Two players were assuredly gone as the Bulls finished off the Sonics. Starting center Ervin Johnson's contract expired, and he wanted to look elsewhere to find more playing time and more respect. The feeling was mutual; Johnson was one of two players who had falling-outs with Coach George Karl during the course of the Finals. The other was swingman Vincent Askew, whose relationship with Karl went all the way back to the Albany Patroons of the CBA. Askew missed a practice before Game Six of the Finals, sat out the game, and was traded early in the summer to New Jersey Nets for guard Greg Graham.
The Sonics had five other free agents, including two other starters. The biggest name was, of course, Gary Payton. Backcourt-mate Hersey Hawkins was also on the market, as was top reserve Sam Perkins, big man Frank Brickowski, and little-used Steve Scheffler. Payton was the only one whose future was in doubt, though he was expected to return. Brickowski, though a key contributor, was unlikely to be brought back, while everyone else was a lock.
Perkins returned a day before Askew was dealt, with the first move of the off-season being his signing a two-year contract. Soon after followed Hawkins -- a five year deal -- and Scheffler -- another two-year deal.
The next job for the Sonics was to find a new center. The dream of fans and management alike was to bring in Denver's Dikembe Mutombo, the former Sonic nemesis regarded as the league's best defensive center. However, the Sonics lacked the cap wherewithal to pursue Mutombo, and he ended up in Atlanta. Instead, the Sonics turned their sights to an unheralded but hotly-pursued young Washington center named Jim McIlvaine. In limited minutes his first two seasons out of Marquette, McIlvaine had impressed scouts with his shot-blocking and rebounding ability. The Sonics beat out several other teams for the right to sign McIlvaine to a seven-year contract worth about five million per season.
The next pursuit was a swingman off the bench to replace Askew, preferably an offensive-minded one. They found such a player in former Cleveland and Atlanta guard Craig Ehlo, a native of Eastern Washington who had starred at WSU. Though Ehlo was getting up in age and had struggled during the '95-'96 campaign, his historical performance, experience, and personality made him ideally suited for the Sonics.
Finally, despite the spirited pursuit of Pat Riley and the Miami Heat, amongst others, Payton returned to the Sonics on a seven-year contract.
The team appeared set for another serious run at the Finals, but there remained one drama yet to play out before they could get underway.
The flow of money during the summer of 1996 appalled several people. In addition to McIlvaine receiving a large contract after sitting on the bench for most of his two-year career, this was the summer during which the Miami Heat signed Washington forward Juwan Howard to a monstrous contract that was later voided, enabling the Bullets to sign him to an even bigger contract. However, the person whose opinion mattered most to the Sonics was that of star forward Shawn Kemp, who was coming off of an NBA Finals which put him as one of the league's top stars. Kemp had made a poor decision in 1993, signing a long-term extension which was now far below market value. However, the Sonics could do nothing; because they were over the cap, they could not renegotiate the deal. Kemp was still upset, and held out of training camp. He returned before the start of the season, but the ill will would never be forgotten.
With too many outside players with guaranteed contracts, the second most momentous development to come out of training camp was the Sonics cutting Sherell Ford, their first round pick just a year ago. After one poor season, Ford was expendable, and he would never return to the NBA.
The move set up the final roster like this:
At point guard, Gary Payton was starting to get a little boring in a sense. There wasn't much room for him to go upwards after emerging as one of the League's best point guards. All-Defense second team, All-NBA first team, All-Star starter, what more could you ask?
As part of the continuing emergence of Payton and Kemp, along with the continued brilliance of Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins was a bit off in terms of scoring from the 1995-96 season. However, this was mostly due to not taking so many shots, which was occasionally due to offensive passivity. Late in the season, with Schrempf sidelined, Hawkins picked up the offensive pace.
As noted, Detlef Schrempf missed significant time with injuries for the second straight year. This time, it was mostly due to a 17-game absence with a partial tear in a tendon in his left foot which cost Herr Schrempf almost all of March. For the second time in his four years in Seattle, Schrempf was named to the All-Star team. When he started, the Sonics were 43-17 (72%). Without him, they were 14-8 (64%).
