Tag: Seattle SuperSonics

Gary Washburn on Seattle hoops scene, Boston Celtics ties

There is a strong connection between the vibrant Seattle hoops scene and the storied franchise that is the Boston Celtics.

There is a strong connection between the vibrant Seattle, Washington, hoops scene and the storied franchise that is the Boston Celtics. Bill Russell coached the Seattle SuperSonics, and a host of players who played for that club or came from that scene litter the annals of Celtics history.

Among those players were Dennis Johnson and Ray Allen, who were traded to Boston and won championships with the Celtics. Others who hailed from the Pacific Northwest, such as Avery Bradley, Jason Terry and Isaiah Thomas, have been a key part of Boston lore for many decades.

The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn covered the Sonics before coming to New England to cover the Celtics and he recently sat down with SI’s Landon Buford to talk about the Seattle scene, its Boston ties and general Celtics chatter.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear what Washburn had to say.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Stephen Silas hands over coaching duties versus Pistons to attend late father’s memorial

“It’s gonna be emotional,” Stephen Silas says of his father’s memorial, which will cause him to miss Saturday’s #Rockets game. “There’s not a playbook for grieving.”

One month ago, Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas received news that no child ever wants to hear. His father and best friend, NBA player and coach Paul Silas, 79, had passed away from cardiac arrest at his home in North Carolina.

Coach Silas stepped away briefly to help his family process the loss and returned after missing one game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

On Saturday, he will be absent from the bench against the Detroit Pistons to attend his father’s memorial service. Assistant coach John Lucas II will coach the team in Silas’ absence.

“It’s going to be emotional,” Silas told reporters earlier in the week in Houston. “I’ve been in this whirlwind that we’ve had, as far as the season is concerned, and I haven’t had to kind of deal with it recently. It is going to be great to see a bunch of people I haven’t seen in a long time. A bunch of people who played for my dad, or my dad played with.

“There’s not a playbook for grieving. So, you just do the best you can and take the moments that you need. And this is a job for me, and I spend a lot of time doing my best at this job, whether it’s preparing, practicing or games, but there are times outside of this game that I think about it a lot. I miss him.”

The elder Silas was selected in the second round of the 1964 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks. Ten years later, he won his first of three NBA championships as a member of the Boston Celtics and Seattle Supersonics. During his 16-year career, he made the All-Defensive team five times.

After he retired from the NBA in 1980, Paul began his coaching career with the San Diego Clippers, serving as head coach until 1983. He took a five-year hiatus before coming back to coaching as an assistant and ultimately working his way back into a head coaching position in 2013 to finish his career.

Stephen Silas began his journey in the NBA as an advance scout before working his way up to being an assistant coach in 2000 under his father, who was head coach of the Charlotte Hornets at the time.

“This (coaching) is something that he really wanted to do, and I wanted him to do it,” Paul Silas had said regarding his son during an interview in Charlotte during the 2000-01 season. “He understands that I am still dad, but in a working relationship, I am coach.”

In 2021, the Houston Rockets produced the documentary “Ready to Lead,” which was based on the journey Stephen took to becoming a head coach in the NBA. Silas recalled his first job with the Hornets, which involved working for his father.

“My dad, obviously, he was my No. 1 mentor, someone whom I could lean on, ask questions, and he asked questions of me,” Silas said. “He really valued my opinion, which was kind of weird to me, me being so young and not having much experience, but he would lean on me.”

Silas will be back in time for his team to prepare for its next game versus Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Toyota Center.

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Dennis Johnson credited two Boston Celtics legends for helping his game as a Seattle Supersonic

While still in the Pacific Division, the future Boston champion point guard would learn from two Celtics alumni.

Hall of Fame Boston Celtics point guard Dennis Johnson made a name for himself as a defensive menace long before he got to the Celtics, earning nine berths on an All-Defensive team over the course of his 14 seasons in the NBA.

Though he won the bulk of his three titles in Boston, it was a Celtics connection that the San Pedro, California, native credited as providing the foundation for that championship-caliber defense: Hall of Fame Boston big man legend Bill Russell, who was his head coach with the (then) Seattle SuperSonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder), his first team in the league.

“Having Bill Russell as my coach was intimidating, but he did a good job of pulling me aside and pointing things out,” Johnson said to Michael D. McClellan of Celtic Nation.

Kobe Bryant’s top 100 games: No. 22

Kobe Bryant flaunted a lesser-known part of his arsenal one night in the 2002-03 season: his 3-point shooting, as he would set a record.

For all of his great talents and skills, Kobe Bryant was never really known as a great 3-point shooter during his career.

