I’m working on compiling a comprehensive history of the Seattle Supersonics. I’ll update this page as I get more info posted.
I’m always updating the Supersonics Timeline, though, so check that out.
Seattle Sports Hell
Why Do We Put Ourselves Through This?
You make me laugh. Especially the part about unathletic white centers. Sikma was the only white center that made a difference. Even during the Kemp/Payton years, there really wasn’t a true center. Michael Cage & Sam Perkins were power forwards.
Do you remember when the Sonics, for some hare-brained reason, acquired Tom LaGarde? Talk about an unathletic white center. I was only 11 years old at the time & I was wondering what the heck was Lenny Wilkins thinking? This was the championship ’78/’79 season. Marvin Webster got traded for Lonnie Shelton, which turned out to be a positive trade. Then they brought this unaccomplished 6-10 guy in who had only been a backup in Denver, then made him the starting center over Jack Sikma, just after they came a few points short of winning the ’78 NBA Championship. But LaGarde got injured, thankfully, early that season and they brought on Dennis Awtrey to back up Sikma. Awtrey was that curly-haired, smiling bruiser who knew how to brutalize opponents in the paint.That probably helped them win the championship. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would have flattened LaGarde.