Slick Watts Earns La. Hall Honor

It's not the Basketball Hall of Fame, but Slick Watts will take it.

On June 25, the famous former Sonic and Xavier University standout will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, (via thetowntalk.com).

And while I enjoyed reading about Watts' honor, I chuckled a bit when I came across this paragraph:

After 4½ seasons, Watts had an opportunity to return to the city where he made a name for himself as a college player. He finished the 1977-78 season as a member of the Jazz.

Well, if by "Watts had an opportunity" you mean "Watts got forced out by Lenny Wilkens and was bitter as hell about it," then, yeah, he "had an opportunity."

Here's how Watts described the events surrounding his trade to New Orleans in his book Slick Watts's Tales from the Seattle Supersonics:

I was so upset that I left the game against Kansas City that night at halftime. I caught a flight the next day. It was painful flying over the city, looking down. Tears came over my eyes, and I said, "I'm gone."

Obviously, things weren't quite so seamless as it might seem from reading the story in today's paper. The Slick Watts/Lenny Wilkens/Bill Russell/Bob Hopkins quadrangle is a bizarre and poorly understood aspect of Sonic history. Watts went from being the most famous athlete in Seattle (seriously; the guy opened the Kingdome, for crying out loud) to being persona non grata in the span of a few months, a fall from grace that was completely unpredictable and utterly shocking in hindsight.

Watts deserves credit for not harboring grudges against Wilkens and the Sonics, and for continuing to throw his support behind Sonic fans despite the way he was treated in the 1970s, but to pretend that he left for New Orleans out of his own volition is far, far from the truth.

Edit: While we're on the subject of Slick, please enjoy this dope video from the Sonicsgate crew, featuring the man himself and other local legends. SHEER DOPENESS. --chunk

Name That Sonic

On a Degree of Difficulty scale, I'd put this one at about a 4. First Clue: Not a player (Playah? Yes. Player? No.)

Gurg

 Tim Grgurich is an NBA champion, and while I'd love to offer this basketball lifer the heartiest of congratulations upon reaching the apex of basketball achievement, it's possible ... no, not just possible, completely likely that he could care not one whit.

To know what Gurgs thinks of the league, listen only to what he told author Curt Sampson Full Court Pressure, the seminal book on mid-90s Sonic basketball:

"The NBA is bullshit."

If you followed the Sonics in the 90s, you knew Bob Kloppenburg handled the team's intense defense, George Karl handled the media and the overall tone, and Grgurich handled the offense and the intensity. To give you just a taste of that intensity, here's another quote lifted from Sampson's book:

As always, Gurg's voice was hoarse. ... He ran through every part of every drill, working as hard as any player, the sweat dripping off his nose and chin. He'd been here since six-thirty: he watched a mile or two of videotape, ate a bran muffin, worked out Ricky [Pierce], worked out himself, then practice, more tape, weight lifting, another workout. He might get home by 7 p.m.

There were a number of reasons why I pulled for Dallas in the Finals: Because they weren't the Big 3, because of Jason Kidd, because the way my 2-year-old daughter would imitate Jason Terry's airplane move and how she fell in love with JJ Barea, because of Dirk's greatness ... all of that.

But more than anything else, it was because of Gurg. To see James, Wade, and Bosh be rewarded for, as Joe Posnanski put it today, "cutting in line," would be sad and pathetic. To see Tim Grgurich be rewarded would be the complete oppposite: A reward for hard work, intensity, commitment, and, above all, sacrifice.

Congratulations, Gurg.

Congrats to the World Champion Dallas Mavericks (shudder . . .)

For the first (and hopefully last) time, I found myself rooting for a team from Texas tonight, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 105-95 to win their first championship.

Maybe it was because they beat The Team That Must Not Be Named in the conference finals. Maybe it was the three former Sonics coaches sitting on the bench. Maybe it was local kid made good Jason Terry and his crazy-ass airplane antics. Maybe it was because they were playing the most hated team in basketball.

Regardless of the reason, congrats to the Mavs for all of the above. And let us never speak of it again.

1996: The Last Great Season

As this year's NBA Finals wind down, Percy Allen takes a bittersweet look back at the last Finals I actually cared about, the epic 1996 Sonics/Bulls battle. Nate McMillan gives a heartbreaking "should-woulda-coulda" breakdown of the series:

Unable to play because of back spasms, McMillan took a cortisone shot before Games 4 and 5 to relieve the pain. The Sonics won both games and forced the series to return to Chicago.

It was the last time McMillan would play, as Seattle fell 87-75 in Game 6.

"You go your whole career playing basketball and now you have this opportunity to be on the biggest stage in your life — it doesn't get any better than this — and you can't play," McMillan said. "Why? I just kept asking God why. I know that if I could play — had a little confidence at that time in my career — I could have an impact.

