About the Seattle SuperSonics

The Seattle SuperSonics are a  professional basketball team and one of seven teams in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The SuperSonics play in Key Arena in Seattle, Washington, and wear green, gold and white jerseys. The Seattle SuperSonics name refers to the jet-aircraft industry based in the Seattle area.

The Seattle SuperSonics entered the league in the late 1960s and experienced stretches of success in the 1970s and 1990s. The Seattle SuperSonics advanced to the NBA Finals in 1978 and then won the 1979 NBA championship with a club that featured forward Jack Sikma and guards Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, and Fred Brown. The Seattle SuperSonics put together a number of winning seasons in the early and mid-1990s, advancing to the NBA Finals in 1996 with a team led by forward Shawn Kemp and guard Gary Payton.

With the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets), the Seattle SuperSonics joined the NBA in the 1967-68 season as an expansion team. Lenny Wilkens became the teams player-coach in 1969, and he and forward-center Spencer Haywood led the Seattle SuperSonics to their first winning season, a 47-35 mark in 1971-72.

After four years with the Seattle SuperSonics, Wilkens was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1973. A year later, the Seattle SuperSonics hired former Boston Celtics star Bill Russell as head coach. Russell guided the Seattle SuperSonics to its first two playoff appearances before Wilkens returned in 1977 as full-time head coach. In the 1977-78 season, six players on the Seattle SuperSonics roster averaged more than 10 points per game but fewer than 20 points per game. This balanced scoring was fortified by the Seattle SuperSonics tough defense and team play. In the playoffs the Seattle SuperSonics unexpectedly advanced to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Washington Bullets in seven games. The Seattle SuperSonics attack looked much the same the next season, 1978-79. The Seattle SuperSonics won the Pacific Division, marched through the playoffs, and in a rematch with the Bullets, won the NBA title in five games.

The Seattle SuperSonics recovered from an erratic seven-year period in 1986-87. That season the team featured three explosive forwardsDale Ellis, Xavier McDaniel, and Tom Chamberswho each averaged more than 20 points per game. Despite the Seattle SuperSonics losing record in the regular season, the team upset the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets in the playoffs before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

The Seattle SuperSonics retooled in the late 1980s with a cast of young players, notably Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton. George Karl, a former San Antonio Spurs player, became head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics in 1992. Karl, an offensive genius instituted a strong defense and a fast-paced offense. The Seattle SuperSonics won more than 50 games in five consecutive seasons, 1992-93 through 1996-97, and reached the playoffs each year. In 1993 the Seattle SuperSonics advanced to the Western Conference Finals, losing to the Phoenix Suns in seven games. The Seattle SuperSonics followed two first-round playoff exits in 1994 and 1995 by reaching the NBA Finals in 1996. There they lost to the Chicago Bulls.