1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics season

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics season
Pacific Division Champions
Western Conference Champions
Head coach George Karl
General manager Wally Walker
Arena KeyArena at Seattle Center
Results
Record 64–18 (.780)
Place Division: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish NBA Finals
(eliminated 2–4)

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television Prime Sports Northwest, KOMO-TV
Radio KJR-AM
< 1994–95 1996–97 >

The 1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 28th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] After two consecutive playoffs appearances losing in the first round, the Sonics finished the regular with a franchise best 64–18 record, surpassing the record from the 1993–94 season, and earned their third number one seed in the Western Conference in franchise history.

Led by Shawn Kemp and Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton, the SuperSonics defeated the Sacramento Kings in the first round, swept the reigning champions Houston Rockets and got past the Utah Jazz in seven games in the Conference Finals to reach their first NBA Finals since 1979, where they would face the Chicago Bulls. After an 0–3 start in the series, Seattle managed to win their next two home games, but eventually lost the series in game six in Chicago.

For the season, the Sonics sported new uniforms, a new logo, and adding red to their color scheme. The logo and uniforms would remain until 2001.

Draft picks

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 26 Sherell Ford SF  United States Illinois
2 54 Eurelijus Žukauskas C  Lithuania Neptūnas Klaipėda

Roster

Seattle SuperSonics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
SG 2 United States Askew, Vincent 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–02–28 Memphis
PF 34 United States Brickowski, Frank 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1959–08–14 Penn State
SF 1 United States Ford, Sherell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1972–08–26 Illinois
SG 33 United States Hawkins, Hersey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1966–09–29 Bradley
C 50 United States Johnson, Ervin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1967–12–21 New Orleans
PF 40 United States Kemp, Shawn 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1969–11–26 Trinity Valley CC
SG 10 United States McMillan, Nate 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1964–08–03 North Carolina State
PG 20 United States Payton, Gary 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1968–07–23 Oregon State
PF 14 United States Perkins, Sam 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1961–06–14 North Carolina
C 55 United States Scheffler, Steve 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1967–09–03 Purdue
SF 11 Germany Schrempf, Detlef 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 214 lb (97 kg) 1963–01–21 Washington
PG 3 United States Snow, Eric 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1973–04–04 Michigan State
SF 25 United States Wingate, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–12–15 Georgetown
Head coach

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Ervin Johnson Frank Brickowski Steve Scheffler
PF Shawn Kemp Sam Perkins
SF Detlef Schrempf Vincent Askew Sherell Ford
SG Hersey Hawkins David Wingate
PG Gary Payton Nate McMillan Eric Snow

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics 64 18 .780 38–3 26–15 21–3
x-Los Angeles Lakers 53 29 .646 11 30–11 23–18 17–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers 44 38 .537 20 26–15 18–23 11–13
x-Phoenix Suns 41 41 .500 23 25–16 16–25 9–15
x-Sacramento Kings 39 43 .476 25 26–15 13–28 11–13
Golden State Warriors 36 46 .439 28 23–18 13–28 7–17
Los Angeles Clippers 29 53 .354 35 19–22 10–31 7–17


Western Conference
# Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Seattle SuperSonics 64 18 .780
2 y-San Antonio Spurs 59 23 .720 5
3 x-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 9
4 x-Los Angeles Lakers 53 29 .646 11
5 x-Houston Rockets 48 34 .585 16
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers 44 38 .537 20
7 x-Phoenix Suns 41 41 .500 23
8 x-Sacramento Kings 39 43 .476 25
9 Golden State Warriors 36 46 .439 28
10 Denver Nuggets 35 47 .427 29
11 Los Angeles Clippers 29 53 .354 35
12 Dallas Mavericks 26 56 .317 38
13 Minnesota Timberwolves 26 56 .317 38
14 Vancouver Grizzlies 15 67 .183 49


Game log

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (8) Sacramento Kings Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the SuperSonics and Kings.

Game Date Home Score Visitor Score Record

(SEA-SAC)

Venue Recap Television
1 April 26 Seattle 97 Sacramento 85 1-0 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 1 TNT 10:30et
2 April 28 Seattle 81 Sacramento 90 1-1 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 2 TNT 9:00et
3 April 30 Sacramento 89 Seattle 96 2-1 ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California 3 TNT 10:30et
4 May 2 Sacramento 87 Seattle 101 3-1 ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California 4 TBS 10:30et
Seattle wins series 3–1

West Conference Semifinals

(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (5) Houston Rockets Last Playoff Meeting: 1993 Western Conference Semifinals (Seattle won 4-3)

Game Date Home Score Visitor Score Record

(SEA-HOU)

Venue Recap Television
1 May 4 Seattle 108 Houston 75 1-0 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 1 NBC 3:30et
2 May 6 Seattle 105 Houston 101 2-0 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 2 TNT 9:00et
3 May 10 Houston 112 Seattle 115 3-0 The Summit, Houston, Texas 3 TNT 9:30et
4* May 12 Houston 107 Seattle 114 4-0 The Summit, Houston, Texas 4 NBC 3:00et
Seattle wins series 4–0

*Required overtime

West Conference Finals

(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (3) Utah Jazz Last Playoff Meeting: 1993 Western Conference First Round (Seattle won 3-2)

Game Date Home Score Visitor Score Record

(SEA-UTAH)