In many ways, it was a disappointing season for Shawn Kemp. After his strong Finals performance, Kemp was expected to take his game to the quote unquote 'next level'. It didn't happen. Despite missing most of the pre-season, there was little rust; Kemp led the team in scoring the first two games. However, over the course of the season, his scoring was slightly down, and his rebounding way down. Hardly the 'next level'. As well, Kemp was dogged by off-the-court rumors. One claimed that the night before the Sonics played the Chicago Bulls at home on February 2, Kemp was at the Keg, where he ordered several alcoholic beverages. Later in the season, NBC's Peter Vecsey reported that a source in the Sonic organization had told him that Kemp was an alcoholic.
Jim McIlvaine was, alas, not the savior that some fans expected. He was not even the competent starter that most fans expected. In fact, at about four points, four boards, and two blocks per night, he was probably not as effective as Johnson, who had been at five points, five boards, and one and a half blocks in similar minutes. In and of itself, that would not have been a problem, but given the contract. . . . He did not endear himself to the fans.
As always, Sam Perkins was, in effect, the Sonics' sixth 'starter', playing about 25 minutes per night. His workload was reduced in the second half. The aging process was clearly at work; Perkins' averages in points and rebounds declined for the third straight season in Seattle. That said, he remained an extremely valuable weapon in reserve.
The rest of the bench was a mixed bag. Craig Ehlo was a flop of epic proportions as Askew's replacement. He played but 848 minutes, his lowest total in 11 years, while shooting himself out of the lineup with a putrid 35% effort from the field, and rarely saw the court in the second half of the season. On the other hand, David Wingate was a revelation. After barely contributing in the 1995-96 season, Wingate eventually was the neo-Askew thanks to his solid defensive effort, though he too was a poor shooter who probably shot too much. Another surprise off the bench was Larry Stewart, signed for the minimum as a free agent after not playing much the previous two seasons. Many years previous, he had been a member of the All-Rookie team as an undrafted free agent with Washington, and revived his career with the Sonics, playing the seventh most minutes on the team and taking over when Schrempf was injured as a starter. A tweener, he provided a physical presence that Wingate could not.
Nate McMillan was clearly by the 1996-97 season not the contributor he once was. Held by injuries to just 37 regular season games, McMillan's performance dropped off as well. His main scoring contribution, the three, was made at just a 33% clip. However, he remained a crucial steadying influence on the team. When McMillan couldn't go, second-year man Eric Snow was ready, willing, and able. McMillan's influence was obvious, as Snow played tough d and made good offensive decisions. Unfortunately, he too was a poor shooter.
On January 13, the Sonics bolstered themselves for the stretch run by signing Terry Cummings as a free agent. Cummings had sat out most of the season to rest and have some time off, but wanted to play for a contender in the playoffs. The Sonics were a perfect fit, as they had struggled in 1996 to find a replacement for Brickowski. Cummings provided the Sonics something they hadn't had in quite some time; a second post scorer besides Kemp. He was an adequate rebounder and smart player, and kept them from playing four-on-five on offense like they often did with McIlvaine.
The Sonics started out the 1996-97 season the same way they had opened the previous year -- dropping a close decision to the Jazz in Utah in a rematch of the 1996 Western Conference Finals. They returned home the next night to beat the Portland Trail Blazers thanks to a horrendous shooting night from newly acquired Blazer guard Isaiah Rider.
The following Tuesday, Election Day (as Bill Clinton retained his position as President, defeating Bob Dole, and the new governor of Washington became former King County executive Gary Locke), former Sonic coach Lenny Wilkens brought his Atlanta Hawks to the Key. It was the first game I attended of the season, and the Sonics were beaten in about every category imaginable. Ehlo and Perkins played horribly, and I feared they might be useless the rest of the season, a guess on which I was 50% accurate. The 22-point loss left the Sonics at 1-2 after three games, and questioning whether they were the same team. A narrow victory two nights later over a Phoenix team reeling from the loss of Charles Barkley (they would start the season 0- 13) did little to alleviate the fears.
