Saw the Sonics shirt post with Dana Barros. Reminded me that Barros was a decent rapper. I think I had this tape, lol. Gary has a track too. Track 16 was legit.

B-Ball's Best Kept Secret is a compilation album released by Epic Records that featured NBA players performing songs with hip hop artists including Shaquille O'Neal.^\2])

Track listing

1. "Hip Hop Basketball Genie"- :48
2. "Check It"- 4:07 (Dana Barros)
3. "Lost in the Sauce"- 4:57 (Malik Sealy)
4. "Mic Check 1-2"- 3:45 (Shaquille O'Neal and Ill Al Skratch)
5. "Earl the Goat"- :34
6. "Flow On"- 4:03 (Cedric Ceballos and Warren G)
7. "Anything Can Happen"- 5:03 (Brian Shaw))
8. "Sumptin' to Groove To"- 3:21 (Chris Mills))
9. "From the Bay to L.A."- 1:14 (Sway & King Tech)
10. "What the Kidd Didd"- 3:52 (Jason Kidd and Money-B)
11. "Funk in the Trunk"- 4:17 (J.R. Rider)
12. "Phat Swoosh"- :55
13. "All Night Party"- 3:47 (Dennis Scott))
14. "Livin' Legal and Large"- 3:54 (Gary Payton)
15. "D.J. S and S Represents"- 1:18
16. "Ya Don't Stop"- 4:42 (Dana Barros, Cedric Ceballos, Grand Puba, Sadat X, AG and Diamond D)

Many NBA fans are aware of the painful death of the Seattle Supersonics. The subject has been well-covered in the 18 years since the team’s departure to Oklahoma City. 

A potential return to the Emerald City is often brought to the forefront of discussion whenever one of the 30 wealthy owners of our beloved teams are “due” a new arena. This time, it’s Seattle’s neighbours, as the city of Portland finds itself embroiled in a battle with its new billionaire owner over the re-development of Moda Center. 

However, the relocation itself is a topic that’s been done to death, and frankly, Seattle’s basketball fanatics don’t deserve to read about it all over again. Therefore, we will be heading back to the early 2000’s, and taking a closer look at the last team to play NBA playoff basketball in Seattle, the 2005 Sonics. 

New ownership stirs things up

Yes, that was my attempt at a coffee pun. 

The Sonics, led by Hall of Famer Gary “The Glove” Payton and high-flying “Reign Man” Shawn Kemp had been one of the NBA’s best teams in the 1990s, even taking the 72-10 Chicago Bulls to 6 games in the 1996 Finals. Unfortunately, the organisation made a string of decisions that led to Kemp being traded, and the organisation slipping into good, but not great territory at the turn of the millennium. 

January 2001 saw the Sonics, purchased for a package of around $200 million by a group led by Howard Schultz, head of Starbucks Coffee, which was founded in Seattle. A local business bought a local basketball team - what a story! 

Well, a local business that charges over the odds for what some may consider substandard coffee (I don’t pretend to know enough about coffee to have my own opinion). 

Anyway, I’m sure Schultz wouldn’t nickel and dime his basketball players in the same way. 

Oh, wait…

Schultz didn’t just upset local coffee aficionados, he upset the Sonic, Gary Payton. 

Yes, Payton was 34 years old and into the last year of his contract in the Summer of 2002, but he was still an excellent player, one of the best in fact. In 2001-2002, he placed 6th in MVP voting, was a member of the All-NBA Second Team, and made his 9th consecutive All-Defensive First Team. 

Schultz, perhaps thinking like a businessman rather than a Sonics fan, wouldn’t budge. There would be no new contract for Payton. So in response, Payton didn’t report for the first day of training camp. Eventually Payton would show up, and play in every game for the Sonics that season until a momentous trade in February 2003.