Venue Recap Television
1 May 18 Seattle 102 Utah 72 1-0 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 1 NBC 3:30et
2 May 20 Seattle 91 Utah 87 2-0 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 2 TNT 9:00et
3 May 24 Utah 96 Seattle 76 2-1 Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 3 NBC 9:00et
4 May 26 Utah 86 Seattle 88 3-1 Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 4 NBC 3:30et
5* May 28 Seattle 95 Utah 98 3-2 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 5 NBC 9:00et
6 May 30 Utah 118 Seattle 83 3-3 Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 6 NBC 9:00et
7 June 2 Seattle 90 Utah 86 4-3 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 7 NBC 7:30et
Seattle wins series 4–3

*Required overtime

NBA Finals

Chicago Bulls vs. Seattle SuperSonics

Game Date Home Score Visitor Score Record

(CHI-SEA)

Venue Recap Television
1 June 5 Chicago 107 Seattle 90 1-0 United Center, Chicago, Illinois 1 NBC 9:00et
2 June 7 Chicago 92 Seattle 88 2-0 United Center, Chicago, Illinois 2 NBC 9:00et
3 June 9 Seattle 86 Chicago 108 3-0 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 3 NBC 7:30et
4 June 12 Seattle 107 Chicago 86 3-1 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 4 NBC 9:00et
5 June 14 Seattle 89 Chicago 78 3-2 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 5 NBC 9:00et
6 June 16 Chicago 87 Seattle 75 4-2 United Center, Chicago, Illinois 6 NBC 7:30et
Chicago wins NBA Finals series 4–2

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Vincent Askew 69 2 25.0 .493 .337 .764 3.2 2.4 .7 .2 8.4
Frank Brickowski 63 8 15.7 .488 .405 .709 2.4 .9 .4 .1 5.4
Sherell Ford 28 1 5.0 .375 .160 .765 .9 .2 .3 .0 3.2
Hersey Hawkins 82 82 34.4 .473 .384 .874 3.6 2.7 1.8 .2 15.6
Ervin Johnson 81 60 18.8 .511 .333 .669 5.3 .6 .5 1.6 5.5
Shawn Kemp 79 76 33.3 .561 .417 .742 11.4 2.2 1.2 1.6 19.6
Nate McMillan 55 14 22.9 .420 .380 .707 3.8 3.6 1.7 .3 5.0
Gary Payton 81 81 39.0 .484 .328 .748 4.2 7.5 2.9 .2 19.3
Sam Perkins 82 20 26.5 .408 .355 .793 4.5 1.5 1.0 .6 11.8
Steve Scheffler 35 2 5.2 .533 .200 .474 .9 .1 .2 .1 1.7
Detlef Schrempf 63 60 34.9 .486 .408 .776 5.2 4.4 .9 .1 17.1
Eric Snow 43 1 9.0 .420 .200 .592 1.0 1.7 .7 .0 2.7
David Wingate 60 3 11.6 .415 .441 .780 .9 1.0 .3 .1 3.7

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Vincent Askew 19 0 18.2 .343 .261 .607 2.2 1.4 .7 .4 3.7
Frank Brickowski 21 3 9.8 .421 .273 .750 1.4 .5 .3 .2 2.0
Hersey Hawkins 21 21 34.0 .452 .344 .895 3.0 2.2 1.3 .2 12.3
Ervin Johnson 18 18 14.1 .371 .000 .818 3.8 .4 .3 .8 3.1
Shawn Kemp 20 20 36.0 .570 .000 .795 10.4 1.5 1.2 2.0 20.9
Nate McMillan 19 0 20.3 .406 .475 .643 3.7 2.7 1.2 .3 4.4
Gary Payton 21 21 43.4 .485 .410 .633 5.1 6.8 1.8 .3 20.7
Sam Perkins 21 1 31.1 .459 .368 .754 4.3 1.7 .7 .3 12.3
Steve Scheffler 8 0 2.8 .000 .000 .000 .8 .3 .1 .0 .0
Detlef Schrempf 21 21 37.6 .475 .368 .750 5.0 3.2 .7 .2 16.0
Eric Snow 10 0 2.4 .143 .000 .000 .4 .6 .2 .0 .2
David Wingate 13 0 5.2 .438 .500 1.000 .2 .0 .0 .0 1.5

Awards and records

Awards

All-NBA Teams
  • Shawn Kemp – All-NBA Second Team
  • Gary Payton – All-NBA Second Team
NBA All-Defensive Teams
  • Gary Payton – All-Defensive First Team
1996 NBA All-Star Game
  • Shawn Kemp (fourth appearance, second start)
  • Gary Payton (third appearance)

Records

Transactions

Overview

Players Added ----

Via draft

Via trade

Players Lost ----

Via trade

Retired

Trades

June 27, 1995 To Seattle SuperSonics----Hersey Hawkins----David Wingate To Charlotte Hornets----Kendall Gill
June 28, 1994 To Seattle SuperSonics----Eric Snow To Milwaukee Bucks----Draft rights to Eurelijus Žukauskas----Conditional 1996 second round pick
September 18, 1995 To Seattle SuperSonics----Frank Brickowski To Sacramento Kings----Byron Houston----Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Free agents

Additions

Player Signed Former team
Steve Scheffler October 6, 1995 Re-signed

See also

References