However, the Sonics quickly caught fire, taking advantage of an extremely favorable schedule to win their next 10 in a row. By the end of November, the Sonics were a respectable 14-3 after a post-Thanksgiving defeat of the Phoenix Suns, who had already switched coaches from Cotton Fitzsimmons (in his third stint with the team) to Danny Ainge.
December would not be so kind to the Sonics.
The Sonics dropped their first two games of the month, a rematch with Utah in the Key and their first battle with Los Angeles' next great center, Shaquille O'Neal. Returning to the Key, the Sonics blew out a hapless Timberwolf squad by a 117-86 score for George Karl's 400th career victory. The story of the game, despite the positives, was a negative. With a lead of 30 points, Karl had been ejected for arguably his most outrageous outburst as Sonic head coach, having to be restrained by Kemp and assistant Terry Stotts from physically attacking referee Bennett Salvatore. Karl was fined 8,500 by the NBA for his actions.
The Sonics lost four of their next five, including another home defeat to Houston. By December 14, they had already lost more games at home (four) than they had the entire 1995-96 season (three). Another nice stretch of schedule helped the Sonics to win five straight games around Christmas-time, capped by a defeat of San Antonio at home in front of just a few thousand fans on the 26th. Seattle had received an abnormally-high amount of slow, making passage to the game tricky, though my family and I fought the conditions. During the game, it was announced that the Suns had traded Michael Finley and Sam Cassell to Dallas for former Rookie of the Year (and good Payton friend) Jason Kidd and change. Little did I know then how significant that trade would eventually be; it looked like a lost season for the Suns no matter what.
The Sonics went back on the road and back downhill to close out the calendar year, losing a Texas two-step to Dallas and Houston. They closed the month of December with a below .500 record of 7-8, and were only 21-11 on the season.
The New Year provided renewed optimism in the Puget Sound, at least on the Sonic front. Playing seven of their first nine games of 1997 at home, the Sonics swept them all. On the 15th, in Cummings' Sonic debut, the club celebrated the NBA's 50th Anniversary with throwback uniforms and a retro '70's wardrobe for the coaches ( leisure suits are not flattering to Karl). More celebrating was done over the Sonics' team record 15 three-pointers. Perkins lead the way with eight for eight from beyond the arc, tying the league record for most made without a miss. A week later, the Sonics made a remarkable and improbable comeback to beat Portland at home, scoring seven points in the final minute and the game winner on a Hawk layup with 2.8 seconds to go.
After back-to-back losses to the LA teams, the Sonics capped the month with two more victories to finish January at 11-2 with a 32-13 record on the season. That was all but a prelude to the showdown, a rematch with the Bulls, again leading the Eastern Conference, on February 2.
For whatever reason, the Sonics' loss to Chicago has historically been blamed on the poor play of Kemp. Yes, indeed he had an off game, but what I remember more is some of the poorest coaching I've ever seen from Karl. To start the fourth quarter, Karl inserted a lineup of nothing but reserves. I'm guessing, but I imagine the lineup must have been Cummings, Perkins, Stewart, Wingate, and Snow. Whatever the group was, I recall reading later that Michael Jordan salivated at the prospect of facing the bench, and the Bulls extended their lead. The Sonics were never quite out of it, trailing by eight or so most of the fourth quarter. However, they failed to display any sense of urgency, wasting most of the 24-second clock and not turning to the three-pointer until far too late. As a result, they lost 91-84. Of course, perhaps the game was over at the close of the first quarter, when Jordan hit a 40-foot three at the buzzer. The shot only counted three points on the scoreboard, but seemed to have a message of, "Yeah, you guys are good, but I'm Michael Jordan . . . and you're not." Whatever the cause, the effect of the game was clearly another not-so-subtle indicator that the Sonics weren't quite the same team they were the previous season.
