In the beginning of this past year no one would blame the fair weather fans for not knowing what to expect of the Seattle Supersonics. After all, the most dedicated fans had no idea, the local and national sports media had no idea, and in fact even the franchise itself was uncertain. The previous summer had brought with it a great deal of change, the results of which were as clear as concrete. Ruben Patterson, the team’s most valuable bench player was gone, the Sonics' only true center of the past decade Patrick Ewing was gone, and the team’s starting point guard during the team’s experiment with Payton at the two-guard position, Emanual Davis, was gone.

There was even a change in the things that stayed the same, Gary Payton and Vin Baker. Last summer the team would have been happy to see both of these players join in the exodus from Seattle. The change came from the fact that both players were shopped around the league very publicly, attitudes on both sides of the fence were changed, with an eerie silence when it became clear the two would be staying in Seattle, no one quite sure how the trade talks would affect the team. And the plot thickens.

Along with the two possibly disgruntled stars, the Sonics filled out the roster with, the nicest possible word I suppose would be “potential”. The team’s youth movement saw players like Watson, James, Radmanovic, Mason, Long, Drobnjak and Booth taking on more of a role, all of them making Rashard Lewis and Shammond Williams look like grizzled veterans of the league. On paper the abilities and skill of these players looked tremendous, but in the real world on an NBA court they looked like children.

And as if the stars new mindsets and wholesale change of personnel wasn’t enough, this year was to be the first full year under new head coach Nate McMillan. This being McMillan’s first full year as coach, it was his chance to run the team completely under his own system and to mould the team into whatever image he saw fit; an image still at this point yet unseen.

All things considered it is perfectly understandable that no one would have known what to expect. It is perfectly understandable that no one would foresee the season that was to come. This is the reason some analysts and experts (although I use the terms loosely), had picked the Sonics to finish as low as twelfth in the Western Conference.

The season started off with adversity, as injuries to Shammond Williams and Calvin Booth forced players like Earl Watson, Art Long, and Jerome James into the spotlight well before any sane individual would call them prepared. And like anyone would suspect they each had moments of absolute futility, but to many people’s surprise they also had moments of absolute brilliance.

With the inconsistent performance of such inexperience and a rash of consistent minor injuries the Sonics hobbled through the opening months of the season, having great nights winning over the Spurs and Mavericks, then losing to the Nuggets and Heat. It seemed the Sonics actually had two rosters and it was a coin toss every night to see which one would arrive at the arena. In spite of this trend though the Sonics were able to roll into the All-Star break with a very respectable 25-23 record.

Immediately following the All-Star break on February 14th versus the L.A. Lakers, the Sonics received the biggest blessing of their season in the form of Vin Baker’s three dislocated toes. The injury would see Baker miss substantial time and would push rookie first round pick Vladimir Radmanovic into the spotlight. In what was stroke of coaching genius, Nate McMillan scrapped the Sonics' entire offensive philosophy, switching to a high post pick and roll style that was better suited for the sharp-shooting Sonics and in particular better suited for Radmanovic being on the floor rather than Baker, and the Sonics didn’t miss a beat.

In what should have been Seattle’s lowest point of the season, the team flourished winning eleven of their next thirteen games and proving to the league that the experts do not really know anything anyway. The Sonics continued the hot play, terrorizing the rest of the Western Conference in the second half of the season, faltering only in the last month of the season when injuries again played a major role in the transformation of the team. This time it was Radmanovic and Lewis who were sidelined, having to watch helplessly as Seattle crawled its way to a 45-37 record and into the playoffs. Seattle had done what no one thought possible and made it to the dance with a little less fire and drive than had been shown in the regular season, but all the stigma of a low playoff seed that no one wanted to face.

It took nine games but eventually the Spurs were able to prove themselves the better team and the Sonics bowed out of the 2002 playoffs. The true measure of this year’s Seattle Supersonics though could clearly be seen in how they lost the series. No one was willing to admit to the fact that it had been an achievement to reach a game five. Regardless of their being expected to finish a mid-lottery team, the Sonics had been there to win and disappointment was the only emotion on the face of the franchise.

If one were to look for key points that led the Sonics to the excellent campaign they fought in 2001/02 they need look no further than Gary Payton and Nate McMillan. In the beginning of the season Gary discovered that he had a choice to make in his career, and with the help of his coach Nate McMillan and Gary’s father, Payton was able to choose change. He evolved his game from the trash talking, combative, heated, crack the whip to get results style that he had employed with teammates in the past, to become more of a mentor for the Sonics youth movement. Gary for the first time, possibly in his life, exhibited patience and true leadership which not only elevated his own game to the best its ever been but also elevated the play of those around him.

Nate McMillan was instrumental in that makeover of the Glove as well as in the rapid maturity of the Seattle boy’s choir called the Supersonics. You have to credit a coach when it becomes a trend on his team for players to have career years, which is exactly what Gary Payton, Brent Barry, Desmond Mason and Rashard Lewis all did. Then to see the rapid progress of Vladimir Radmanovic, Predrag Drobnjak, Earl Watson and Jerome James, even Vin Baker felt resurgence in motivation and work ethic for the first half of the season that had many fans believing he could regain his former All-Star capabilities. All of this has to be credited in part to Nate as well. McMillan still has a long way to go as an NBA coach, his substitutions are sometimes questionable and his set plays unadvisable at times, but with all the inexperience and injury troubles the Sonics had this year to have just missed the playoffs would have been impressive, to be in San Antonio for game five a miracle.

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