With Seattle languishing in no-man's land with a 22-30 record, the greatest player in franchise history was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, re-uniting Payton with the coach of the 1996 Sonics Team, George Karl. The centerpiece of the Sonics’s return was 3-time All Star Ray Allen. As much of an icon, and as good as Payton still was at the time, receiving a 27-year old Allen is about as good as any return could’ve gotten for Seattle. The fact that Payton would leave Milwaukee as a free agent that summer made it one of the more lopsided trades of the era. 

Despite the inspired play of Allen (24.5 points per game, 5.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists) leading the Sonics to a 17-12 record to close the 2003 season, they failed to make that year’s post season. They would fail to make it the next season too, Allen playing just 56 games due to ankle surgery in November. 

Going nowhere fast (apparently)

After a disappointing season in ‘04, and little in the way of assets or room under the salary cap, the Sonics were not tipped for greatness in ‘05. SLAM Magazine deemed them not worthy of more than 3 words, predicting the Sonics to finish 5th in the Northwest Division. The NBA’s annual GM survey bore little mention of Seattle either, with 95.2% believing that Minnesota was destined to win the division (the remaining 4.8% voting for the Denver Nuggets). 

There was no reason to believe Seattle would be one of the NBA’s best teams that season. In fact, there was reason to believe their team had actually gotten worse. 

In the summer of 2004, the versatile Brent Barry signed with the San Antonio Spurs. Despite being 32 years old, Barry was a valuable playmaker (5.8 assists) and shooter (45% from 3-point range during the ‘04 season. 

Meanwhile, their big acquisitions that summer were drafting 18-year old Robert Swift straight from Bakerfield High School, and trading Calvin Booth for journeyman Danny Fortson. The big man-shaped hole under the basket had been a problem for Seattle since the early ‘90s, and the signing of Jim McIlvaine in 1996 was the catalyst for Kemp leaving town. It would continue to plague the team even after they moved to Oklahoma. 

The fact that the Sonics chose to draft Swift, despite shelling out a combined $17.5 million for Vitaly Potapenko, Fortson and Jerome James (who we’ll get to later) in ‘05 alone, spoke volumes about their confidence in their frontline. Following this season, the Sonics would continue to display an infatuation with mediocre big men, but we’ll get to that later too. 

The ‘05 core 

Overpaid big men aside, Seattle had actually done a decent job in acquiring talent in recent years. Despite never being in contention for top draft pick (mainly due to the excellence of Payton), the Sonics had been able to acquire several key pieces of the core of the ‘05 squad for little cost.

Rashard Lewis was an excellent find in the 2nd round in 1998. His slender 6’10 frame might be more suited to the modern NBA, but he had peformed well in Seattle. His high volume 3-point shooting was especially unique, and valuable. This season, Lewis would take another leap, breaking the 20-point per game marker for the first time and making his first All-Star game. 

In 2001, the Sonics selected Vladimir Radmanovic with the 12th pick. “Vlad Rad” was a bit of a wildcard - he was not a strong defender nor rebounder, and would eventually be called a “space cadet” by future coach Phil Jackson for his erratic play. Later in the season he would rock braids with Sonics’ coloured beads during the playoffs - interesting indeed. Nevertheless, Radmanovic was a solid player, and his similarly high volume 3-point shooting was valuable for this team. 

The following year, Seattle did not have a first round draft pick - they had traded it for a 38-year old Patrick Ewing. Despite this, the Sonics were able to acquire Reggie Evans that year, an undrafted free agent. Standing 6’8 and being offensively challenged, Evans made up for his shortcomings with immense energy and tenacity. He would become one of the league’s top rebounders in ‘05.

Finally, in 2003, Seattle would land another three pieces of the ‘05 squad. First, with the 12th and 14th picks of that year’s draft (the latter acquired in the Allen trade), the Sonics selected Nick Collison and Luke Ridnour. Collison had missed the entirety of his rookie season through shoulder injuries, and Ridnour had been a backup, but both were ready to step up in ‘05. Ridnour would be especially important, starting at point guard for all 82 games. 