The Kemp controversy began in earnest a week and a half later, when it was reported in the media that Kemp was drinking during a late night dinner at the Keg Steakhouse in the University District the night prior to the afternoon Chicago game. It was reported that Kemp had seven drinks in a three hour period, though he claimed the drinks were for other members of his party as well as him.
The Sonics lost at home to Utah the next Wednesday to go into the All-Star break with a two-game losing streak and a record of 32-15, two and a half games back of where they had been a year ago. Kemp and Payton were starters for the West, while Schrempf was named a backup for the second time in his four years in Seattle.
Seattle returned from the break rested and ready to resume their run at a second straight Division championship. The Sonics reeled off seven straight wins to dispel the bad memories, including a Valentine's Day blowout of Houston in KeyArena, a big win in LA against their main rivals in the Pacific, the Lakers, a 20-point dispatching of the New York Knicks, who set an opponent record for fewest points with 64, an overtime victory at Utah thanks to a Payton jumper with three-tenths of a second left, and finally winning a game that only slightly resembled basketball by a 72-66 final at Cleveland.
Playing the second of a back-to-back a night later, the Sonics succumbed to fatigue and a number of nagging injuries, as Indiana went on a 19-2 run in the fourth quarter to end the streak. As well, Schrempf was placed on the injured list after the game with a partial tear in a foot tendon. The Sonics came back strong, finishing up a difficult five-game road trip with a one-point win over Miami, 96-95, as Hawkins stepped up in Schrempf's absence with 22 points and the clinching free throws, and a 109-101 win at Orlando on national TV as Graham made the most of rare playing time with seven second-half points.
Just over two weeks later, after slumping to a 4-3 record, the Sonics got their rematch with Chicago. The Bulls came into the game struggling, losing two games the previous week (reason for concern only in Chicago), and the Sonics led most of the way. However, it took three Payton free throws and a questionable no-call in the final seconds to get to overtime. There, Payton tied the game at 87 all with 16 seconds left, but was called for a foul on Jordan on the final shot, and Jordan's two free throws sealed an 89-87 win that gave the Sonics confidence.
The confidence carried over briefly to a four game Sonic winning streak that put them on the brink of 50 wins for the season, but again they faltered, losing three out of four games to Pacific rivals Phoenix (recovered from the early season slump to look like a sure playoff team) and the Lakers. The 99-97 loss to LA in KeyArena set up a tumultuous final month, especially for Kemp.
Tardiness had been a Kemp problem since he came to Seattle, but it came to a head in April 1997 as he was late for a practice about every other day, and also missed some. The media lambasted Kemp, whose play on the court had also suffered. Just a year earlier, Kemp had appeared on the brink of superstardom. Now he looked to be on the verge of a breakdown.
On April 12, as the Sonics prepared to play San Antonio, NBC analyst Peter Vecsey went public with his report that Kemp had admitted to a drinking problem in a players-only meeting earlier in the month. Kemp -- and the team -- vehemently denied this report, with the team going so far as to sign an affidavit indicating that no such event ever occurred. It remains unclear to this day where Vecsey got his story.
Seattle won that evening over San Antonio, putting their record at 54-24, but were understandably distracted in being blown out of the water by the Rockets the next day, 113-73. The loss all but assured Houston, who sported an identical 54-25 record but held the tiebreaker, homecourt should the teams meet in the playoffs.
Despite all the problems, the Sonics still woke up on tax day with a very real shot of winning the division. They closed the season with wins over three subpar opponents to give themselves a 57-25 record, their fourth straight season with 55+ wins. The next day, the final Sunday of the regular season, the Sonics were watching as the Portland Trailblazers upended the Lakers to give the Sonics their third division title in four years. Also, the Phoenix Suns lost to drop them into the seventh seed and make them an undesirable first round opponent.
