The Sonics ended the 77-78 season on a down note--though they had made it to the Finals, they had let the Bullets come from behind to take the series in seven games. I wondered. Had their confidence been squashed by a singing fat lady? (Read the 77-78 history if that doesn't make sense.)

By the summer of 1978, the Sonics had lost their center, Marvin "The Human Eraser" Webster to the $$ and fame of the big lights of Manhattan. Backup forward Bruce Seals retired as well because of injury problems. To make things worse, the Sonics had no first-round draft pick. This was not good.

But credit owner Sam Schulman and Sonics management. They did not sit idly by and watch the team dissolve. Not yet, at least.

Schulman called the league office and demanded compensation for losing a potential superstar big man in Webster. (Ironically, Webster would get distracted by the bright lights of the big city, was hampered by injury, and would never regain form.) The league nodded its head at Schulman's demands, and provided big tough power forward Lonnie Shelton as compensation.

But the Sonics still needed a center. Forward/Center Sikma, only in his second year, was big enough at 6'11", and played like a veteran, so he got the job. But they needed a backup, and went hunting--to Denver, of course, as they had the year before. This time they bagged 6'10" Tom LaGarde, who some thought could develop into a quality center. (But then again, some people say that about every big guy in the league!)

The 1978-1979 roster was set:

Jack Sikma, the best center in sonic history, started. He ended up averaging 15.6 points, 3 assists, and 12.4 rebounds. Though he was not a shot blocker like the Eraser, he played excellent position defense- thanks to the tutelage of 15-year veteran Paul Silas. He had developed a nice inside move (Hubie Brown calls it, understandably, the "Sikma move") and had a good outside shot as well. He developed a nice outlet pass, often sending it to a streaking Gus Williams on the break. Though he was not huge or greatly athletic, he was sound fundamentally and mobile for a big man.

Lonnie Shelton, a third-year vet, won the starting job as power forward. He averaged A FOUL EVERY MINUTE (ok, actually it was a foul every 8 minutes), and had led the league in fouls two years running. Playing against him was like playing against a 6'8" brick wall--one that hits back! He averaged 13.5 points and over 6 rebounds per game, but his playing time was limited (28 minutes a game) by his propensity for fouls. Other than his fouling, he was a great defender. He was a very good inside scorer.

Johnny Johnson (JJ) was one of two ball handlers in the starting lineup, probably one of the first point-forwards in league history (after John Havlicek.) The nine-year veteran was captain on the floor--with an uncanny ability to recognize the opponents' defense and adjust accordingly. The 6'7" forward averaged double figures in scoring and led the team in assists, but his assist to turnover ratio was worse than 3 to 2. That's not good for a ball handler.

Dennis Johnson (DJ), entering his third year, had established himself as the premier defensive shooting guard in the league. He would be named to the all-defense first team, led the team in blocks (he was only 6'4"), and averaged 16 points a game. He fashioned himself as a clutch player--but I doubted it after his lousy game in the last game of the previous year's finals. 0 for 14? I'm sure DJ vowed never to let that happen again. He was so competitive and emotional--stories circulated about how he routinely pouted and yelled after each loss--that I think the management was actually scared of the guy.

Gus Williams, The Wizard, in his fourth season, was confident, fast and had quick hands, and though only 6'1" was a bit harder to post up than he looked. Gus was the team's leading scorer at 19 points a game, led the team at 2 steals per, and was second on the team at 4 assists per game. He shot nearly 50% from the field, thanks partly to his propensity for making quick drives down the middle for an easy layup. He was a bit streaky from outside, but could get very hot, and was not shy about putting it up. He was the Sonics' "other" ball-handler on the floor, though like JJ he was prone to too many turnovers (his assist to turnover ratio was about 3 to 2.)