Sigh . . .

Read the whole story at The Seattle Times.

Seattle Sonics Do It

I'm ashamed to admit that I've never heard this song before. Luther Rabb was a (relatively) well known Seattle musician in the 1970s, and apparently this song was THE song to celebrate the Sonics' championship season (which ended, coincidentally, with a victory over Washington 32 years ago today).

Anybody have access to the song that they could share with us? If not, I'll track it down on LP and find a way to upload it to the site. Seems like an important part of Sonic history, no?

Jack Sikma and Napoleon

Just acquired a Sonic yearbook from their championship season, and as you might expect from a late 70s book celebrating sports, it is chock full of wonderful photos.

Including, as you might have guessed by now, the remarkable one shown above, depicting Jack Sikma in front of a painting of Napoleon Bonaparte. The photo was taken during the Sonics' practice time after the conclusion of the Western Conference Finals and before the start of the NBA Finals (photographer unknown; although it is one of the following four folks: Dave Hood, Tim German, Tom Moore, and Meg Anstett).

Battle of the X-Man Tees

So you're looking through Ebay for a the perfect shirt to wear to this year's Sonic Celebration Night at Safeco Field, when you come across two utterly perfect options.

But which to choose? There's Option A:


Or Option B:

So tough to decide, right? With Option A, you've got classic late 80s nostalgia, while with Option B you've got a shirt almost no one ever saw, guaranteeing you righteous head-nods from your fellow hipsters at Safeco.

It's a ridiculously difficult decision, but I'm going with Option A, if only because by putting it on I'm instantly transported back to 1987 and the great times Sonic fans had watching X, Tommy Gun, and Dale.

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Not In Our House (Sigh . . . )

A bittersweet gift from Supersonicsoul reader Joe:

Official "Not In Our House" Music Video with Sir Mix-A-Lot. I was the producer and editor of the video and just found the tape in my garage last week. Brings back memories for sure. Just thought you'd like to see it.

Joe

Too many cameos to mention but a few favorites: Bob Kloppenburg and the Fabulous Sports Babe. The mind boggles . . .

Sonic History at SportsPress NW

A great story at for Sonic fans at SportsPress NW today, detailing (and that's an understatement) the process that brought the Sonics to Seattle.

Penned by Dave Eskenazi and Steve Rudman, the story fills in a number of gaps in Sonic history, as well as providing some colorful highlights to pro basketball lore in this town. Just for example:

* The first Sonic booster club was called the UltraSonics, which immediately makes me wish we could rename this blog, like, now.
* Dick Vertlieb (one of the Sonics' founders) wanted to dress the Sonics in blue and gold to entice Olympia Beer into becoming a major advertiser.

And those are just appetizers for a delicious story. True Sonic fans would be remiss not to read the whole thing.

BREAKING NEWS: Kenny G buys Sacramento Kings, moving them to Seattle?

"That's right, folks! I'm gonna slam dunk this touchdown right in the goal!"

According to an anonymous source,  Seattle native and smooth jazz superstar Kenny G has finalized a deal to purchase the beleaguered Sacramento Kings and will relocate the team to his hometown. Seattle has been actively seeking a replacement for their beloved Supersonics since the team bolted to Oklahoma.

While the move to Seattle still has to be approved by the league, the best-selling musician is already planning big changes for the team. 

"Well, the name 'Supersonics' has got to go," G explains. "Way too aggressive. I'm thinking 'Seattle Songbirds'. You know, something smooth."

G says he will personally oversee a massive overhaul to Key Arena, something the NBA has stated would have to be addressed before a team could return to the stadium. 

"I'm going to replace all those glaring lights with scented candles. Something soft and romantic. Oh, and their costumes have got to change. I really hate those vests they wear on the basketball field. I'm thinking something in silk. And maybe a cape?"

While the deal may come as a surprise to many, NBA commissioner David Stern already seems onboard with the move. 

"As much as I detest the idea of Seattle getting a basketball team, I simply cannot resist the smooth jazz charms of Kenny G," says Stern. "Besides, I'm selling the league to China next week, so who gives a crap, right? Oh, and don't print that last part, it's sort a of a secret." 

Shawn Kemp not impressed by Blake dunk

Hilarious comments from Shawn Kemp about the slam dunk contest, via the Seattle P.I.:

“I’m a big Blake Griffin fan, but that dunk at the contest might have been the weakest dunk in the dunk contest that I’ve seen in a long time,” Kemp told KJR’s Dave Mahler and Ian Furness on Wednesday. “I love the choir and all that stuff was great, but you at least gotta jump over the car though right.” 

“I’m 41 years old and right now I could do it. Two Smart Cars,” he said. 

 It might sound a bit like sour apples from an old-timer, but I think Shawn probably knows what he's talking about.