The Sonics (Part 2)

(11) 2005 Seattle SuperSonics (52-30) vs. (34) 1974 Seattle SuperSonics (36-46)

Ray Allen averaged 24-4-4, while Rashard Lewis put up an inhuman 21-6! Vlad Rad had 12 points (I don’t know who came up with that nickname, but it is a very catchy one….Who wants to say Vladimir Radmanovic when you can say Vlad Rad?), while Antonio Daniels had 4 assists and Luke Ridnour had 6 assists.

All the early Sonics teams are just kind of average…No one really thinks of them, and neither do I. Spencer Haywood had 24-13, Dick Snyder had 18-4-4, Freddie Brown had 17-5-5 and Jim Fox had 11-9, while Slick Watts (the first thing I think of when I think of Watts is his slick bald head…) had 8-3-6.

(12) 2010 Oklahoma City Thunder (50-32) vs. (33) 1970 Seattle SuperSonics (36-46)

Yay! Our last OKC team! Durant had 30-8, Westbrook had 16-5-8, and Green had 15-6…

This is year three of Seattle (There needs to be a point where you stop saying "Year #"...Three is too much. One and Two give you an explanation why they suck...Three is just overkill)…Bob Rule had 25-10, Lenny Wilkens had 18-5-9, Bob Boozer added 15-9, Dick Snyder had 14-4-4, and Tom Meschery had 12-8….An OK team….

(13) 1983 Seattle SuperSonics (48-34) vs. (32) 2004 Seattle SuperSonics (37-45)

Not too good, but not too bad either….Gus Williams had 20-3-8, while Jack Sikma had 18-11. David Thompson made an appearance on this year, and had a decent 16-4-3 year (he’d play 19 games next year, and then he was done…he is 28 this year.). Freddie Brown (10-1-3) would last one more year, than retire….

…..Not good at all….Allen was pretty good with his 23-5-5…but the rest of the team featured Lewis, posting an incredible 18-7…Vlad Rad had 12-5….yeah, not very good…

(14) 1972 Seattle SuperSonics (47-35) vs. (31) 1971 Seattle SuperSonics (38-44)

A straight year matchup….no this actually DOESN’T earn them a playoff spot….Seems kind of weird…they’d have to wait till 1975 before their first berth....1972 was an OK year….Spencer Haywood had 26-13, Lenny Wilkens had 18-4-10, Dick Snyder had 17-3-4, and Zaid Abdul-Aziz had 14-11.

The previous year, Spencer Haywood (21-12), joined them midyear among controversy about the rule about a player must be 4 years out of high school…Lenny Wilkens had 20-5-9, Dick Snyder had 19-3-4, and Don Kojis had 15-6.

(15) 1978 Seattle SuperSonics (47-35) vs. (30) 1987 Seattle SuperSonics (39-43)

The team that made Finals (and lost against the Bullets) isn’t as good as they would be the next year…Gus Williams had 18-3-4, Brown had 17-3-3, Marvin Webster had 14-13, DJ had 13-4, while Sikma had an average 11-8 rookie year.

3 20+ point scorers didn’t get them that far in the competitive 80s…Dale Ellis had 25-6, Tom Chambers had 23-7, and Xavier McDaniel had 23-9. Alston Lister added 12-9…not too bad of a team…Might even beat 1978….

(16) 1989 Seattle SuperSonics (47-35) vs. (29) 2003 Seattle SuperSonics (40-42)

Two 20+ scorers this time…Dale Ellis had 28-4, and Xavier McDaniel had 21-5, while Derrick McKey had 16-6 and Michael Cage averaged 10-10.

During the year, Gary Payton (21-5-9) was traded to Milwaukee for Ray Allen (25-6-6). Rashard Lewis had 18-7….

(17) 1992 Seattle SuperSonics (47-35) vs. (28) 1977 Seattle SuperSonics (40-42)

Decent year….Ricky Pierce had 22-3-3, Eddie Johnson had 17-4-2, while a young Shawn Kemp had 16-10, and Payton had 9-4-6 and Michael Cage had 9-9.

Not a good team….Fred Brown had 17-3-2 and Slick Watts had 13-4-8.

(18) 2000 Seattle SuperSonics (45-37) vs. (27) 1999 Seattle SuperSonics (25-25)

Straight year matchup….Payton had 24-7-9, and Vin Baker had 17-8….Nothing really relevant on this Seattle team….

As is the same on this team…Payton had 22-5-9, Schrempf had 15-7, and Vin Baker had 14-6 in 34 games (lockout year…so it’s like playing 60ish games…).

(19) 2002 Seattle SuperSonics (45-37) vs. (26) 1991 Seattle SuperSonics (41-41)

Payton had 22-5-9, Rashard Lewis had 17-7 and Brent Barry had 14-5-5….Can’t think of anything else that needs to be said…

Gary Payton’s rookie year! He had 7-3-6 to debut. Kemp had 15-8 in year two…It seems to be a year of transition…Xavier McDaniel (22-5), and Dale Ellis (15-3-2) were both shipped out, and Ricky Pierce (18-2-2) and Eddie Johnson (17-3) came of it…Sedale Threatt added 13 points…

(20) 1988 Seattle SuperSonics (44-38) vs. (25) 1990 Seattle SuperSonics (41-41)

Another three 20+ scorers year, featuring Dale Ellis (26-5), Tom Chambers (20-6) and Xavier McDaniel (21-7)…not much else on this team though….Chambers would break up the threesome, signing in Phoenix, and immediately putting up 25 a night….

Shawn Kemp only averaged 7-4 in his rookie year, on a team led by Dale Ellis (24-4), and Xavier McDaniel (21-7). Derrick McKey had 16-6 and Michael Cage had 10-10….

(21) 2001 Seattle SuperSonics (44-38) vs. (24) 1984 Seattle SuperSonics (42-40)

I’d say this is a below average team…Payton had 23-5-8, Lewis had 15-7, Vin Baker had 12-6, and Patrick Ewing had 10-7 (isn’t it weird we see him here right after we did NY….but wait, next is Orlando, and he played a year there also…all of Ewing’s teams straight…He wasn’t very good in Seattle or Orlando…but still….).

Not too bad…I bet they beat 2001…Jack Sikma had 19-11 while Gus Williams had 19-3-8, Tom Chambers had 18-7, Al Wood had 14-3, Freddie Brown had 9-1-3 in his last year, as David Thompson finished off his career, playing 19 games here…

(22) 1975 Seattle SuperSonics (43-39) vs. (23) 1976 Seattle SuperSonics (43-39)

So the average Sonics team is a 43 winner…Not too bad here, Spencer Haywood had 22-9, Freddie Brown had 21-4-4, and Archie Clark had 14-3-6….

Another average team…Freddie Brown had 23-4-3, Tom Burleson had 16-9, Leonard Gray had 14-6, and Slick Watts had 13-5-8….

So that is the Sonics (or OKC…). A pretty good franchise, never iconic, and they did have some very high level teams, but never an elite franchise…Some famous players were here, Kemp, Payton, Brown, Williams, and DJ…Pretty solid.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Seattle/Oklahoma City SuperSonics/Thunder! Next, the amazing lineage of stars, from Shaq, to Penny, to McGrady, and then to Howard, lets travel to Orlando to visit Disney Land the Magic!