The Suns underwent a dramatic makeover between the end of their 1996 season and April 1997, as they prepared to take on the Sonics in the first round. First, they had shed longtime coach Paul Westphal during the 95-96 season, and Fitzsimmons started the 96-97 campaign as the head man. They also dumped former MVP Charles Barkley, who had led them to the 1993 Finals, getting back from Houston Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, and Mark Bryant. The bulk of the deal was gone by the All-Star break; Cassell to Dallas with Michael Finley for Kidd and change; Horry dispatched to the Lakers for former Sun Cedric Ceballos after throwing a towel into Ainge's face.
The Suns changed their season by deciding to unleash one of the smallest lineups in NBA history: Kidd and veteran star Kevin Johnson, both point guards by trade, in the backcourt, veteran Rex Chapman, who had developed a deadly three stroke at small forward, former star Danny Manning at power forward, and at center John "Hot Rod" Williams. Off the bench came a pair more sharpshooters, Wesley Person and rookie (and Vancouver, B.C. native) Steve Nash, along with scorer Ceballos and veteran frontcourt scorer Wayman Tisdale. The Suns had decided they would be about offense, offense, and more offense, as well as speed.
The Sonics countered with a move that pleased many in Seattle. McIlvaine's first season had been more than enough for a clear majority of the fans to term him a bust; Karl's decision to bench him in favor of Cummings and remove him from the rotation just proved it to them.
In game one, as the series opened in Seattle on a Friday night, the combination worked to perfection thanks to Chapman. Once derided for being such an inefficient scorer, Chapman had blossomed in his first season in Phoenix into a mad bomber a la former Sonic nemesis Dan Majerle. It was Majerle's NBA record for three pointers in a playoff game (8, also set against the Sonics, in game five of the 1993 Western Conference Finals) that Chapman broke by making 9 and scoring 42 points as the Suns upset the Sonics 106-101 to put the Sonics in the hot seat.
The Sonics rebounded in a big way two nights later, taking early command of the game with a 33-8 lead in the first quarter and absolutely demolishing the Suns, with the 122-78 final providing a Sonic playoff-record 44 point margin of victory. Nevertheless, Phoenix was happy to be going home with a chance to end the series on their home court.
The Sonics looked in command of game three early, leading by 15 in the first quarter. However, the Suns rallied despite Payton's eight threes, one off Chapman's game one record. His last one tied the game at 94. After that, Phoenix controlled the final moments with a 16-9 run that gave them a 110-103 victory and put the Sonics on the brink of first round elimination for the third time in four years, needing to win back-to-back games to advance to the second round. To make that challenge more difficult, they lost McMillan for the remainder of the playoffs in the first half.
Game four found the Sonics again leading throughout the early stages of the game, with the margin as large as 12 during the fourth quarter. Again, the Suns fought back, and they trailed by three with 1.9 seconds left. A Schrempf free throw three seconds earlier could have given the Sonics an insurmountable lead, but it still seemed unlikely Phoenix could come up with something. The ball was inbounded to Chapman, the hero of the series so far, who could manage only a turnaround, fadeaway, 30-footer while falling out of bounds. Miraculously -- or, since I'm writing from the perspective of a Sonic fan, devastatingly -- the shot somehow managed to go in, and the Suns sent the game to overtime.
Watching at home, my family and I were stunned. Chapman's shot was one of the most improbable -- and ill-timed for the Sonics -- I have ever seen, a staple on highlight shows for the remainder of the playoffs. Now, the Sonics were five minutes away from elimination in the first round for the third time in four years and had to compose themselves after the devastation of Chapman's shot. They certainly could have folded after Kidd opened the overtime with a three of his own. But the Sonics would not be denied; Schrempf answered with yet another three and the team never looked back, outscoring the Suns 15-8 for a 122-115 victory that was built on the backs of Payton (28 points, 14 assists) and Kemp (24 points, 20 rebounds). Despite the victory, I was unbelievably angry at Wingate for his poor play (including one of seven shooting) during the game. More on that later.
It was back to Seattle for an all-or-nothing game five.
