Tag Archives: Seattle SuperSonics

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Gary Payton

Posted on by
Gary Payton (Slam)

Gary Payton (Slam)

There’s four major points to know about Gary Payton’s NBA career. So, let’s take them one by one…

First, he was terrifying defender. At 6’4″, he had the size to defend either guard position. Nicknamed “The Glove”, Payton was a stellar on-ball defender and would pick your pocket in the process. He didn’t get those Allen Iverson type steals gambling on passing lanes. He’d straight up mug you for the ball. Nine straight times he was a member of the NBA’s All-Defensive 1st Team and each one was well-deserved.

It’s no accident Michael Jordan easily had his worst NBA Finals series  in 1996 as he was hounded by Payton.

Second, he had a telepathic connection with Shawn Kemp. Payton’s natural passing ability and Kemp’s natural leaping ability created one of the great one-two punches in NBA history. Time and again they connected on absolutely insane alley oops.

Third, he was a talented scorer. This portion of Payton’s skills didn’t truly become revealed until the late 90s and early 2000s. For the first part of his career, Payton played on a staked Sonics team with the likes of Kemp, Ricky Pierce, Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins, and Kendall Gill. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. However, as time went on, the Sonics slowly deteriorated in overall talent and Payton resorted to more and more of his quick off-the-dribble explosions and even more annoying for defenders his sturdy post-up moves. Remember that being 6’4″ made him taller than most point guards and caused matchup havoc.

Fourth, he did vagabond for a ring. The Sonics traded Payton to the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the 2003 season. In 2004 he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in a blatant, and ultimately failed, attempt at riding coattails to a ring. In 2005 he arrived in Boston and again didn’t succeed. In 2006 he landed in Miami and finally tasted title glory. He certainly gave forth a good effort, but by that point he was nowhere near the offensive force, let alone the frightening defensive force, he was once was.

So maybe he didn’t “earn” that ring that particular season, but the Glove had undoubtedly put in the dues in over a decade of All-Star and All-Defensive effort. And that’s all there is to know about Gary Payton.

Well, there’s actually five things.

Fifth, even Oscar the Grouch would be offended by the amount of trash Gary Payton talked. Watch out for the Glove’s defense and the f-bombs.

Gary Payton buck you fuddy

Seasons Played: 1991 – 2007

Seattle SuperSonics

Seattle SuperSonics

Accolades

NBA -
Champion (2006)
Defensive Player of the Year (1996)
2x All-NBA 1st Team (1998, 2000)
5x All-NBA 2nd Team (1995-’97, 1999, 2002), 2x All-NBA 3rd Team (1994, 2001)
9x All-Defensive 1st Team (1994 – 2002)
9x All-Star (1994-’98, 2000-’03)
All-Rookie 2nd Team (1991)

Statistics

NBA – 1233 Games
16.3 PPG, 6.7 APG, 3.9 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 46.6% FG, 72.9% FT
SPG Leader (1996)
4th All-Time in Steals, 8th All-Time in Assists, 20th All-Time in FGs Made, 29th All-Time in Points
9th All-Time in Games, 9th All-Time in Minutes
21st All-Time in SPG, 32nd All-Time in APG

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Gus Williams

Posted on by
Gus Williams

Gus Williams

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, few, if any, guards could match the greatness of Gus Williams.

From 1978 to 1985, Gus averaged 20 points, 6 assists and 2.3 steals a game. At 6’2″, Williams was able to play either guard position. He was at his best busting out on the break and creating sublime scoring opportunities on the run. As time wore on and his team’s needs changed, Gus became more and more of a play-maker topping off with 8.5 APG in 1984.

Williams’ heyday was certainly with the Seattle SuperSonics, but his illustrious career began in Golden State.

Drafted by the Warriors in 1975, Williams was a sturdy backup in his first two years (1976 and 1977). That Warriors squad should have been a perennial contender in the late 1970s. Rick Barry was moving just a touch past his prime but with Williams, Jamaal Wilkes, Phil Smith, Clifford Ray and Robert Parish, that team initially had more than enough talent to contend. Indeed, The Warriors won the NBA title the year before Gus showed up (1975) and they reeled off an NBA best 59 wins in his rookie season (1976).