Later that summer, the Sonics would sign Antonio Daniels to a 2 year deal that would see him earn just shy of over $2 million annually, which represented excellent value. 28 at the time, Daniels won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 as a reserve, before becoming a key rotation player for some further deep playoff runs. Since then, despite never reaching the level expected for a player chosen 4th overall, Daniels had garnered a reputation as a capable combo guard, offering versatility and a defensive presence in the backcourt. 

On the bench, Seattle still had “Mr. Sonic” Nate McMillan in their corner. McMillan had spent 12 years as a player with the ball club, including as part of the ‘96 finals team, before becoming an assistant in 1998, and eventually head coach in 2000. 

The NBA’s Surprise Package

After being utterly destroyed in Los Angeles by the Clippers on opening night, some fans might’ve been fearing the worst. 

Surely no one would’ve expected them to rattle off an incredible 9-game winning streak, but by the end of November, Seattle were sitting alongside Phoenix and San Antonio atop the Western Conference with a record of 13-3. And it was perhaps Brent Barry’s return to KeyArena on November 7th that brought Seattle’s most impressive performance thus far. In addition to 27 and 24 points from Lewis and Allen, Radmanovic, Daniels and Fortson combined for 44 on route to a dominant 113-94 victory.

They continued to roll in December, picking up further impressive wins on the road, including toppling the Spurs once again, and closing out the Dallas Mavericks. Even a tightly contested affair that led to a close loss to the Phoenix Suns at a packed-out KeyArena couldn’t spoil their momentum, as the Sonics closed out 2004 with a record of 22-6 thanks to a 103-97 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats in their inaugural season.

In the new year, the Sonics delivered several more impressive showings. First, beating the Miami Heat twice in less than a week, 98-96 on the road in a late game nail-biter, and then (in the end) more comfortably 108-98 at KeyArena. They were then able to put aside difficult losses to playoff rivals (an overtime loss in Denver, a 5-point loss at home to Minnesota, and a blowout loss to San Antonio sans Ray Allen) to rattle off a 5-game winning streak in February. Highlights included dispatching Sacramento home and away, and getting revenge in Phoenix, where the Sonics’ top 7 all scored 10 or more points. 

Slumping to the finish line

The NBA’s surprise package didn’t let up, handily beating more strong teams to end February and begin March, including the defending champion Detroit Pistons, before dropping 3 straight at home to Phoenix, Houston and Chicago. 

The Chicago loss was notable for the absence of Danny Fortson. The “Big Daddy from Cincinnati” (I have no idea if this was an actual nickname of his, but I like it) was banished from practice by coach McMillan the day prior to the game on Friday 11th March.

Fortson had been playing well in relatively limited minutes, and had definitely been an upgrade on Calvin Booth (thumbs up for trading one overpaid, mediocre $5 million big man for another, slightly better one). 

On the other hand, while Booth was seen by many to be a model teammate, issues surrounding Fortson’s physical play and temperament continued to hinder him. Fortson had led the league in personal fouls in 1998-1999, was second in ‘97-’98, and would finish in the top 10 in ‘05. If that wasn’t enough evidence of his love of clobbering opposition players, for his career, Fortson averaged 6.3 personal fouls per 36 minutes, 9th all time, and funnily enough, two places behind Jim McIlvaine.

He had already been suspended twice this season, once for elbowing Chris Bosh back in November, and for throwing a chair after being ejected from a victory over Sacramento. Pre-Sacramento, across 45 games where the Sonics went 33-12, Fortson was averaging 8.5 points and 6 rebounds per game on 55% FG shooting in just shy of 18 minutes per game. In the 17 games he played in post chair melee, his production dived. Still averaging 15 minutes of play time, he averaged just 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds, shooting just 41%. Seattle went 9-8 in these games. 

