Seattle Supersonics in the Playoffs: A Tale of Two Cities

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, folks across the country turn introspective, reflecting on the things in life they are most thankful for. And if the Seattle Supersonics were still around, they might be giving thanks for the Houston Rockets.

The Sonics and the (then San Diego) Rockets entered the league together in 1967. They wouldn't meet in the playoffs until 1982, but when they did, the Sonics dominated Houston.

Between 1980 and 2000, the Sonics defeated the Rockets five straight times in the playoffs before losing in their final meeting in 1997.

Of course, during that same period they lost five straight times to the Lakers in the postseason. As with most things in Seattle basketball history, no great accomplishment went unpunished.


SONICS vs ROCKETS

1982 -- WON, 2-1, first round

1987 -- WON, 4-2, conference semifinals

1989 -- WON, 3-1, first round

1993 -- WON, 4-3, conference semifinals

1996 -- WON, 4-0, conference semifinals

SONICS vs LAKERS

1980 -- LOST, 4-1, conference finals

1987 -- LOST, 4-0, conference finals

1989 -- LOST, 4-0, conference semifinals

1995 -- LOST, 3-1, first round

1998 -- LOST, 4-1, conference semifinals

Despite the seemingly one-sided history with the Rockets in the playoffs, the games were usually nail-bitters. Three out of the five series victories were decided in overtime, including the epic double OT battle in 1987, a game Sonics fans everywhere will always be thankful for. 

Da Fortson Club

Do you remember Danny Fortson and his wonderful, crazy, maddening 2004-05 season? If you’re a Sonic fan, of course you do. I think the prevailing memory for NBA fans of Fortson (for those who remember him, anyway) is that of a thug, but he was much more than that.

For that season (and much of his career, really), Fortson was a foul-drawing, foul-inducing, efficiency machine. Yes, his hate-hate relationship with officials was tough to digest and severely limited his minutes, but on the offensive end the man was a joy to watch, drawing fouls at a ridiculous rate, and converting at the foul line at an equally marvelous percentage. Check the numbers (all per 36 minutes of play):

Personal Fouls: 9.1

Free Throw Attempts: 8.9

Free Throw Percentage: 88%

It’s crazy, right? The stereotype of a guy who draws nine fouls per 36 minutes is that of an undisciplined and bruising power forward, someone incapable of making more than half of his free throws, let alone nearly 90%.

In fact, if you look it up, here’s the list of players in NBA history to have averaged eight fouls and eight free throw attempts per 36 minutes, while shooting better than 80% from the line, and playing more than 500 minutes (I call it the Rule of 8, or Da Fortson Club):

Danny Fortson, 2004-05

And that’s it. In fact, you have to slide the requirements down to seven fouls and seven free throw attempts per 36 minutes, and a 70% free throw percentage to even find two other players who qualify, and they were playing during the Eisenhower administration.

You could say many things about Danny Fortson – lovable bruiser, offensively gifted thug, efficient hacker – but he is without peer in NBA history when it comes to drawing fouls, dishing fouls out, and converting at the charity stripe.

Seattle Supersonics and the groupies who loved them

Deadspin reprinted a great Esquire article from 1992 by E. Jean Carroll about basketball groupies in the post-Magic NBA. There are some interesting/embarrassing stories about many old-school players, including the Seattle Supersonics' own "Big Smooth" Sam Perkins:

Miss Diana Mendoza is going to Tone Loc's record company tonight, so she has to buy a new bustier, but she has time to whip by in the Jetta Eddie Murphy bought her and meet me at the Source on Sunset Boulevard for a sandwich. Miss Mendoza is Austrian, Spanish, Native American, and Moroccan and has been an extra in a couple of movies. She has hung out at Magic's house with Miss Power and says that she "loves Earvin," but the one person she always wanted to meet was Sam Perkins. "Sam was like everything," Miss Mendoza had told me and now tells me again. "Magic had a party at the Palladium and all the ballplayers were there, and I told Robin there's only one NBA player I want to meet, and she said who, and I said Sam Perkins. And she introduced me! And I said when I met him, 'I rooted for you!' And we've been liking each other ever since. We had a date, but"—her bosom rises and falls with dejection—"we've never gotten together."

Awwww. But they are not as complimentary about another former Sonic:

Olden Polynice drives in for a stunning, almost indigestible, slam dunk.

"The ugliest player in the NBA," agree the young ladies, dipping into the jalapeños.

(cue sad trombone)Read the whole story here.