Ultimately, the Warriors fell apart in the 1976 postseason, losing the Western Conference Finals to 42-win Phoenix, and never recovered. Overlooked as a prized asset, the Warriors let Gus leave and sign with the Sonics after the 1976-77 season. One man’s afterthought is another’s franchise cornerstone.

Williams was inserted into Seattle’s starting lineup and his career truly took off. With Dennis Johnson playing alongside him, Williams wasn’t a full-time point guard or a full-time shooting guard. He just went out and played in the backcourt to stunning results. The Sonics made the NBA Finals in 1978, losing to the Washington Bullets in 7 games. The next year, Seattle returned to the Finals in a rematch with Washington. This time they captured the title in just 5 games with Gus averaging 29 points in the series.

Much like the Golden State year’s though, Gus’s time in Seattle was marred by a team that fell apart at the seams and didn’t maintain its greatest potential. Gus was no bystander in the Sonics’ fall. Offered a 3-year, $1.5 million deal by management, Williams rejected the deal and held out in the summer of 1980. The hold out continued into the fall. Then into the new year. The contract dispute ending up lasting the duration of the 1980-81 season.

Finally, Gus and Seattle agreed to a deal that paid him $700,000 a year, but the Sonics won just one more playoff series through the rest of Williams’ tenure with the club. In the summer of 1984, he was traded to the Washington Bullets where enjoyed one final campaign of brilliance in 1985 before the undefeated Father Time began to take his toll on Gus.

Gus Williams’ career unfortunately gets lost in what is sometimes perceived as the NBA’s doldrums, the late 1970s. His Sonics were a top-shelf contender in 1978, 1979, and 1980, losing in the NBA Finals, winning the title, and losing in the Western Conference Finals, respectively. But they lost in the WCF to the Showtime Lakers who ran away with the West, and the subsequent media attention, for the 1980s leaving Gus and his accomplishments in the dust.

However, it’s never too late to appreciate greatness. Memory may not instantly recognize Gus Williams and his Sonics of the era as great, but the history shows that indeed they were and indeed he was.

Seasons Played: 1976 – 1987

Seattle SuperSonics

Seattle SuperSonics

Accolades

NBA -
Champion (1979)
All-NBA 1st Team (1982), All-NBA 2nd Team (1980)
2x All-Star (1982-’83)
All-Rookie 1st Team (1976)

Statistics

NBA - 825 Games
17.1 PPG, 5.6 APG, 2.7 RPG,  2.0 SPG, 46.1% FG, 75.6% FT
11th All-Time in SPG, 23rd All-Time in Steals,

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Detlef Schrempf

Posted on by
Detlef Schrempf

Detlef Schrempf

Detlef Schrempf is one of the more fascinating and interesting players in NBA history. For starters, he’s clearly one of the more versatile players to ever suit up. For non-starters, he regularly came off the bench until he was 30 years old. Finally, Detlef was one of the first European players to have a major impact on the NBA.

Drafted by the Dallas Mavericks, Detlef didn’t see too much playing time as a reserve player. In 1987, however, he gave a glimpse to his long-range shooting acumen with a blistering 48% shooting from downtown. Traded to the Indiana Pacers midway through the 1988-89 season, Schrempf continued to come off the bench, but saw a significant bump in his minutes and production. By 1993 he was finally promoted to the starting lineup and produced a staggering line of 19 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6 assists per game. Not bad for a 6’9″, 210 lbs. power forward.

And don’t let the slender frame fool you, Detlef was at home camping out at the three-point line, attacking off the dribble, or posting up on the low block. His vast array of skills made him a 3x All-Star and also he’s one of only three players to win the Sixth Man of the Year Award twice along with Ricky Pierce and Kevin McHale. Schrempf and McHale are the only two men to win the award in back-to-back seasons.