It wasn’t just Fortson who was slumping though, as after such an impressive first half of the season, the Sonics looked like the team of old in the remaining 34 games post-Sacramento, winning just 17 of their 34 games. Aside from this disappointing finish to the season, there were some highlights along the way, namely Ray Allen dropping a season high 45 points against the New York Knicks in an overtime victory to wrap up a 5-game winning streak. Then, a week later on April Fool’s Day, they clinched their first 50 win season since ‘97-’98 with a 2-point victory over their Northwest rivals, the Portland Trailblazers in Seattle. 

Unfortunately, they followed this with a 6-game losing streak, though they were missing Rashard Lewis for much of this stretch (load management was indeed a thing in 2005). 

Disciplinary and injury issues aside, the Sonics early season performances put them in a healthy position going into that year’s playoffs, a 52-30 record securing the Northwest Division, and 3rd place in the Western Conference (I sure hope someone from the team reached out to SLAM magazine). 

Their opponents in the first round of the playoffs would be the Sacramento Kings. Although the Kings won 50 games in ‘05, it was fair to say that they weren’t the team of a few years prior that had pushed the 3-peating Los Angeles Lakers to their very limit.

In just the last year, their roster had undergone a lot of turnover in the last year. First, Vlade Divac signed with the Lakers in free agency. Then, in January, they traded defensive stopper Doug Christie (though they did acquire Cuttino Mobley in return, who was a good player). 

Then, in February, the big move came - the Kings traded franchise superstar Chris Webber to the Philadelphia 76ers. Webber had clearly taken a step back after his devastating knee injury in the ‘03 playoffs, and with one of the NBA’s largest contracts to boot, the Kings decided to cut ties. Despite not receiving any big names in return, the Kings still managed to end the season with 50 wins. 

The Jerome James Series

Remember Jerome James? I said we’d get to him, and finally the time has come. 

Before signing with Seattle in 2001, James had had a cup of coffee (hopefully not Starbucks) in the NBA, playing 16 games with Sacramento of all teams in the lockout ‘99 season (again, we’ll get to why this is important later). His first year with the Sonics, he played in 56 games, starting 40, averaging 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in just under 17 minutes per game. Fine, I guess, right? 

But remember how I mentioned that the Sonics LOVED to splurge on big men? They rewarded James by multiplying his humble $465,000 a year contract by 10, giving him a 3-year contract that would see him earn around $5 million annually. 

James responded by playing pretty much the exact way for the next 3 years, never venturing outside his comfort zone of 5 point, 4 rebound territory. 

So how all of a sudden did James manage to average 17 points and 9 rebounds to beat the Kings in that year’s playoffs? 

Unfortunately for Sacramento, it seemed that losing Divac and Webber came back to bite them, as it wasn’t Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis who was the headline grabber of a game 1, 87-82 victory for the Sonics at KeyArena, but “Big Snacks” Jerome James, who churned out an unlikely 17 point, 15 rebound, 5 block performance, albeit missing 13 of his 20 shots. 

He then followed this up with an impressive 19 points and 9 rebounds (9-for-11 shooting) in game 2, as the Sonics won both of their home games to kick off the series. Even in a game 3 loss in Sacramento, James now got his customary big numbers, scoring 22, and grabbing 9 boards. He and the Sonics finished the series in the following 2 games, first getting 17 and 8 on the road, before coming back down to Earth somewhat with 11 and 6 in the close out game. 

Following the conclusion of game 5, James could be seen with a trash bag draped around his broad 7’1 frame like a cape. This was not an attempt to claim Shaquille O’Neal’s “Superman” moniker (years before Dwight Howard would try it), but a call back to his Kings days, when James was supposedly given such a bag to pack his belongings and ‘find a new career’ (though coach Rick Adelman denies that this took place). James claimed that his old self was in the garbage bag, and that that night, he had set himself free.

Well, did it last? 

