After 16 years of risk taking and overspending his investors' money, Sam Schulman decided to sell the Sonics. Attendance had been decent in the 82-83 season (over 14,000 per game), but that was a far cry from the nearly 22,000 average in 79-80, the year after they had won the championship. Playing in the Dome was expensive, salaries were on the rise, and the Sonics' fortunes seemed to be slowly declining.

Barry Ackerly bought the team. I didn't hate him at first. He hadn't yet had a chance to tinker with the team much, after all.

Much to starting center Jack Sikma's chagrin, his backup James Donaldson was sent to the Clippers along with Greg Kelser. And even worse, Lonnie Shelton, the defensive brick wall, went to Cleveland. Meanwhile, management brought in athletic big man Tom Chambers and small forward Al Wood from the San Diego Clippers, Reggie King from the Kings, and Jon Sundvold from the draft. The team became a whole lot quicker with these changes.

The Sonics had a great season at home, going 32-9. But on the road they went an atrocious 10-31, leaving an overall record of 42-40. Despite their great home record, attendance dipped by over 3,000 per game, down below 11,000 for the first time since the 1972-73 season. People I guess looked in the paper, saw the mediocre overall record, and said to themselves, "Why bother?"

But there was reason to bother. The Sonics played exciting ball, in the modern style like the Lakers, Suns, and Nuggets. No more plodding down the court to set up the offense, it was fast break time--unless the opponents' defense was already set. But defense was not a priority in the NBA in the mid 80's. Putting fans in the stands was.

Because of their change in style, the Sonics defense suffered a bit -- they slipped to #8 (of 23) in points allowed, and to #10 in field goal % allowed. They continued to hold onto the ball (sixth lowest in turnovers), and with Kelser and Shelton gone they fouled less than anyone else. Rebounding, on the other hand, slipped to 19th in the league--one of the worst.

The lineup:

Jack Sikma was still at center, averaging 19 pts, 85% at the line, 11.1 rebounds (sixth, and led the league in defensive rebounding), was up to 4 assists per game with his killer outlet passes, blocked over a shot per game, and because of the running, he had more easy baskets and shot 50% from the field.

Tom Chambers played power forward and backup center. At 6-10 he was tall enough, and though a bit thin he was mean. In fact, he had a reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the league, and it was not hard to lure him into a fight. On defense he could be a crafty nuisance, look dreadfully bored, or be just plain stupid -- I never could figure out why, but most often it was one of the last two. I guess his heart was on the offensive end. But for a big man, his moves were simply awesome. He could shoot like a guard from outside and could drive in for a swooping dunk, maneuvering around quick guards and pesky shot blockers like they were mere pinball ornaments. This guy'll be a great player, I told myself early in the season. He was only in his third year, and if he learned to play consistent defense he would be The Sonic of the Future, good enough to be placed on a par with Jack and Gus and all the rest. In his first season as a Sonic, Tom averaged 18 pts, 6.5 rebounds, 50% from the field, 80% from the line, but only 1.6 assists, and a whopping 3.8 fouls per game.

Danny Vranes started at small forward, playing his usual great defense. He managed to improve his scoring to 8.4 pts per game, along with 5 rebounds 1.6 assists, and 52% shooting from the field (i.e., layups and putbacks!) Also, 6-6, 240 lb Reggie King (8 points, 6 rebounds) played as a backup at both forward positions.

David Thompson was a disappointment. The former superstar ended his career playing only 19 games that year for the Sonics, and was not available for the playoffs because of injury. Instead of Thompson, another newcomer, highly touted Tar Heel Al Wood, played at the guard position. Al also spent time at small forward, and averaged a respectable 14.3 pts, 49% from the field, 82% from the line, along with 3.5 rebounds and 2 assists per game.

Gus Williams remained the point guard, and though his scoring dipped to 18.7 per game, he averaged 2.4 steals (third in the league), 8.4 assists (seventh in the league) and his assist to turnover ratio once again approached 3:1.

Others included Fred Brown, still contributing with 8.5 pts in 16 minutes per game, and again almost 3 assists per game despite his limited playing time. His three-point percentage once again fell, however, to 26.5%. He only attempted 34 three-pointt shots. The Sonics, after all, were a running team.

Rookie Jon Sundvold saw about 15 minutes a game. He was a three-point shooter and ball handler, sort of in the mold of Fred Brown. But again, the team's playing style didn't really require much of his outside shooting. Finally, Steve Hawes saw time at forward and center in limited minutes.

As I said, the team was fun to watch. They ran with the Lakers in the regular season, winning three (in Seattle) and losing three (in L.A.) My question though was how they would do in the playoffs.

Despite winning six fewer games than the previous year, Seattle found themselves in almost the same position as the previous year--they were third in the division. But instead of the fourth seed and homecourt advantage in round 1, they were fifth seed and headed to Dallas to play a bunch of talented upstarts. No problem, I figured. Seattle had won the regular season series 4-1. They had the Mavs' number. Despite their nightmare on the road this season, they could pull one out at Dallas, I was sure. Young teams folded easy in the playoffs.

Of course, I had been wrong before.

It was a five-game series. Seattle left Dallas feeling good, having taken one at Dallas to even the series 1-1. Then back in the Dome, the Sonics won game three by 10 points to go up 2-1. But Dallas did the unthinkable -- they beat the Sonics at home to even the series. Game five would be on the road at Dallas. The Sonics' only hope was its tandem of Gus Williams and Jack Sikma, the only Sonics who had truly shined so far.

In the series, Sikma averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds while Gus chipped in 23 points and 11 assists per game. Fred Brown played decently as well (10 pts per game), but everyone else fell flat on their faces. Chambers let Kurt Nimphius block his shots and let Jay "no defense" Vincent outposition him for rebounds. Chambers also averaged 4.6 fouls per game. Vranes defended Aguirre (second leading scorer in the league ) quite well but didn't score much. Al Wood, a natural small forward, couldn't handle hot-shooting guard Rolando Blackman. On the other hand, Brad Davis and (a very young) Derek Harper didn't score much--and didn't dish the ball much for point guards, or even steal the ball much--Gus easily outplayed both of them. And Sikma dominated Pat Cummings. Game five went down to the wire.

Despite a valiant effort by Sikma and Gus the Wizard, Seattle lost in overtime, 105-104. I don't remember who missed the last shot for the Sonics, but it could have won the game--the Sonics would have faced the Lakers in the second round, and who knows what would have happened.

But in a way the series kind of made sense -- the year was about excitement, not winning, I decided. And all along I had thought they were the same thing....

In one slightly ironic twist, sitting deep on the Dallas bench was a young three-point assassin just burning to show what he could do. In a few years, the Sonics would trade for the fellow nicknamed "Lamar Mundane" and watch him become a three-point shooting legend.