Key Reserves:

Paul Silas, a power forward in his 15th year, had won championships with the Celtics, but despite his age and accomplishments he loved the game too much to quit. He was an excellent teacher, and the other Sonics listened. Thanks partly to his teaching, the Sonics allowed fewer points than anyone else in the league, limited opponents to the lowest field goal percentage, and were second best in rebounding (topped only by Washington.) He was a master at footwork, played great position defense, and knew all the tricks in the book to stop his man and get him out of his game--he had to, since he couldn't jump, and was painfully slow on the floor. But he was still a great rebounder, played in 82 games that season (24 minutes per game) and averaged 7 rebounds per contest. Now before you say, "7 rebounds? So what?" think about this: combining Shelton's and Silas' stats together you get, in 52 minutes, 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists. That's what you'd want from a power forward, even if it's a bit more than 48 minutes.

Fred "Downtown" Brown was the team's spark off the bench, and one of my all-time favorite Sonics. In the 78-79 season he averaged 14 points in 25 minutes per game. Defenders hated to see him--he often stayed outside--WAY OUTSIDE--and then suddenly you'd see him swish a long-range bomb as soon as his opponent backed off. On fast breaks, he loved to run to the baseline (either side) and pop in a 20-foot jumper. Though he was an awesome shooter, I remember his defense a bit differently. "He must be dreaming about shooting while he's guarding his man," I used to joke. But even if he wasn't much of an overall defender, he was good at stealing the ball. (Like Rick Barry, I guess, he was in a hurry to get the ball back so he could shoot it!) In hindsight, I can see that he at least was good at playing the passing lanes.

Other backups included Tom LaGarde, who played well at center when he wasn't injured (he played 23 games that season.) Dennis Awtrey was recruited to take his place. I don't remember if LaGarde played in the playoffs or not. Wally Walker backed up JJ at forward, though at the time he was probably best known for his sex symbol status--the ladies loved Wally's legs, I heard. Old sharp-shooter Dick Snyder and youngster Joe Hassett saw minutes at guard.

It would be easy to label the Sonics as a hard-nosed defensive team, and leave it at that. In truth, though, they had a balanced offense, with far outside shooting (Fred), plenty of mid-range shooting (Sikma, DJ, JJ, and Gus), and inside scoring (Gus' drives, and the inside play of Sikma and Lonnie.) The team was unselfish as well--everyone averaged over 3 assists per game except the power forwards who split time (Shelton and Silas together combined for about 3 assists, actually).

But how did these turnover-prone Sonics win an NBA championship? Did the rest of the league suck?

Not quite. In fact, the influx of ABA players a few years before had improved play (especially offense) dramatically. Dr. J, George McGinnis, Moses Malone, George Gervin, David Thompson, Artis Gilmore, Larry Kenon, and a host of others established themselves as superstars in both leagues. No, the problem was not the lack of competition. The problem was that most teams had started focusing on flashy offense instead of fundamental play--despite the fact that the last two league champs, Portland and Washington, played much like the Sonics. Attendance was dwindling, and owners wanted their teams to be more "entertaining." They just forgot that fans wanted to see their teams WIN.

What the league actually needed was to have the big-name teams like the Knicks, 76ers, Lakers, and Celtics, undergo a resurgence. Although I don't think it was a conspiracy, that's exactly what happened the next year (except for the Knicks.) Eventually, those fun flashy offenses would turn into GOOD flashy offenses.

Back to the point: here's how the Sonics won their championship. They finished the season 52-30, 2nd best in the league (behind defending champs Washington, who were 54-28.) They had six players scoring in double figures (7 if LaGarde is included) and you couldn't shut them down just by stopping one shooter- or even one ball handler. And of course, you couldn't score against them. Not without a struggle.

The Sonics got a bye in the first round, which was great since the front line needed plenty of rest. Their second-round opponent was the Lakers, with a potent lineup of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adrian Dantley, Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, Lou Hudson, and Ron Boone. They could score, but lacked a decent rebounder outside of Kareem, and that cost them. Seattle totally dominated the boards (I think the Lakers hardly got any offensive rebounds in the series) and won in five games. The Lakers were simply not tough enough to keep a lead down the stretch.

In the Western Conference finals, Seattle met another potent offensive team, Phoenix, led by high-scoring Paul Westphal and Walter "Greyhound" Davis. Alvan Adams and Truck Robinson bolstered their front line, while Don Buse was their guard-stopper on defense. The Sonics went up 2-0 in Seattle, then suddenly they seemed to forget how to pass and dribble--they dropped the next two games in Phoenix. When they returned to Seattle and lost game five, I started thinking about last year's collapse against the Bullets. For one thing, JJ was throwing the ball away like it was poison. He had 34 turnovers in that series--the whole team, in fact, had 146--that's about 21 turnovers per game, much too high for a team trying to make the NBA Finals.