Just as they had three years earlier, the Sonics played game five against Phoenix on a Saturday afternoon. I arrived well before tipoff, the better to enjoy local radio station KJR's "Hex Rex" presentation, with a demonstration of how we could fight back against Chapman's series for the ages. If I recall correctly, it started with the right hand on the back of the head and the left arm extended, with the fingers wiggling. The right arm was slowly brought down until both were pointed at Chapman, wherever he was, with all fingers wiggling. Hey, whatever works.
The home team came out like a team that knew it needed its best effort of the season to save its playoff lives. Shooting nearly 55% from the field, the Sonics cruised to a 63-41 lead at halftime that made it look like the series is over. But it's never that easy. In the third quarter, the perimeter-dependent Suns got hot, making six three-pointers in 10 tries while the Seattle offense staggered to seven for 24 shooting. Suddenly, when Person opened the fourth period with a three, we had a ballgame on our hands, with the Sonics leading by only five. That's when, of all people, Wingate stepped up to save the season. He answered Person's three with a jumper of his own, and spent the entire fourth quarter atoning for his poor game four play and making the Suns pay for not respecting his jumper. All in all, Wingate scored 14 points in the fourth period alone, a playoff-career-high 19 for the game, and the Sonics won going away, by a 116-92 final.
It had been a battle, an all-out war, and it had drained the Sonics emotionally and physically, but they survived their first-round series with the Suns. Now, it was on to a rematch in the second round with the Houston Rockets, who the Sonics had swept out of the playoffs a year ago. After seeing one half of the results of the Barkley trade, the Sonics now would see the other; Barkley gave the Rockets three of the NBA's brightest stars in their lineup along with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Alongside the three all-time greats, they featured veteran Mario Elie, a solid (if unorthodox) outside shooter and defender at the small forward and rookie point guard Matt Maloney, whose main strength was busting double-teams by making threes. The Rockets also had a deep and experienced bench. Backing up Olajuwon and Barkley was one of the league's top reserve big men, long-time starter Kevin Willis, who could score in the paint and rebound -- even if his arms were embarrassingly short. Then there were two familiar faces to Sonics fans; small forward Eddie Johnson, who played in Seattle from 1990-1993; and point guard Sedale Threatt, a Sonic from 1988-1991. Both brought solid offensive punch from the pine. The Rockets had been lying in wait for the Sonics. Instead of slogging it out during a hotly-contested first-round series, they swept the Minnesota Timberwolves (making their first playoff appearance) in three games.
Game one looked like a game between teams with dramatically different levels of fatigue. The Sonics came out flat, and were on their way to getting trampled in the third quarter because of Houston's amazingly hot three-point shooting -- 15 of 28 as a team, including five out of five for Elie, four out of eight for Maloney, and three out of six for Drexler. Seattle did manage to make the final outcome respectable at 112-102 thanks to a strong fourth quarter catalyzed by little-used Snow. He came off the bench to play 17 minutes, his longest outing in months, and had seven assists. It was still not nearly enough as the Sonics' strategy of doubling Olajuwon (held to 15 points) and making the Rockets' shooters beat them failed. Game two would be different; instead of allowing the Rockets to set up in the half-court, where they were clearly better, the Sonics got out and ran, forcing the tempo, and also attacked Maloney. Hawkins, who had been a non-factor in game one, scored 21 points and made three threes, with Kemp chipping in 22 and 15 boards. The game was still in doubt in the closing minutes, but a Perkins three extended the lead to five and finished the Rockets, with the Sonics heading home with home-court advantage now theirs.