Schrempf was dealt from the Pacers to the Seattle SuperSonics prior to the 1993-94 season. Detlef, of course, continued his fine all-around play. In 1995, he averaged a career-high 19.2 points per game while shooting a ridiculous 52.3% FG, 51.4% 3PT, and 83.9% FT. The next season, the SuperSonics reached the NBA Finals but lost to the Chicago Bulls.

That series was notable for both squads prominently featuring foreign players: the Sonics with Detlef and the Bulls with Toni Kukoc. Clearly, the NBA was becoming more familiar and amenable to the European player. And why not? If guys like Detlef were a sign of things to come, then NBA teams would have been fools to ignore the benefits.

However, even if Detlef weren’t a pioneering European player, he’d still have the credentials to strut into this Hall of Fame.

Seasons Played: 1986 – 2001

Accolades

NBA –
2x Sixth Man of the Year (1991-’92)
All-NBA 3rd Team (1995), 3x All-Star (1993, ’95, ’97)

Statistics

NBA - 1136 Games
13.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 0.8 SPG, 49.1% FG, 38.4% 3PT, 80.3% FT

The Lowdown: Jack Sikma

Posted on by

Years Active: 1978 – 1991
Career Stats: 1107 games, 33.4 mpg
15.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, 0.9 bpg, 1.0 spg, 46.4% FG, 32.8% 3-PT FG, 84.9% FT
Playoff Stats: 102 games, 34.9 mpg
14.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 bpg, 0.8 spg, 44.5% FG, 24.4% 3-PT FG, 83% FT
Accolades: 7x All-Star (1979 – ’85), All-Rookie 1st Team (1978), All-Defensive 2nd Team (1982); FT% Leader (1988); NBA Champion (1979)

Four years ago someone asked the Sonics’ then-general manager, Zollie Volchok, if he would consider trading Sikma for Moses Malone. “I wouldn’t trade Jack Sikma for the resurrection of Marilyn Monroe in my bedroom,” was Volchok’s reply, and the feeling was that he spoke for a majority of the bedrooms in Seattle.

Via A Buck, For a Change

The NBA career of Jack Sikma began on the low-end of “no expectations.” He played college ball at Illinois Wesleyan, a small university in the NAIA garnering very little attention nationwide. However, he did catch the eye of Seattle Supersonics executive Lenny Wilkens. Much to the disbelief, chagrin and jeers of Sonics fans, Sikma was selected 8th overall in the 1977 draft. By the time he was traded to Milwaukee nearly a decade later, Sikma had become a cherished idol of Sonics fans with his rock steady play.

Sikma’s game was a curious blend of power and finesse. Until his senior year in high school, he played guard. However, his height exploded to 6’ 10” shifting him to the post. Barely able to hop over a phonebook and still figuring out his own dimensions and abilities in his new body, Sikma routinely had his shot blocked by opponents. As he recalled it, “I had SPALDING written across my forehead a few times.”

Continue reading →

The Lowdown: Paul Silas

Posted on by

Years Active: 1965 – 1980
Regular Season Stats: 1254 games, 27.9 mpg
9.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 43.2% FG, 67.3% FT
Postseason Stats: 163 games, 28.3 mpg
6.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 39.7% FG, 69.2% FT
Accolades: 2x All-Star (1972, ’75), 2x All-Defensive 1st Team (1975-’76), 3x All-Defensive 2nd Team (1971-’73), 3x NBA Champion (1974, ’76, ’79)

Photo via Sports Illustrated

While Havlicek is a quiet, gentlemanly sort, Silas is a cordial, beaming man who could teach smiling at a stewardess school. And while Havlicek is exacting of himself and his teammates, Silas may be doubly so.

- They’re Replaying The Sixth Man Theme

In 1972, Paul Silas was traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Boston Celtics. The 6’7″ forward wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect of moving from sunny Arizona to Massachusetts. It wasn’t just the weather that he was wary of, however. Already an 8-year veteran, he had heard tall tales of the Celtic mystique all his career. His skepticism soon dissipated:

“To be truthful, I thought it was a lot of nonsense. But when I arrived it was amazing. It’s almost like a collegiate atmosphere in a pro world—an atmosphere of total sacrifice for the good of the team, on and off the court. It’s a way of life. You just fall into it.”