He had a lifetime accuracy of 32.9% from beyond the arc, which was considered mediocre back in his era and would be considered pretty bad by today’s standards.

However, Bryant was also a streaky 3-point shooter, and when he got hot, he was as great a 3-point shooter as anyone who has ever touched a basketball.

On Jan. 7, 2003, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Seattle SuperSonics, and Bryant showed off the damage he could do from the outside when his shot was on.

He started slowly, scoring just four points on 2-of-7 shooting in the first quarter. But in the second quarter, he started to go into volcano mode, putting up 18 points on 6-of-7 from the field, including 6-of-6 from downtown.

That marksmanship helped the Lakers take a 60-45 lead at halftime.

Bryant continued his onslaught with 20 third-quarter points by hitting five more treys. He hit his 12th 3 in the fourth quarter, setting an NBA record for the most such shots made in a single game.

His 45 points on 16-of-28 overall shooting gave L.A. a much-needed 119-98 victory.

Bryant’s record of 12 made 3-pointers in a game stood for more than a decade until Stephen Curry broke it during the 2016-17 season. Curry’s teammate Klay Thompson claimed the record by hitting 14 in a contest two seasons later.

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Thunder GM Sam Presti compliments Seattle, said he thinks the city will eventually get an NBA team

“I do think it’s important to recognize also that Seattle is an incredible place. It’s an incredible city. They will have a basketball team again.”

The vibes were immaculate during Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti’s preseason press conference.

Presti talked about music, cracked some jokes and spoke brightly about the Thunder’s future.

But one compliment stuck out the most. Presti spontaneously complimented the city of Seattle when answering a question about the Pearl Jam concert he attended.

“I do think it’s important to recognize also that Seattle is an incredible place. It’s an incredible city. They will have a basketball team again, and I think all of us here are like that’s a positive thing. We’re hopeful that happens because it’s a great place, great fans, and the arena that they’ve built there, it’s spectacular. So when it happens, it’s going to be great.

“I think everybody here recognizes that’s an important thing. That should happen. At the same time, things here for us have been great, and I just give them a lot of credit for the way they handled that.

“I think it shows a lot about them, to be honest with you, because I think that’s — because it also gives me a chance to say the things I’m saying now too, which is like Seattle is an awesome place. Great basketball community. And will be again shortly, I think.”

Of course, Presti started as general manager with the Seattle Supersonics shortly before the team relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, so I’m sure he has a soft spot for the city.

If the NBA were to expand, Seattle has been forecast to be one of the top destination markets to receive a team. If that day ever happens — which Presti sounds confident will be the case — then the inevitable Sonics vs. Thunder rivalry will be one of the best in professional sports due to the amount of animosity the former holds against the latter.

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Kobe Bryant’s top 100 games: No. 28

Towards the end of the 2006-07 season, Kobe Bryant became a five-alarm fire against Seattle to drag the disjointed Lakers into the playoffs.

The 2006-07 Los Angeles Lakers started the season strongly, but a string of key injuries resulted in multiple losing streaks that destroyed team chemistry and morale.

By April, they were reduced to huffing and puffing just to get one of the Western Conference’s final playoff spots on the back of Kobe Bryant.

Bryant had responded by scoring at least 50 points in four consecutive games in March, but going into its penultimate game of the season, Los Angeles still hadn’t secured a playoff spot.

The Black Mamba made sure his team did just that on April 15 versus the Seattle SuperSonics.

Playing with something close to a sense of desperation, he started off the contest with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter as the Lakers jumped out to a 29-15 lead. He then added 28 points in the second half to drag them to a 109-98 win, which allowed them to clinch a spot in the postseason.

For the game, Bryant had 50 points on an incredible 18-of-25 shooting, along with eight rebounds and three assists. It was his 10th 50-point outing of the season.

Getting the 2006 and 2007 Lakers to the playoffs despite a very anemic supporting cast around him, in a perpetually tough Western Conference, ranks as one of his more underrated career accomplishments.

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Six former Thunder/Sonics players ranked in HoopsHype’s greatest 76 NBA players ever list

The most notable Thunder/Sonics rankings include Gary Payton being listed ahead of Russell Westbrook.

The HoopsHype staff recently conducted a survey with eight staff members and ranked the 76 greatest NBA players of all time.

HoopsHype decided to do its own rankings after the official NBA Top 75 received criticism last year for leaving out certain players.

The rankings are capped by Michael Jordan at No. 1 and LeBron James at No. 2.

The list includes six players that played for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Seattle Supersonics franchise — five for the Thunder and one for the Sonics. Let’s take a look at each of the six players and see where HoopsHype ranks them all time.

