(1) 1996 Seattle SuperSonics (64-18) vs. (44) 2008 Seattle SuperSonics (20-62)
This is the year that the incredible pairing of Kemp and Payton made the Finals….Kemp rained down 20-11, while Payton put up 19-4-8-3….Not only that, they got 17-5-4 from Detlef Schrempf, 16-4-3 from Hershey Hawkins, and 12-5 from Sam Perkins….this is a pretty dangerous team. A pretty exciting team to watch also….
The last year in Seattle….Durant had 20-4 as a rookie, 13-7 came from Chris Wilcox, Earl Watson had 11-3-7, while Jeff Green had 11-5, and Nick Collison had 10-9…..Their going to get CRUSHED by 1996…
(2) 1994 Seattle SuperSonics (63-19) vs. (43) 2009 Oklahoma City Thunder (23-59)
You may remember this team as the 1st seeded Sonics team that lost to Denver in the first round…They weren’t too bad though; Payton had 17-3-6, Kemp had 18-11, Schrempf had 15-6, Kendall Gill had 14-3-4, and Sam Perkins had 12-5….not too bad, but definitely not as good as 1996.
Great. Our first OKC team. Durant had 25-7, Jeff Green had 17-7, and Russell Westbrook debuted with 15-5-5 (I don’t like Westbrook either…I don’t really like scoring point guards, I prefer the Chris Paul type…Or a Gary Payton type...).
(3) 1998 Seattle SuperSonics (61-21) vs. (42) 1968 Seattle SuperSonics (23-59)
I wouldn’t bet on this team to go far…Kemp was in Cleveland and all they got in return was an alcoholic (Vin Baker…19-8). Payton had 19-5-8 this year, while they got 16-7-4 from Schrempf. It seems surprising that THIS got them 60 wins….That’s the late 90s for you….Expansion doesn’t solve everything…
Year one of the Sonics…..not really much happening…Mahdi Abdul-Rahman had 24-4-6, Bob Rule had 18-10, and Tom Meschery had 15-10.
(4) 1995 Seattle SuperSonics (57-25) vs. (41) 1973 Seattle SuperSonics (26-56)
It’s obvious that the 90s are the best time for the Sonics….this is another great example…This really is a loaded team, led by Payton (21-3-7), Schrempf (19-6-4), and Kemp (19-11), plus they got 14-4-3 from Kendall Gill and 13-5 from Sam Perkins.
Spencer Haywood had a good year (29-13)….but the team did not. Downtown Freddie Brown had 14-4-6, Jim Fox had 11-11, and Dick Snyder had 14-4-4.
(5) 1997 Seattle SuperSonics (57-25) vs. (40) 1969 Seattle SuperSonics (30-52)
Another great year by the best two SuperSonics of all time…Kemp had 19-10, and Payton gloved 22-5-7. Schrempf had 17-7-4, and Hershey Hawkins had 14-4-3….Not too bad.
Pretty good team for 30 wins….Their leading scorer (Mahdi Abdul-Rahman) was traded off to Atlanta, and in return they get point guard Lenny Wilkens, who had some great twilight years here, starting with 22-6-8 this year. Bob Rule led scoring with 24-12, while Tom Meschery had 14-10….not too bad, though they are definitely going to lose to their 1997 opponent.
(6) 1980 Seattle SuperSonics (56-26) vs. (39) 2007 Seattle SuperSonics (31-51)
The year after the championship….A pretty good team actually, but it would be broken up after the year when DJ goes to Phoenix….In the meantime, DJ had 19-5-4 this year, Gus Williams had 22-3-5, Jack Sikma had 14-11, Freddie Brown had 12-2-2, while Paul Silas made an appearance, though worth only 4-5.
This got them Durant…Ray Allen (55 games) played his last Seattle year, averaging 26-5-4, while Rashard Lewis (also in his last Seattle year…) had 22-7…(He’d do a sign-‘n-trade with Orlando….I wish for you to tell me ONE reason why Rashard Lewis is worth 15 million! Let alone 20! Please tell me….ANY logic will do. Because there is none…He scored above 20 points (barely) three times, and had 6-5-7 boards before the signing….How the hell does that remotely make sense? WHY WHY WHY! It’s a totally stupid signing by Orlando ((his numbers dropped when he got there….wonder if there is any correlation?)…luckily, he’s an excuse for Washington to get rid of the massive contract of Arenas….that one isn’t as stupid….but it ranks up there on stupid signings….It seemed stupid EVEN BEFORE HE BROUGHT GUNS INTO THE LOCKER ROOM! Why would you sign such a big, long contract to someone COMING OFF A KNEE INJURY!!!!!!!! *Sigh*……). Chris Wilcox had 14-8….
(7) 1993 Seattle SuperSonics (55-27) vs. (38) 1986 Seattle SuperSonics (31-51)
An OK team…Ricky Pierce led scoring with 18-3-3 while Reign Man had 18-11, and Payton had 14-3-5. Eddie Johnson added 14 points, and Michael Cage had 6-8.
Tom Chambers (19-7) faced a slight downgrade in scoring for him, but he more than made up for it the next year. Xavier McDaniel had 17-8, Jack Sikma had 17-9, and Gerald Henderson (who came over after 1984 ((and his famous steal in the Finals)) for the pick that would be…………Len Bias) had 13-2-6. Not that bad of a team, actually….
(8) 2011 Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27) vs. (37) 1985 Seattle SuperSonics (31-51)
The most recent team…Durant had 28-7, Westbrook had 22-5-8. Green was traded to the Green, in a terrible, awful, dumb, stupid, HORRIFYING trade for Perkins…WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT! Shaq was injured, Jermaine isn’t the best option…What about Nenad Krstic? Or Erden? Awful trade…I can’t believe he did that…Boston probably is done in the KG era…at least we would be CONTENDERS with Perkins….
Meh…Ok team I guess. Chambers had 22-7, Sikma had 19-11-4, and Henderson debuted in Seattle with 13-2-7, while Al Wood had 15-4-3.
(9) 1979 Seattle SuperSonics (52-30) vs. (36) 1981 Seattle SuperSonics (34-48)
I was wondering when the Champ would come up…Dennis Johnson (16-5-4) was Finals MVP, but it was Gus Williams (19-3-4) that led scoring. Freddie Brown had 14-2-3, Jack Sikma had 16-12, Lonnie Shelton had 14-6, and an old Paul Silas had 6-7…This isn’t a real bad team…I guess they get knocked for being in a weak era (which it was)…And they weren’t exactly edge-of-your-seat Finals matchups two straight years with the Bullets….
DJ was in Phoenix and his replacement (Westphal…17-2-4…and he’s in NY next year…) played only 36 games. Sikma had 19-10 in the meantime, and Freddie Brown had 16-2-3. James Bailey had 14-7.
(10) 1982 Seattle SuperSonics (52-30) vs. (35) 2006 Seattle SuperSonics (35-47)
A pretty good team, actually…Gus Williams had 23-3-7, Sikma had 20-13, Lonnie Shelton had 15-6-3, and Freddie Brown had 11-2-3….
Ray Allen had 25-4-4, and Rashard Lewis impressed everyone with a dazzling 20-5….20 million!?!?!?!?!?
We end the Sonics next! (I'm sorry...That was a cruel joke.)
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