Art Harris: Follow Up

Three days ago we ran a short piece about former Sonic Art Harris, a one-time All-Rookie Team member who passed away last October at the age of 60.

At the end of the story, I asked for any possible insights into Harris' life our readers might offer. Sadly, no information has been forthcoming, so I'll ask again:

Is there anyone out there who might have information about Art Harris' life? He left the NBA in 1972, 36 years ago, playing 21 games for the Suns before seeing his professional career come to an end. Between 1972 and 2007, when he died, I can't find a lick of information about the man. Here's some framework, if it helps:

-Born and raised in Los Angeles

-Attended Jordan High School in LA

-Attended Stanford University

-Drafted by Seattle in the NBA and the Oakland Oaks in the ABA in 1968

-Played in Seattle for 1 1/2 years after leaving Stanford

-Played in Phoenix from 1970 to some point in the 1972 season

And then?

SSS HOF #9: George Karl

He came to Seattle under cover of darkness, an exile returned from Elba, his final chance at making it as a professional basketball coach awaiting him on the rain-soaked runways of SeaTac Airport.

Before the jet touched down from its long journey westward from Spain, his career ledger totaled 119 wins and 176 losses, a testimony to mediocrity. He seemed destined for a Gene Shue-like career at best, or, at worst, to be the Billy Martin of the NBA, but without the championships. Suffice it to say, Sonic fans were forgiven for not throwing a parade.

By the time he left town less than a decade later, however, George Karl had rejuvenated both a city and his career.

AGGRESSIVE

He made his Sonic debut on January 23, 1992, against Portland at the Coliseum. Fittingly, Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, the two icons of Karl’s reign in Seattle, contributed mightily. Fittingly, the Sonics lost, not because they were bad, but because that’s what the Sonics did under Karl – they lost when it mattered most.

But back to those beginnings. The year he inherited the team from KC Jones, the Sonics finished the season with 775 steals.

It would prove to be the lowest total of Karl’s tenure.

If nothing else, George Karl was aggressive. He was aggressive in the way he coached, he was aggressive in the way he dealt with others, he was aggressive in the way he lived.

There’s a humorous tale of Karl striding through the lobby at All-Star Weekend as the head coach of the Western Conference. He was at the top of his game, risen from the wilds of the CBA and Europe to the penthouse of basketball. There he strode, though, wearing horrific zubaz pants, thumbing his nose at his Armani-clad coaching brothers. He was a misfit, and he loved it.

That was Karl, though. He had no interest in doing things the way others did. You can’t play three guards in the same lineup? Why not, when you’ve got Gill, Payton, and McMillan? Who says you can’t put a 6’9” forward on your opponent’s point guard, even if that point guard is a waterbug?

Karl’s contrarian ways had placed him in trouble during his previous stops in Golden State and Cleveland, where he was unable to win often enough to forestall his firing. In Seattle, however, he had a plethora of talent and, combined with his skills as a defensive teacher (as well as his assistants Tim Grgurich and Bob Kloppenburg) he finally was given the opportunity to see what he could do.

SUCCESS AT LAST

Don’t misunderstand, Karl was not a loser before he came to Seattle. He had won frequently in the CBA, and he took both the Cavs and the Warriors to the playoffs, no mean feat considering the woeful nature of those franchises.

No, Karl’s problems stemmed from his inability to make nice with his employers. In Seattle, though, with an equally contrarian Bob Whitsitt manning the GM seat, Karl had a kindred spirit running the show. Whitsitt and Karl were in harmony, for a time at least, and they molded a winner.

In his first full season as head coach, Whitsitt took the Sonics to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost a Game 7 heartbreaker to the Phoenix Suns in one of the most bitterly remembered games in Seattle sports history.

But reflect on the accomplishment for a moment, not the frustration. In the span of 15 months Karl had taken the Seattle Sonics from an afterthought to the most exciting team in the Western Conference, if not the league. Sure, the Suns “won” the conference title, but true NBA followers knew the best team in the West was from Seattle, not Phoenix.

It was an amazing turn of events. Accompanied by a national surge of interest in Seattle music, it was an exciting time to be a sports fan in the Northwest. After years of mediocrity and anonymity, Seattle was poised to plant its flag.

TOMORROW

Rise and Fall.

SupersonicSoul Xmas Gift #1

Christmas decorations are already making an apperance at the malls in Canada (and, I assume, in the States as well), so why not get a head start on Sonic gifts for ourselves?

I hope to make this a regular feature on the site, but to kick things off, let's have a look at this fine option from zazzle.com: A "Nobody Scores on Derrick McKey" t-shirt.

Sadly, I couldn't save a copy of the photo, so you'll have to click on it yourself to experience the shirt in all its glory. But for that hard-to-shop-for friend still bemoaning his departed Sonics, how can you go wrong with a tribute to one of the most enigmatic players in team history?

Granted, it's not as cool as the "Everybody Scores on Tom Chambers" shirt, but it still makes a nice gift.