Game three came down to the stretch, and it looked like the Sonics were in command when they led 89-82. But the Rockets quickly rallied to tie the game first at 91 and then at 93 with just over two minutes left. From that point on, both offenses bogged down, and it was not until the final play that either side would score. Unfortunately, it was the road team, with Drexler making a baseline jumper to put Houston ahead before Olajuwon sealed the deal by blocking a Kemp attempt with seven seconds left. That made game four essentially a must win for the Sonics, and it looked like they were in deep trouble when they trailed by eight with five minutes left. They rallied to tie the game at 92 before trailing by three, 98-95, with time for one more play after Barkley missed a pair of free throws. Seattle capitalized on the opportunity, with Hawkins nailing a game-tying three to send it to overtime. Despite the homecourt, the Sonics were still at a disadvantage in the extra period with Kemp on the bench, having fouled out halfway through the fourth. Perkins joined him on a contested charge call inside the final minute with the Sonics up one. That set up Maloney, who made the last and biggest of his eight threes to put Houston up two, as they would win 110-106 behind 26 apiece from Maloney and Barkley (who added 15 boards) and despite 27 points and 11 assists from Payton.
As they headed back to Houston's Summit, the Sonics were, for all intents and purposes, dead. To come back, they would need to win twice in Houston and once in the Key -- perhaps more unlikely given their poor execution down the stretch at home over the weekend. Before they left Seattle, Karl and Hawkins received some unexpected advice from someone with first-hand knowledge of coming back from a 3-1 deficit, former Boston great and Sonic coach Bill Russell, who advised the duo that they needed to focus on winning game five as opposed to worrying about winning the next three.
The advice worked; despite foul trouble for both Kemp and Cummings, the Sonics controlled the game virtually the entire way, holding on despite a late Rocket push for a 100-94 win to send the series back to Seattle. The key was the Sonics' guard play; Karl also took a coaching tip from the Sonics' popular theme song, sung by local rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot: "Hawk! Feed the Hawk!" Hawkins led the team with 23 points, and a defensive switch that matched him with Elie and Payton with Maloney limited those two to a combined four points, meaning the 57 provided by Drexler and Olajuwon was not enough.
Back to the Key. By this point, the series had gotten heated, with each team so close to a berth in the Western Conference Finals opposite the Utah Jazz, who had quickly buried the Los Angeles Lakers. As a result, there were words between Drexler and Payton and a fracas between Willis and Kemp, where Willis elbowed Kemp, precipitating Kemp hitting Willis in the back of the head. Somehow, only Willis was T'd up. Then, it was down to basketball. What looked like a laugher as the Sonics led by 20 late in the third became a game because of Olajuwon's domination. The Rockets got within two in the final minute after a Drexler three, but that was as close as they would get, a Payton layup with 12 seconds left sealing a 99-96 win.
Back to Houston. The Sonics had momentum, the Rockets home-court in a game seven that was sure to rival the one the teams had played four years earlier in an identical situation at the Coliseum. The Sonics had what they had hoped for when down 3-1: A chance. Now their one-game attitude would literally be correct. Waiting for them was either a rematch with Utah or another summer of discontent.
Through the first half of the third quarter, the Sonics were able to hang right with Houston. A 6-0 run to start the second half put the Sonics ahead, 56-55. Could they really be pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history? Then the offense disappeared, as the team appeared to tire from their uphill battle during games five and six; they missed 16 of 17 shots in one stretch and were held scoreless for six minutes. That meant a 14-point deficit with four minutes left and little hope left in Seattle. But the Sonics had one last run left in them; pressing and frustrating the Rockets, they pulled to within three with possession with 16 seconds left. Again, they had a chance. Perhaps it was a microcosm of the Sonics' season; close to the dominance of 1996, but not quite there. And so all the Sonics could get on that final possession was a 21-footer from Kemp which fell short, as did their hopes for returning to the NBA Finals.
Now, all eyes returned to Kemp. Would that miss be his final shot as a Seattle Supersonic? Kemp promised that he would have an answer after meeting with his agents and advisors, as at least one long-time Kemp fan waited anxiously. A year ago, everything had seemed so promising . . . what had happened? Of course, if Kemp returned, there was no reason the Sonics would not be unable to contend again. Of their four impending free agents, only Cummings and Wingate were rotation players, and neither irreplaceable in any sense of the word. But with Karl's contract down to one year and the core outside of Payton and Kemp not getting any younger, the Sonics' window of opportunity already looked like it was starting to slip away.
1996-97 stats