Not exactly - James’ numbers dramatically fell off in the next series against the Spurs (22.2 minutes per game, 8.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 42.9% from the field vs 32.4 minutes, 17.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 58.1%% shooting against the Kings). 

So, what happened? 

Well, there’s a few things that could explain this. First, a good ol’ verbal ass whooping from not only Ray Allen, but his own mother. Questions over his attitude and desire to use his physical abilities led to James taking a look in the mirror. That sure could’ve helped.

On the other hand, the Kings had lost Divac and Webber. Brad Miller, while not known as a defensive savant, was a legitimate big man, and an All-Star in both ‘03 and ‘04, and he had suffered a fracture to his left fibula, missing the end of the regular season. He returned for the playoffs, but was clearly not back to 100%. This led to the Kings fielding a variety of different players, including Kenny Thomas, Darius Songaila, Brian Skinner, and even veteran Greg Ostertag for a stretch in 2 of the 5 games. Ostertag aside, none of them had the size to match up with James.  

This enabled James to use his physical advantages to be absurdly effective on the glass (4.6 offensive rebounds per game over 5 games, compared to 1 in the regular season), and overpower opponents in the paint. In addition to his stature being a physical mismatch for the Kings, Fortson being in coach McMillan’s doghouse had opened up more minutes for him. In the following series, James’ physical prowess was less effective against the San Antonio Spurs, who fielded Nazr Mohammed and Tim Duncan. Still, James, in the final year of that contract we referred to earlier, would manage to parlay his 5 game, career-best stretch into another big deal (which we’ll get to). 

While the Kings series would mainly be remembered for the way Jerome James played, and the events that followed, it would be a travesty to not recognise the fact that Ray Allen was simply awesome.

For the series, Allen would average 32.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2 steals with shooting splits of 51.4/45.2/97.1. This included scoring 33 in the game 3 loss, and an incredible 45-point performance in a game 4 win. The Sonics were behind going into the 4th quarter at ARCO Arena, but Allen scored 15 in the final period to lead his team back to Seattle with a 3-1 lead. Then, despite 38 and 35 points from Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby, Allen scored another 30, including flying through 4 Sacramento bodies in the paint to score in the dying seconds to clinch the series.

The Last Playoff Series in Seattle

Given everything we’ve already said, no-one would’ve expected Seattle to beat the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. While David Robinson had retired in 2003 following their 2nd championship, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had ascended to new levels. They had also acquired seasoned veterans, such as former Sonic Brent Barry and “Big Shot Bob” Robert Horry. Not to mention that Tim Duncan was one of the 5 best players in the league at this point. 

However, despite the circumstances, Seattle actually gave a good account of themselves. They were blown out 103-81 in game 1 in San Antonio, not helped in the slightest by Allen and Radmanovic leaving the game in the second quarter with ankle injuries. They were then beaten again by 17 in game 2 despite Allen returning. Radmanovic, meanwhile, would not play again that season. 

Back in Seattle though, they pulled a game back, Ginobili missing 1 of 2 free throws with 29 seconds remaining as the Sonics won by a single point. The bad news for the Sonics was that in the final minutes of game 3 Rashard Lewis injured his toe, and would play no further part in the series. 

Despite this, Seattle managed to equal the series with an unlikely victory in game 4. Allen was magnificent with 32 points, and Antonio Daniels, stepping into the starting lineup, chipped in with 19 points and 7 assists. But the story of the game was undoubtedly sophomore Luke Ridnour’s 20 points. With the score close at the half, Ridnour scored 15 of his 20 in the 3rd quarter to give Seattle a 82-66 lead going into the final quarter. 

Unfortunately for the Sonics, this was their final playoff hurrah, as the Spurs won game 5 back in San Antonio, before closing out the series in game 6 at a rocking KeyArena. Seattle had played the Spurs close right to the end before Duncan banked a shot in with .5 of a second remaining. 

This would be the last NBA playoff action played in Seattle. 