Those Celtics of John Havlicek, Jo Jo White and Dave Cowens fell into Silas at the right moment. Just a year earlier in 1971, Silas had shed a commendable 30 pounds to drop his weight from 240 to 210. Before, during his days with the St. Louis Hawks, Silas was known as one of the NBA’s premier tough guys. A mountain of a man patrolling the lane and dominating the boards. It was an era overly focused on beefing up frontlines to thwart Wilt Chamberlain. After the weight loss, Silas stunned opponents with a new-found ability to gracefully run the court and beat his man for easy buckets. And in the halfcourt set, his lighter frame allowed better lift on his jumper. His defense remained almost as stout as it was before, but he did concede his lost weight allowed opponents to sometimes get him out of rebounding position.

Watching Silas’s transformation was Red Auerbach who exchanged Charlie Scott’s draft rights for Paul. Red correctly surmised that Silas was just what the Celtics needed. Already a 56-win team the season before, the Celtics had arisen from the short slumber following Bill Russell’s retirement in 1969. They needed a veteran ready to contribute immediately alongside center Cowens. The addition of Silas catapulted the Celtics to 68 wins.

Continue reading →

The Lowdown: Bob Rule

Posted on by

Years Active: 1968 – 1975
Career Stats: 17.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 46.1% FG, 68.6% FT
Accolades: All-Rookie 1st Team (1968), All-Star (1970)

Bob Rule

Indeed, individual accolades were about the only glory associated with the SuperSonics during their first seven seasons, as the team finished with a winning record only once. Rule continued to be a scoring force, tallying 49 points on November 15, 1969, to set a then-team record for points in a game. He was named an All-Star for the 1969-1970 season.

Via “Seattle SuperSonics — Part 1″ by Dan Johnson

He held the Sonics rookie-record for ppg until Kevin Durant showed up just a few seasons ago. He set a Sonics franchise record with 49 points in a single game in 1971. His 47 points in a game as a rookie is still the highest for a Sonics (or Thunder) rookie. He could knock down the mid-range jumper. He was methodical on the boards. A handful downlow on offense.

But I’ll be honest with you. I’ve only seen a grand total of maybe 10 minutes of Bob Rule on the basketball court all from this YouTube video of a 1967 Christmas Eve game between the San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics. Everything I know of him has been distilled from the written word. There’s no video of him easily accessible. The photograph leading this story was the lone one I could find that had Rule with a basketball in hand. Even the Seattle Sonics had trouble finding Rule’s whereabouts when they wanted him to participate in team functions after his retirement. It’s as if Rule never existed.

Slinking away into obscurity is certainly antithetical to Rule’s NBA entrance. In 1967, the expansion Seattle SuperSonics selected Bob 19th overall and he certainly did not disappoint. A burly 6’9″ C, he gave good meaning to his surname. In just 30 minutes of action, Rule delivered 18 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and was selected to the All-Rookie 1st Team.

For his next season, Rule unleashed a reign of destruction on his fellow centers. Averaging 24 points and 11.5 rebounds, Bob was beastly. He led all centers in scoring with Nate Thurmond coming in a distant 2nd with 21.5 points but in 45 minutes, 7 more than what Rule was averaging. The Evening Independent recalled Rule getting the best of Celtics legend Bill Russell in November 1968:

“Rule, who averaged 21 points in seven games against the Celtics last year, once again showed Russell little respect last night as he led Seattle to a 114-112 National Basketball Association victory over Boston. The 6-9 pro sophomore from Colorado State U. manhandled Russell as he scored 37 points, including 26 in the second half and 11 straight as Seattle was coming from behind in the final period.”

The Sonics struggled to make good on his stellar play nightly as they finished the season with just 30 wins, but Rule’s rise and the acquisition of Lenny Wilkins that year seemed to promise better days.

