Armond Hill |
PG |
6-4 |
190 |
5 |
Princeton University |
|
27 |
John Johnson |
SF |
6-7 |
200 |
11 |
University of Iowa |
|
15 |
Vinnie Johnson |
SG |
6-2 |
200 |
2 |
Baylor University |
|
3 |
Greg Kelser |
SF |
6-7 |
190 |
2 |
Michigan State University |
|
30 |
Mark Radford |
SG |
6-4 |
190 |
R |
Oregon State University |
|
8 |
Lonnie Shelton |
PF |
6-8 |
240 |
5 |
Oregon State University |
|
43 |
Jack Sikma |
C |
6-11 |
230 |
4 |
Illinois Wesleyan University |
|
20 |
Phil Smith |
SG |
6-4 |
185 |
7 |
University of San Francisco |
|
33 |
Ray Tolbert |
PF |
6-9 |
225 |
R |
Indiana University |
|
23 |
Danny Vranes |
SF |
6-7 |
210 |
R |
University of Utah |
|
42 |
Wally Walker |
SF |
6-7 |
190 |
5 |
University of Virginia |
|
1 |
Gus Williams |
PG |
6-2 |
175 |
5 |
University of Southern California |
STATS
|
Player |
G |
MP |
FG% |
FT% |
TRB |
AST |
STL |
PPG |
|
Gus Williams |
80 |
2876 |
.486 |
.734 |
244 |
549 |
172 |
23.4 |
|
Jack Sikma |
82 |
3049 |
.479 |
.855 |
1038 |
277 |
102 |
19.6 |
|
Lonnie Shelton |
81 |
2667 |
.486 |
.783 |
509 |
252 |
99 |
14.9 |
|
Fred Brown |
82 |
1785 |
.455 |
.860 |
140 |
238 |
69 |
11.2 |
|
Wally Walker |
70 |
1965 |
.480 |
.672 |
305 |
218 |
36 |
9.9 |
|
James Donaldson |
82 |
1710 |
.609 |
.629 |
490 |
51 |
27 |
8.1 |
|
Bill Hanzlik |
81 |
1974 |
.468 |
.784 |
266 |
183 |
81 |
5.8 |
|
Danny Vranes |
77 |
1075 |
.546 |
.601 |
198 |
56 |
28 |
4.9 |
|
Greg Kelser |
49 |
558 |
.438 |
.655 |
154 |
45 |
13 |
4.9 |
|
Phil Smith |
26 |
596 |
.468 |
.727 |
69 |
74 |
22 |
8.2 |
|
Ray Tolbert |
52 |
492 |
.506 |
.556 |
99 |
25 |
8 |
3.4 |
|
Mark Radford |
43 |
369 |
.540 |
.507 |
29 |
57 |
16 |
3.4 |
|
James Bailey |
10 |
180 |
.477 |
.364 |
48 |
13 |
3 |
6.6 |
|
John Johnson |
14 |
187 |
.489 |
.750 |
18 |
29 |
4 |
4.2 |
|
Armond Hill |
21 |
243 |
.514 |
.739 |
25 |
25 |
5 |
2.6 |
|
Vinnie Johnson |
7 |
104 |
.409 |
.750 |
15 |
11 |
6 |
3.9 |
Outside of the research I did, I know very little about this team. Clips of the game four loss to San Antonio are on YouTube, but outside of that I never saw this team play. Did you? Share your memories, thoughts, and debate what Sonics team was the greatest of all-time in the comment section. And don't forget to vote!