May 17

May 17 The Seattle Supersonics: Kemp, Payton, Durant and an angry City

The Rise And Fall Of The Seattle SuperSonics

In the mid-’90s, one team above all others challenged the Chicago Bulls for the title of the most exciting team to watch; the Seattle Supersonics

NBA fans were first treated to a unique brand of basketball in the 80s that they had never seen before, it was called “Showtime”.

The 2005/2006 NBA season saw Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns introduce a daring style of fast-paced offense that attempted to score in 7 seconds or less.

Fast forward to 2009, when the Golden State Warriors, led by Steph Curry, changed the game into a run-and-gun 3-point shooting contest for 48 minutes.

Lost in between these revolutionary eras, and hardly ever mentioned in the same breath, are the Seattle Supersonics of the late 1990s.

The names Gary Payton, and Shawn Kemp, introduced “Lob City”, long before Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Highlight reel dunks, stifling defense by Payton, and a cast of characters that blended in perfectly to a style of basketball that dominated the NBA’s Western Conference. In this article, we will chronicle the highs and lows of the Sonics.

The journey will begin with Kemp and Payton, followed by the drop off of the team after the duo’s exit, the drafting of Kevin Durant, and the eventual move of the team to Oklahoma City. This is the untold story of The Rise And Fall Of The Seattle Supersonics.

“The Glove” And “The Reign Man” Era!

To say the names “The Glove”, and “Reign Man”, instantly result in fond memories of the Seattle Supersonics.

Of course, we are referring to none other than Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.

Ray Allen and some other notables played key roles in some successful moments for the team, but the glory days were most certainly under the leadership and talents of Payton and Kemp. The 2 eventual stars would play almost 8 seasons together.

Gary Payton: “The Glove”

Gary Payton became “The Glove” after building a reputation as one of the NBA’s best defenders on the ball.

Payton talked almost as hard as he defended. A night being defended by Payton was a difficult one, to say the least for opponents. Facing Payton and the Sonics meant a full game of listening to his trash talk, and the opposing guard almost in their shorts.

It was no coincidence he won both the 1996 NBA Defensive Player Of The Year Award and was the NBA Steals leader in that same season.

Most of Payton’s statistics were accumulated when he was a Supersonics player, and he had an impressive resume when it was all said and done.

● 9x NBA All-Star

● 2x All-NBA First Team

● 1996 NBA Defensive

● 9x NBA All-Defensive First Team

● 1996 NBA Steals Leader

Gary Payton spent 13 years in Seattle and left as the franchise leader in points, assists, and of course, steals. Payton eventually left in 2003 in pursuit of an NBA championship, which he won in 2006, in a minor role due to nearing the end of his career, as a member of the Miami Heat.

Shawn Kemp aka “The Reign Man”

Shawn Kemp at 19 years old, declared himself eligible for the NBA. Long before Lebron James entered the league from high school, Kemp decided that college was not for him, and a career in the NBA was in his sights now.

The Sonics drafted Kemp 17th overall in the 1st round of the 1989 NBA Draft Lottery. To say that as the youngest player in the league, Kemp struggled, would be an understatement. It was guidance from veteran players that gave Kemp the fuel he needed to explode into the All-Star and superstar that he became in only his 2nd season.

“Reign Man” was bestowed upon Kemp after a broadcaster witnessed the high-flying, posterizing dunks on a nightly basis. One of the greatest in-game dunks of all time is Kemp’s crowning of the Golden State Warriors’ Alton Lister in a 1992 playoff game.

Dunking was not all what Kemp was about, as he led his Seattle Supersonics to an appearance in the 1996 NBA Finals. Seattle won a franchise-record 64 games in 1996.

Here are Kemp’s highlights, all of which took place as a member of the Supersonics. Kemp battled weight issues and a lack of desire, leading to a quiet exit from the league in 2003 as a member of the Orlando Magic

● 6x NBA All-Star

● 3x All-NBA Second Team

The Rise of the Sonics

Kemp was absolutely dominant in the NBA Finals against a scorching-hot Chicago Bulls team, led by Michael Jordan.

Jordan’s Bulls won an unbelievable NBA record 72 games (a record until the Golden State Warriors broke it with 73 wins in the 2015 NBA season.), and cruised through the playoffs before beating Kemp, Payton, and the Sonics in 6 hard-fought games.

As a dynamic duo, Kemp and Payton would lift Seattle to the playoffs, once more in the following season. After eliminating the Phoenix Suns in 5 games in their 1st round matchup, the Supersonics lost in 7 games to the Houston Rockets in the 2nd round.

The Fall…

Messy negotiations in the offseason of 1997 led to the team trading Kemp to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Although Payton remained for 6 more seasons after his partner in crime, the Reign Man, had left and subsequently retired, it was the beginning of the end of the franchise as we knew it

Finally growing weary of mediocrity, Gary Payton left the team that drafted him, in order to chase a ring, which he did on the end of the bench in Miami.

The Seattle Supersonics hung around in the Western Conference, but failed to reach the prominence it had once achieved during the Kemp/Payton era. The team fired their coach Paul Westhphal, and replaced him with Nate McMillan.

In 2002 Seattle did not have a winning percentage of at least .500, which ended a streak of 11 years.

The Sonics did manage to somehow win the Pacific Division title in 2004, win 52 games, and beat the Sacramento Kings to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. The eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs took down Seattle in 6 well-played games, considering the talent level of the Spurs in comparison to a Supersonics squad led by Ray Allen.

Seattle’s Savior Arrives!

Seattle returned to Earth following their appearance in the conference semis, which earned them the pick of Kevin Durant in 2007. Durant was picked 2nd overall and was to be the team’s saviour and resurrect them out of the ashes of the NBA’s basement.

Durant did not disappoint as he led all rookies in scoring and won the NBA Rookie Of The Year Award. Seattle, however, thought to trade away their talent, and rely on Durant’s skills to figure things out and rescue the team.

Unfortunately, the team’s on-court struggles began to mirror the off-court drama surrounding a battle between the city and the team. Under tremendous amounts of pressure from the NBA, the Seattle Supersonics needed a new arena to be built.

Failed negotiations and an eventual break-off in talks signalled the end of the line for the Seattle Supersonics time in Seattle.

On To Oklahoma City!

New ownership in 2006 pleaded with the city of Seattle for funding to simply upgrade the archaic Key Arena. Needless to say Seattle did not oblige the team, and the team was sold to an ownership group in Oklahoma City for $350 million dollars.

The team was named the Oklahoma City Thunder and achieved more success and had arguably more talent on it than any team the Seattle franchise ever had. Names such as James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, and Serge Ibaka, all helped lift a small town team to an NBA Finals appearance in 2012.

Today the Thunder are in a rebuild movement, mostly drafting and developing new, young talent.

At The Buzzer! Summing up a Seattle Sob Story

The Seattle Supersonics, thanks largely in part to former All-Stars Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, with honourable mention to Ray Allen, wowed and thrilled fans for decades in the NBA. 6 Pacific Division titles, 3 Western Conference Finals Championships, and 1 NBA Championship, are the mark of this storied franchise, which still holds the hearts and minds of Seattle natives who remember the team.

A city that desperately holds its breath every time there is talk of league expansion. The NHL bringing a professional hockey team (Seattle Kraken) to Seattle has sparked a new conversation about a return of the NBA to Seattle.

While the talk is just that, Seattle Supersonics’ fans can only live off of the memories of their great team, until they get their NBA team back.