The 1969-70 season saw more of the same from Rule. 24.6 ppg and 10.3 rpg. And again he provided some 4th quarter heroics:

…the New Yorkers had to play Seattle without Walt Frazier, who suffered a groin injury, and for a time without Willis Reed after he fouled out in the final minutes. Despite young Mike Riordan’s best performance ever – 27 points replacing [Walt] Frazier – the SuperSonics, sparked by Bob Rule’s 14-point fourth quarter, won 112-105.

Rule was named to his 1st and only All-Star team that season. Seattle behind Rule, Wilkins and Bob Boozer continued their improvement with 36 wins, missing the playoffs by 3 games. The Sonics seemed poised for a breakout. The prodigal PF Spencer Haywood would arrive for the 1970-71 season but only after sitting out the first several months. A tandem of Haywood and Rule in the frontcourt with Wilkins in the back was a tantalizing prospect. But that’s all it ever would be.

Before the season opener in Detroit, Rule let it be known he wanted a trade out of Seattle. Perhaps to entice suitors, he dropped 37 points on the Pistons. Rule kept the tear a-rollin’ averaging 30 p0ints and 11.5 rebounds over the 1st four games. And there his stats for that season remained. Rule snapped his Achilles tendon in that 4th game of the season sidelining him for the year. Maybe his weight gain over the summer and the crash diet to shed the pounds created the tendon instability, but the effect was undeniable.

Rule was never the same afterwards nor did anyone pay much heed to him. Spencer Haywood arrived for the last 33 games of the ’71 campaign and the next year made Rule a forgotten man. in 1972, Spencer was the go-to scorer (26ppg) which relegated Rule to the bench. 16 games into the season, Bob was traded to Philadelphia. His 17 points and 8 rebounds there were respectable, but his explosiveness was gone. Soon afterwards he bounced to Cleveland for a spell and then to Milwaukee, where he declared: “I know I can become the kind of player I really am, the kind I was in Seattle.At other places, they expected me to be something else.”

Rule appeared in one game for the Bucks before being waived. It was the end of the line. And it’s a sad reminder of just how fleeting success can be. Rule was the finest offensive center in the NBA for back-to-back seasons was well on his way to a third year of domination and then it all vanished. Quick as a snap.

Hall of Fame Snubs: Spencer Haywood

Posted on by

Spencer Haywood (1970 – 1983)

Regular Season: 20.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.1 BPG, 46.9% FG, 79.6% FT
Playoffs: 19.6 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.4 SPG, 1.1 BPG, 47.9% FG, 80.6% FT
Accolades (ABA): MVP (1970), Rookie of the Year (1970), All-ABA 1st Team (1970), All-Star (1970)
Accolades (NBA): 2x All-NBA 1st Team (1972-73), 2x All-NBA 2nd Team (1974-75), 4x All-Star (1972-75)

Spencer Haywood was an offensive terror on the court as an agile, explosive power forward who could also fill in at center for a spell. In his lone season at the University of Detroit, Haywood delivered an astonishing 32 points and 22 rebounds per game on 56.7% shooting from the field on his way to the AP All-America 1st Team. The next year in his lone ABA season he nearly replicated his collegiate performance with 30 points and 19.5 rebounds per game. His phenomenal one-and-done stints in college and the ABA were a result of his on-court talent and courtroom legal battles.

Haywood challenged the NBA’s rule that draft entrants needed to be four years removed from their high school graduating class. The ABA provided a nice stopgap for Haywood where his stellar performance for the Denver Rockets garnered him both, the MVP and Rookie of the Year, awards. However, Haywood’s ABA contract turned out to be a byzantine affair and is best summed up by David Friedman.

In the meantime, the NBA acquiesced to Haywood’s suit (which eventually went to the Supreme Court) and allowed “underclassmen with financial hardship” to enter the league. Haywood was off to the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle SuperSonics. In his abbreviated first season (33 games), Haywood managed 20 PPG and 12 RPG. The following four seasons, Haywood would hit his stride and produce the best seasons of his NBA career peaking in 1973 with 29 PPG and 13 RPG. During this run, he made the all-star team each season (starting three times) and would be selected to the All-NBA 1st and 2nd teams (twice a piece).

Continue reading →