Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images 
Friday, April 17
Hamed Haddadi
Winner, "Picture Least Likely to Appear on Front Page of Tehran Daily News."
Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images 
Webster Services Today
This morning, at 11 o’clock eastern time, funeral services for Marvin Webster began at Greater New Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore.
Funerals are sad in and of themselves, and the younger the deceased, the tougher they are to take. The fact Marvin’s mother will be in attendance is hard enough to swallow, let alone the fact he was only 56.
But think about this for a moment – 31 years ago tomorrow, on April 18, 1978, Marvin’s team, the Seattle SuperSonics, was in Portland to face the TrailBlazers in the first game of their best of seven Western Conference Semifinals.
Remember, the Blazers were defending NBA champions. True, they were missing Bill Walton, but they were still the defending champs. The Sonics? The Sonics were a team that started out the season 5-17 and finished 11 games behind Portland in the Pacific Division standings. It was a 1 seed versus a 4 seed; no contest, right?
You couldn’t tell the Sonics that, or Webster, either. That night, 31 years ago tomorrow, Marvin Webster stood in against 12,666 Portland fans and poured in 24 points as the Sonics jumped out to a 1-0 lead, thanks to a 104-95 win. Seattle earned wins in 3 of the next 4 games, taking that series as well as the next one against Denver before ultimately losing to Washington in the Finals.
How did he feel that night? A young man, on the precipice of his greatest professional accomplishments, Webster would go on to lead the NBA in minutes played, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, and blocks, and finished second in defensive win shares and total win shares during the playoffs.
It was 31 years, but a lifetime ago.
In light of today’s service, I thought it might be a kind idea if those with memories of Marvin might post them in the comments for this article. Whether you saw him play in Seattle, New York, Denver, or as a collegiate athlete, pass it along. If enough people contribute, I’d like to put the thoughts together into a booklet and mail it to Marvin’s mother in Baltimore, so that she might see how many lives her son touched during his lifetime.
Funerals are sad in and of themselves, and the younger the deceased, the tougher they are to take. The fact Marvin’s mother will be in attendance is hard enough to swallow, let alone the fact he was only 56.
But think about this for a moment – 31 years ago tomorrow, on April 18, 1978, Marvin’s team, the Seattle SuperSonics, was in Portland to face the TrailBlazers in the first game of their best of seven Western Conference Semifinals.Remember, the Blazers were defending NBA champions. True, they were missing Bill Walton, but they were still the defending champs. The Sonics? The Sonics were a team that started out the season 5-17 and finished 11 games behind Portland in the Pacific Division standings. It was a 1 seed versus a 4 seed; no contest, right?
You couldn’t tell the Sonics that, or Webster, either. That night, 31 years ago tomorrow, Marvin Webster stood in against 12,666 Portland fans and poured in 24 points as the Sonics jumped out to a 1-0 lead, thanks to a 104-95 win. Seattle earned wins in 3 of the next 4 games, taking that series as well as the next one against Denver before ultimately losing to Washington in the Finals.
How did he feel that night? A young man, on the precipice of his greatest professional accomplishments, Webster would go on to lead the NBA in minutes played, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, and blocks, and finished second in defensive win shares and total win shares during the playoffs.
It was 31 years, but a lifetime ago.
In light of today’s service, I thought it might be a kind idea if those with memories of Marvin might post them in the comments for this article. Whether you saw him play in Seattle, New York, Denver, or as a collegiate athlete, pass it along. If enough people contribute, I’d like to put the thoughts together into a booklet and mail it to Marvin’s mother in Baltimore, so that she might see how many lives her son touched during his lifetime.
Thursday, April 16
Prentice to Seattle: Not in My House
According to Chris Daniels of KING-5, it would appear that Clay Bennett is going to be very happy in a few weeks.
Daniels quotes local politician Margarita "Renton, Baby!" Prentice that the KeyArena/Husky Stadium renovation bill is "very, very doubtful" to see any success during this legislative session, meaning Mr. Bennett will NOT have to cut a check in the amount of $30 million to the City of Seattle.
Like sports, anything is possible in politics, but it would appear that the current economic catastrophe has combined with a distaste for the NBA to create a bitter arena soup the legislature is uninterested in eating.
However, with so many franchises in financial peril these days (Indiana, Memphis, New Orleans, the Sonix, etc.), I wouldn't be panicking if I wanted to see the NBA back in Seattle. True, every year which passes makes it more and more unlikely to see a return of pro hoops, but Seattle still has to rank at or near the top of the list of destinations for destitute owners, right? Right?
Daniels quotes local politician Margarita "Renton, Baby!" Prentice that the KeyArena/Husky Stadium renovation bill is "very, very doubtful" to see any success during this legislative session, meaning Mr. Bennett will NOT have to cut a check in the amount of $30 million to the City of Seattle.
Like sports, anything is possible in politics, but it would appear that the current economic catastrophe has combined with a distaste for the NBA to create a bitter arena soup the legislature is uninterested in eating.
However, with so many franchises in financial peril these days (Indiana, Memphis, New Orleans, the Sonix, etc.), I wouldn't be panicking if I wanted to see the NBA back in Seattle. True, every year which passes makes it more and more unlikely to see a return of pro hoops, but Seattle still has to rank at or near the top of the list of destinations for destitute owners, right? Right?
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