Eric's Short and Sordid History of Seattle Sports: Part 2 (Sonics)

by user Andersed

Does this still qualify as Seattle sports history? I did a piece on the Mariners a few days ago that wasn't actually promoted, so apparently no one outside of Seattle cares about the city's sports either. Glad to see people on both coasts and the lands in between can share in the apathy. Anyway, you can check my page if you want to read Part I, you can read this if you want to read Part II, and you can wait patiently for Part III on the Seahawks.

Seattle SuperSonics - NBA. Established: 1967.

This year: You may have heard the news last week: the Sonics’ ownership and the city of Seattle are best friends! Actually, they were sold to Clay Bennett, a businessman from Oklahoma City who maintains that he really to give the Seattle area a chance. Translated: we have one more season before Ray Allen is a member of the Oklahoma City SuperTornadoes. We hardly knew you, Mohammed Sene, Johan Petro, and Robert Swift.

Recently: This is one situation where the cliche term “ roller coaster” really applies. The killer dip just happened last week. The beginning of the drop happened last season as the Sonics fired their new coach after less than 30 games and stumbled along in front of mediocre crowds. The ascent occurred during the Nate McMillan era as the team returned to exciting, winning basketball and actually made the city care again. Before that, they were coached by Paul Westphal. That was where fans paid for their tickets.

Overall: Not only do the Sonics have Seattle’s one modern title, but they lost in the 1996 NBA Finals to a ridiculous Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls team. Shawn Kemp was drug-free and not fat, Gary Payton had only one child named Gary, and George Karl’s abusive coaching style actually worked. The Sonics have made the playoffs many times in their history, partially because they’ve been more consistent than the Seahawks and Mariners, and partially because all but two NBA teams quality for the playoffs. I would qualify the Sonics as a franchise that was more successful on the court than in the community, in terms of making a lasting cultural impact. The outrage isn’t quite there right now.

Best moment: I can't say that this is my personal best moment, because I wasn't alive yet. It's impossible to ignore Seattle's only modern professional championship. We'll ignore a Stanley Cup title from the early 20th century, before the NHL. In 1979, Downtown Freddie Brown and Lenny Wilkens led the green and yellow-clad, short-shorted Sonics to the NBA title.

Worst moment: Until last Tuesday, it would've been something docile, like becoming the first #1 seed to lose in the first round of playoffs (to Denver in 1994). Luckily, the NBA rigged everything so that won't happen ever again. If you haven't heard, the Sonics were sold to an Oklahoma City group and are quite likely to move. That qualifies as the worst moment, I'd say.

R.I.P., Wally Walker. May you go down with the franchise you killed.

Date

Wed 07/26/06, 10:01 pm EST