Kobe Bryant’s top 100 games: No. 55

One day after Andrew Bynum suffered a knee injury in 2008, Kobe Bryant dropped 48 points and a game-winner against the SuperSonics.

When the 2007-08 season began, the Los Angeles Lakers were simply hoping Kobe Bryant would remain with them after he had infamously demanded a trade during the offseason.

But against the odds, they became a good team, as their young players, in particular center Andrew Bynum, showed massive improvement.

With the Lakers 24-11, Bynum suffered a dislocated kneecap and bone bruise versus the Memphis Grizzlies would keep him out for at least eight weeks.

Everyone held their breath and hoped for the best as the Lakers headed north to face the Seattle SuperSonics the following night.

Bryant poured in 48 points, including the game-winning shot with 4.3 seconds left in overtime to give L.A. a 123-121 win.

Afterward, Bryant’s comments during a postgame interview on the court with Los Angeles-based KCAL-TV caught people’s attention.

“We’re a championship-caliber team when he’s in the lineup,” Bryant said of Bynum.

Several months after demanding a trade and insisting he’d rather play on Pluto, the Black Mamba indicated he still saw himself as a member of the team and that it was capable of winning it all.

Of course, Christmas came on Feb. 1 when Los Angeles acquired All-Star big man Pau Gasol. Soon afterward, Bryant and the Lakers finally reached their cherished destiny.

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The Houston Rockets throwback uniforms look like they belong to the Seattle Supersonics and everyone is so confused

The Rockets look like the Supersonics who used to look like the Rockets from the 70s

The NBA’s new uniform looks have been super-retro and somewhat uninspiring so far this offseason, but these new — or, uh, old? — Houston Rockets jerseys are best described as something else.

The team unveiled their throwback uniforms for the 2022 season and they look super familiar. Not because we’ve seen the Rockets wearing these in recent years — nope, it’s not that.

Rather, it’s because they look like another team completely. These are not Houston Rockets’ colors at all. Instead of the deep red colors we’re normally used to from Houston, they’re sporting green, gold and white.

Sounds awfully familiar, right? Here’s Jalen Green sporting the new look.

These look good! But they just don’t feel very…Rocket-y? If anything, these look like Seattle Supersonics jerseys. That’s the first place most NBA fans are going to go with these.

Apparently, they were made to honor the San Diego Rockets who sported these same colors. The Rockets are honoring Elvin Hayes and he was drafted by San Diego. He sported those same colors once upon a time.

That’s a cool story and all. And everyone should appreciate that history there. But today? Right now? Absolutely no one is associating these colors with anything but the Seattle Supersonics. It’s unfortunate.

Fans were so confused by these joints. All they could do was make Supersonics jokes.

HoopsHype names Gus Williams as greatest free agent signing in Thunder/Sonics history

The greatest FA signing in Thunder history comes from the Seattle days of the franchise.

HoopsHype recently published an article that listed the best, all-time free agent signings for all 30 NBA teams.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, this included the franchise’s history as the Seattle Supersonics. The best free agent signing for the Thunder was Gus Williams, who signed in 1977 and was a two-time All-Star during his tenure with the team.

“One of the unfairly forgotten-about players from the pre-Magic Johnson/Larry Bird revival era in the NBA, Gus Wiliams was a stout two-way guard who was a terror in transition and could score and create at impressive levels while racking up takeaways on the other end of the floor.

Williams was nicknamed “The Wizard” and was considered one of the top guards in the league in the late ’70s and early ’80s, even leading the then-Seattle SuperSonics in scoring in the 1979 NBA Finals (29 points per game), the last time the franchise tasted championship gold.

Williams joined the Sonics in the 1977 offseason after spending his first two seasons with Golden State. He signed a three-year contract worth – get this – $510,000.

‘Williams came to Seattle as a free agent before the 1977-78 season, after contract hassles with his first NBA team, the Golden State Warriors. He signed a three-year deal with the Sonics at $170,-000 a season and proved a bargain, leading Seattle into the NBA finals his first season and to the title his second.’

How’s that for a value signing?

Needless to say, Williams, whose numbers exploded during his time with Seattle on his way to first-team All-NBA and second-team All-NBA distinctions, was a fantastic free-agent pickup for the Sonics.”

Williams averaged 20.3 points, six assists and 2.3 steals on 47.5 percent shooting in his six seasons with the Sonics. Overall, Williams was with the Sonics for seven seasons, but he missed the 1980-1981 season due to a holdout.

An honorable mention went to Spencer Haywood, who spent five seasons with the Sonics from 1971 to 1975 after leaving the ABA to join the NBA.

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