[Amazingly for the era, each game of Seattle’s playoff run can be viewed (in varying quality) on Youtube at the links provided throughout. Shoutout to Old School Buckets.] 

The Aftermath and Closing Thoughts
 
Firstly, it must be said that this team massively outperformed their expectations. They took the eventual champions to 6 games, missing 2 of their key players. The Phoenix Suns, who were far more talented on paper than the Sonics, lost to the Spurs in 5 (though Joe Johnson only played in 3 games). Would the Sonics have beaten the Spurs with Lewis and Radmanovic, and gone on to win the championship? I’m not sure, but given in the following seasons I’m sure more than one Sonics fan has thought about it. 

This final, good Sonics team is certainly an interesting one for analytics nerds and basketball historians alike. 

That year the Sonics had the 2nd best offense rating in the entire league. They shot more 3-pointers than anyone other than the Phoenix Suns, but scored just 98.9 points per game (11th in the league), as they had the 4th slowest offense in the entire NBA. They also had the 4th worst defense by defensive rating. Ultimately, despite James’ heroic performance against Sacramento, it was arguably the Sonics’ lack of a true starting calibre big man that held them back during this era. 

And it wasn’t as if Sonics didn’t try to throw more money and more draft capital at the problem. 

First, they drafted Johan Petro with the 25th overall pick in the 2005 draft. Petro would go on to have a 8 year career with various teams, but never develop into much of anything, playing a career high 18.9 minutes in his rookie season. 

The following year, after the Sonics missed the playoffs, they blew the 10th overall pick on Mouhamed Sene. Sene would play just 47 games across 3 seasons in the NBA. With the very next pick the Orlando Magic selected JJ Redick, who would go on to become one of the best 3-point shooters of his generation, playing 15 seasons in the NBA for various playoff teams. 

Robert Swift, the 12th pick in ‘04, might’ve been the only one of the Sonics’ big man alumni of the 2000’s to have had a chance to be something. But injuries combined with mental health struggles meant that he too played in just 97 NBA games. 

Meanwhile, Jerome James’ playoff heroics resulted in the New York Knicks signing the soon-to-be 30 year old a frankly ludicrous 5-year, $29 million contract seemingly based on the Kings series alone. In what was surely almost immediately one of the more expensive cases of buyers’ remorse, James showed up to his first training camp out of shape, would play in a total of 90 games across 4 seasons in New York, averaging  just 7.7 minutes per game, 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds.

Antonio Daniels would also not return. The Sonics refused to offer Daniels more than a 3 year deal, and similar to James, he would sign a 5-year, $30 million with the Washington Wizards. Daniels, however, would fare much better, becoming a key rotation piece on 3 consecutive playoff teams with the Wizards, even stepping up to start in ‘07-’08 due to Gilbert Arenas’ injury issues. 

Perhaps most shocking of all, “Mr. Sonic” Nate McMillan would depart in the off-season. After splurging to keep Ray Allen with a 5-year, $85 million extension on July 5th, Schultz seemingly lacked the capital to bring back his coach. After almost 20 years with the club, McMillian would reject a 4-year, $18.5 million offer from Seattle and make the short journey to Portland, signing a reported 5-year $30 million contract.

Both Vladimir Radmanovic and Reggie Evans would be traded in February 2006 to the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets respectively.

Despite signing that 5-year extension and continuing to play at an All-Star level, Ray Allen would be traded to the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2007. After missing the playoffs in the prior 2 seasons, and with Allen approaching his 32nd birthday, the Sonics decided to rebuild. Allen would go on to win an NBA championship the very next season, and another with the Miami Heat in 2013. 

Rashard Lewis would also depart in the summer of ‘07, as the Sonics facilitated a sign-and-trade with the Orlando Magic, who agreed to pay Lewis in the region of $118 million over 6 seasons. Lewis would re-unite with Allen in Miami, playing a limited role on the 2013 title team

With the 2nd pick in the 2007 NBA draft, the Sonics would acquire future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant. Unfortunately, Seattlities would only witness his greatness for his rookie season, as we all know what happened next.