They were down 3 games to 2 to the Suns. I wondered: was the fat lady about to sing again?

Returning for game six in Phoenix, my heart was in my shoes. No way they could come back, I decided. I almost couldn't bear to watch the game.

Dennis Johnson had other ideas. He came out on fire, and the rest of the team followed suit; only their achilles' heel--turnovers--continued to haunt them. The Sonics pulled out game six by one point. I think Gus Williams hit the last shot, on a pick set by DJ, but I'm not sure.

Game 7, back in Seattle, was close as well, and the highest scoring of the series at 114-110, but DJ clinched it at the end with great defense. I was stunned. Back to the Finals!

Meanwhile, Washington had survived a pair of 7-game series and were right back to where they had been last year. But this time the Bullets had the better record, and thus the home court advantage. And worse, the Bullets had a similar game as the Sonics, with great rebounding from Unseld and Elvin Hayes, great defense from guys like Bob Dandridge, and nice depth. And they had psyched out the Sonics the previous year in the Finals.

In DC, things started out on a sour note. Larry Wright, a backup guard for the Bullets, made two free throws with no time remaining, and the Bullets won by two.

At least it had been close, I told myself. And this time the Sonics looked confident, not just happy to be there in the Finals.

Ya, I told myself, the Sonics still have a chance. It's just game one. And DJ had played well.

I was actually looking forward to watching Game 2 on t.v., played again in DC. The Sonics stepped onto the court and suddenly my doubts slipped away. I saw the looks on their faces. They knew they were better than the Bullets, and they were ready to prove it. It would be a tough, nitty gritty defensive battle.

Sikma was awesome, blocking shots (he rarely blocked shots; but he averaged 3.2 blocks in this series) and nabbing hoardes of rebounds--he averaged 12.4 defensive rebounds in that series, plus a couple of offensive rebounds. DJ's defense was a thing of beauty, blocking shots, nabbing steals, shutting down their high-scorer Dandridge or the point-guard Tom Henderson or whoever else they dared to put in; and he was hitting his shots besides.

In the third quarter of game 2, both teams put the clamps on defensively, and neither team scored many points. But the Sonics clung to a lead, and by the end of the 4th quarter, the Sonics had pulled it out, 92-82.

82 points? It may be hard to believe by modern standards, but no one scored 82 points back then. Teams averaged 110.3 points that season. The Bullets had been averaging 115.

The Sonics defense had bitten the Bullets--despite the Bullets own prowess at defense and rebounding. Yes, the Bullets continued to get their offensive boards (16.4 per game in the series!) but they couldn't hit from outside. DJ and the rest wouldn't let them. And Sikma blocked several of the put-back attempts.

The series was tied 1-1 and they came to Seattle for a pair of games.

NBA greats like Bill Russell have described times during a game when they felt totally in control, when they felt could do anything and sometimes did, like blocking their opponent's first six shots and grabbing every single rebound in a stretch of several minutes. It became increasingly obvious that DJ was feeling it in this series. He dominated at both ends of the court. By the time the teams returned to DC, the Sonics were leading 3 games to 1 and, despite the Bullets fans' signs proclaiming that the fat lady hadn't yet sung, DJ knew that she was warming up.

Game 5 was DJ's--I don't remember how many points he got (30? 40? Or maybe I'm way off), but he seemed to hit one clutch shot after another. Washington fought close but every time the Sonics pulled ahead again thanks to Sikma's rebounding and his pinpoint outlet passes to a streaking Gus or DJ. And the Sonics put the clamps on the Washington offense as well; DJ seemed to be everywhere, pulling down rebounds, blocking shots, stealing the ball, or forcing his man to make a bad pass or poor shot. DJ, Sikma and crew pulled out a 97-93 win. The Sonics had excorsized their demon fat lady and won an NBA championship.

Not suprisingly, DJ was named NBA Finals MVP.

At that moment I thought their reign would last forever ....