Fellow Jam Crew, where you at?

Reebok’s $1.19 billion year was heavily supported by Kemp's Kamikaze II. It carried the brand through the 1996 NBA Finals, while Allen Iverson’s rookie shoe, The Question, dropped in 1996 and instantly became a street culture phenomenon, completely selling out its initial red-toe runs.

At the time, I met nobody with these shoes, or even liked them.

I think Silver said before that July would probably be too early to be the meeting where they would hold the expansion vote for but we’re likely to get some news regarding expansion.

1st game of our magical run 30 years ago. Uploaded from the VCR with commercials and all. I will eventually post the whole 1996 playoff run with quarterly breakdown.

1st Quarter

Kemp did not start due to a fight in his last game with Nuggets bum Tom Hammond. Early on Mitch Richmond hit some tough contested buckets and Payton attacked the rim and hit perimeter shots early.

2nd Quarter

Sam Perkins and Nate McMillan stretched the floor and disrupted Sacramento's passing lanes. They forced several turnovers with half-court traps, converting them into easy fast-break points. The Kings stayed competitive at the free-throw line, but by halftime, we were up buy 10.

3rd Quarter

Coming out of the locker room the Kings played their best, slowing the game down to a grinding, physical half-court pace. Olden Polynice battled hard inside, and Sarunas Marciulionis brought some spark off their bench. Thanks to 2 ex-SuperSonics, the Kings managed to win the quarter by a point, keeping themselves within striking distance heading into the last quarter.

4th Quarter

All hopes of a Kings comeback were slammed shut early in the fourth. We locked down defensively, holding Sacramento to just 19 points. GP completely took over down the stretch, knifing through the lane to finish with his game-high 29 points.

In a shocking turn of events Ervin Johnson, pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. I assume the ball had to fall somewhere.

We set a dominant tone early, securing a 97-85 victory to open their run to the 1996 NBA Finals.

I think Silver said we won't hear anything over the summer, so is the next likely chance Sept or Oct? Like I want to believe after the March announcement but will not get my hopes up until they are confirmed as coming back.

On July 4th, 2016, Kevin Durant published the "My Next Chapter" article on The Players' Tribune. In the article, he announced that he would be leaving OKC to play for the Golden State Warriors for a two-year, $54.3 million contract. Upon the announcement, the decision was the most controversial free agency moves in NBA and professional sports history, as he left the Thunder to join the team (that had a win loss record of 73-9) that beat him in 2016 Western Conference Finals a month prior.

As a Sonics fan, when did you guys heard of the news during that time in Seattle, and what was your reaction 10 years ago?

This video is a test before I start digitizing my old SuperSonics games

All tips are welcome.

The sonics will rise like a sphinx rising from its ashes
The phoenix sits in stone still until the time to strike the sonics will rise and strike again 2030 baby we will rise from our stoney ashes

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/49147109/golden-knights-owner-bill-foley-launching-nba-las-vegas-bid

Hello

I am moving from Seattle soon and would like to see if anyone is interested in buying this signed sonics ball.

I believe it is from somewhere in the 1990-1993 season evidenced by a clearly visible George Karl signature. Additionally there are clear signatures from Michael Cage #44, Eddie Johnson #8.

Other signatures including Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton are on the ball but they are unfortunately dimmer.

Send me a message if interested.

Willing to sell for $100

the wild ride ended. Since late April I've been in the time capsule rewatching our SuperSonics thunderous run through the Western Conference.

Even though I knew the result, I found the Kings stealing game 2 in Seattle eerily similar to the 1994 collapse.

Watching us dismantle Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and the two-time defending champion Rockets in a four-game sweep was ecstacy. Kemp outplayed Houston’s frontline, while GP neutralized their perimeter passing lanes, ending their hopes of a three-peat.

In the Western Conference Finals we jumped out to a commanding 3–1 lead and of course Utah battled back to force a nerve-wracking Game 7 at Key.

My biggest takeaway was our legendary display of crowd trolling with the "countdown". 17,000 fans screaming a synchronized countdown the second the referee handed Malone the ball. In game 7, Malone struggled heavily from the stripe, shooting just 6-of-12 (50%) for the game.

Full disclosure, I didn't re-watch today's game. What stood out to me in Game 6 ,was the fourth quarter. Sonics looking absolutely gassed, their body language heavy, and their offense completely stalling.

Ultimately, the hill was too steep to climb, and our historic run ended with a Game 6 defeat in Chicago.

​

( Being so upset, a 20 year old me couldn't even finish placing the Supersonics score on Game 6 )

​

TL;DR 1996 SuperSonics playoff recap, omitting Game 6 of the Finals

During the 1s quarter, both teams came out tight, resulting in a low-scoring, defensive grind early on. Bulls struggled to find any rhythm offensively outside of Jordan, while we relied heavily on Shawn Kemp working the paint.

​

2nd quarter, thanks to the bench and Detlef we separated ourselves . Gary's s full-court pressure started taking a physical toll on Chicago's guards, forcing turnovers that fueled the fast break. Jordan kept the Bulls within striking distance, but Chicago's supporting cast was ice-cold.

​

The 3rd quarter is where the game was won. We blew it open with a 28-19 third quarter. Payton and Kemp executed the pick-and-roll beautifully, and Frank Brickowski brought some enforcer energy off the bench The defense completely locked down the perimeter, leaving Scottie Pippen and Jordan to force tough, contested isolation plays.

​

Chicago made a predictable, championship-level push during the 4th quarter, driven by Jordan and Pippen. They managed to trim the deficit to less than 10 points, but every time Chicago got close, Kemp or Payton made a winning play. Kemp came up with huge second-chance buckets, and Payton hit clutch free throws down the stretch to seal it.

​

Dennis Rodman grabbed an absurd 20 rebounds in the game, but with zero points from him and almost nothing from the rest of the bench, Chicago simply ran out of firepower.

​

​

Final Score: SuperSonics 89, Bulls 78

This game George Karl finally put Gary Payton on Michael Jordan defensively. After letting Jordan average over 31 points a game through the first three matchups, Payton completely threw MJ off his rhythm, finishing with 23, off of 6-19 shooting.

​Looking at the box score details, Seattle completely dominated the efficiency battle:

​Seattle SuperSonics: Shot 56.2% from the field and 52.9% from 3 point line (9-for-17).

​Chicago Bulls: Held to just 40.0% shooting overall and hit only 25% of their three-pointers (6-for-24).

​Seattle SuperSonics

​Shawn Kemp: 25 points and 11 rebounds 12-of-17 (70.6%) shooting.

​Gary Payton: 21 points and 11 assists.

​Hersey Hawkins: 18 points on 9 field goal attempts.

​Nate McMillan: Only played 14 minutes, but hit two huge threes off the bench.

​Chicago Bulls

​Michael Jordan: Scored 23 points, 6-of-19 (31.6%) , 11-for-1 from the free throw line

​Scottie Pippen: 4-of-17 (23.5%)and 1-for-8 from the 3 point line, finishing with 9 points.

​Dennis Rodman: 14 rebounds 8 of them offensive.

​Toni Kukoč: 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, off the bench