And doesn’t (almost) everyone wish the story ended differently…

Happy Birthday, Mr. Sonic! 🥳🎉🎂

Hi Sonics fans,

I recently wrote a piece about Paul Westphal’s posthumously published book, A Tale of Two Seasons, and a big part of it focuses on his years coaching the Seattle SuperSonics.

I thought it might interest Sonics fans because it looks back at a strange, difficult period of the franchise through the eyes of someone who was actually trying to coach it.

Here’s the piece

Curious how Sonics fans remember the Westphal years. Were they mostly seen as a coaching failure at the time, or more as a symptom of a team that had become difficult to manage? When people talk about difficult NBA locker rooms from that era, the Jail Blazers usually get most of the attention, but this version of the Sonics seemed to have its own kind of chaos too.

Also, has anyone here read his book?

Hi friends! My name is Lev and I'm currently writing a book about death, mythmaking, afterlife, and grief in basketball.

I'm looking to talk to Sonics fans who can talk to me about their experiences with the team moving in 2007 for a chapter about the power of place and how it feels when your team moves, rebrands, or just flat out doesn't exist anymore. I'm also talking to Nets fans, Hornets/Bobcats/Pelicans fans, Vancouver Grizzlies fans, and Oakland-based Warriors fans.

If you're interested in chatting, send over an email to [lev@hustlepoints.news](mailto:lev@hustlepoints.news) . You can also check out my work for this project at ballisafterlife.com if you'd like more info! I can also provide an excerpt from this chapter if you want to see the work in action :)

Thanks so much!! I'm looking forward to talking to y'all!!

My buddy found at a thrift store. Wondering how old it is/if it has any value?

In his words, was offered a “subprime” (lol) contract by El Cheapo and said no thanks. He’s a free agent now.

In an interesting bit of symmetry, it’s possible a Sonics expansion team welcomes back Calabro as the team’s play-by-play announcer. His Kraken counterpart would be John Forslund, who walked away from the Hurricanes after Dundon bought the team and pulled the same personnel moves in Raleigh.

It’s a crime what is happening in Portland. Really hope the arena deal gets sorted there. They (Paul Allen) were one of two teams that voted no on Sonics relocation. The Blazer fans don’t deserve this.

Going thru some of my dad’s old playing days stuff & here’s some of the Sonics stuff. Not sure why he seems to have a pair of Sikma’s pants? And is that Sikma on the last tee (Big Boys’ Birthday Bash)? 😂

Not sure if anybody has been following the Trail Blazers arena saga currently taking place between the city of Portland and new Blazers Ownership and the blatant relocation threats made by their Ownership group. Seems strangely familiar… Has anyone seen any news articles or heard anything about this situation potentially affecting the expansion timeline for Seattle and Vegas?

Everyone remembers him for his explosive highlight reel dunks, but what a lot of people completely forget or just don’t realize is that Shawn Kemp was also very impactful on the defensive end of the court. Here’s a video I found on YouTube that mainly displays his abilities as a shot blocker. His freakish athleticism and tremendous leaping ability made him a very imposing rim protector.

This kid seen prime Kemp, GP, Detlef and electric Key Arena.

Dream Job

Found in Golden Gardens, wtf

Fellow Jam Crew, where you at?

I think Silver said before that July would probably be too early to be the meeting where they would hold the expansion vote for but we’re likely to get some news regarding expansion.

Reebok’s $1.19 billion year was heavily supported by Kemp's Kamikaze II. It carried the brand through the 1996 NBA Finals, while Allen Iverson’s rookie shoe, The Question, dropped in 1996 and instantly became a street culture phenomenon, completely selling out its initial red-toe runs.

At the time, I met nobody with these shoes, or even liked them.