BREAKING: Lenny Wilkens to rejoin Seattle Supersonics as Player/Coach

Sonics legend and two-time Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Lenny Wilkens will be rejoining the Seattle Supersonics in the dual player/coach role he had in the early 1970s.

"I'm ready to lead, both on the court and off," Wilkens said at a press conference this morning.

Wilkens, the first man to be voted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach,  had served in both capacities with the Sonics from 1969-1972, leading the league in assists in the 1970-71 season. He was traded in 1972, but later returned (this time solely as head coach) and led Seattle to their only championship in 1979.

The Sonics franchise was moved to an unknown midwest location in 2008,  but the team is believed to be returning to Seattle next year, either as a relocated team or an expansion franchise. Nothing official has been announced, however, which makes any personelle moves seem a bit premature.

The man trying to bring the team back to Seattle, Chris Hansen, was asked about this peculiar move.

"Wait," Hansen replied, after spitting water out of his mouth. "What are you talking about?"

Wilkens, who turns 76 this year, appears ready to go.  When asked about the prospect of the team returning to Seattle, however, the old coach seemed more amused than nostalgic.

"You're telling me the Sonics left town? Ha! Nice try." Wilkens laughed. "I know an April Fool's joke when I hear one. Next thing you'll be telling me President Nixon resigned!"

King DOH! The short and sad life of the Kingdome

While I was working on my book about the Seattle Supersonics this morning, fellow Supersonicsoul writer Pete Nussbaum tweeted this about the former home of the Sonics:

"37 years ago today, the Kingdome opened for business. 13 years ago yesterday, it was destroyed. Seattle finishes paying it off in 2016."

What a sad and strange epitaph for what was once the crown jewel of downtown Seattle.

The King County Multipurpose Domed Stadium was originally conceived in the 1950s, but public funding for the massive building was voted down several times (sound familiar?). In 1968, however, King County voters finally approved $40 million dollars in municipal bonds to pay for the dome, which began construction in 1972 and would be finished four years later.

Every major Seattle sports team called the Kingdome home at some point. The Supersonics moved in at the start of their 1978-79 championship season and led the league in attendance for two years in a row. On April 15th, 1980, in a home playoff game against the Bucks, the Sonics set an NBA single-game attendance record with 40,172, the most ever to watch a pro basketball game at the time.

The Kingdome also brought the NFL Pro Bowl and the NBA and MLB All-star games to town, along with the Final Four in 1984, 1989, and 1995. This was a very big deal back in the dark ages of Seattle, when we were only known for Bigfoot and Ted Bundy.

Over time, however, the novelty of watching sports inside a giant cement tomb wore off. As most Seattle teams declined in the late 80s, so did attendance. The Dome, run by King County, was not maintained very well, as anyone who ever had to use the bathrooms there can attest.

The Kingdome wasn't all urinal troughs and sticky floors, of course. The Seahawks had some great moments there (though they were mostly great for the other teams). Edgar Martinez had the most important hit in Mariners history in the dome. Pete and I even played in marching band during the halftime show on Monday Night Football there (Sorry ladies, we're already taken). And of course there was the annual paper airplane contest and the time that crazy guy flew a plane inside the dome.

In the mid-90s, though, the roof started to fall appart, giving the Seahawks and Mariners owners a perfect excuse to extort the city for new, single-use stadiums for their teams. Maybe if the Sonics hadn't moved out in 1985, they could have gotten a new stadium too.

It was too late now, though. The Kingdome was now the city's largest abandoned building. Its empty grey shell looked like the stripped-down ruins of an ancient civilization.

And on March 26, 2000, a day before the 24th anniversary of the Kingdome's grand opening, they blew it up.

So happy birth/death day to the Kingdome, the best and worst Multipurpose Domed Stadium we ever had.

Love the Glove

If you're looking for a way to calm the turbulent waters currently flowing between Sacramento and Seattle, might I suggest this?

Yes, it's a Gary Payton "The Glove" hat, and yes, it lights up. Since no one could ever be angry wearing a "The Glove" hat that lights up, I think it might behoove both sides to don one of these suckers and just walk around for a little while. Give David Stern one for the afternoon. Drop one on Kevin Johnson's desk before he heads home from work.

In fact, I think quite a few of the world's problems might be solved if more people started wearing illuminated "The Glove" hats. The situation in the Middle East, for one. The charging/blocking situation in college basketball for another. The possibilities are endless, really.

You're welcome.

(Found via ebay).