basketball kingdom

Chapter 356 The Disappearing Supersonic Speed

Chapter 356 The Disappearing Supersonic Speed

When night falls in Oklahoma City, the lights of the Chesapeake Energy Arena are lit up. The modern venue looks very eye-catching from a distance.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics, was formed in 1967 when Boeing was developing and manufacturing a supersonic airliner. Therefore, the basketball team created with the help of Boeing also chose the name Supersonic.

In the first few years, the supersonic record was not ideal, and they never made it to the playoffs. It was not until the 1973-74 season that they hired Celtics star Bill Russell as the team's head coach and general manager that the record was slightly improved. improvement.

In the 1974-75 season, Bill Russell led the team to the playoffs, which was the first time for the young Sonics.It's a pity that the players were not firm enough in implementing their tactics, and they performed poorly in the playoffs. Bill Russell also began to receive criticism from the outside world.

In the 1976-77 season, Bill Russell resigned as general manager.

Before the start of the 1977-78 season, the Sonics hired Lenny Wilkens as the team's new head coach.The Sonics reached the finals that season, but unfortunately lost to the Washington Bullets in tiebreaker and missed the first championship in team history.

In the 1978-79 season, the Sonics played 50+ games in the regular season for the first time in team history and advanced to the playoffs with a record of 52 wins and 30 losses.In the season finals, the Sonics once again faced off against last season's opponent, the Washington Bullets. This time the winner was the Sonics.They defeated the Bullets with a big score of 4-1, and won the first and only championship in team history.

"Glove" Gary Payton is undoubtedly one of the most famous representative stars in the history of the Supersonics. He joined the Supersonics as the No. 1990 pick in [-], but he just caught up with Jordan's rule in the early stage of his career. Partner, also failed to touch the championship trophy.

In the 1995-96 season, George Karl led the Sonics to the finals, but their opponent was the 72-win Bulls led by Jordan, who lost six games in six games.

Gary Payton was elected as DPOY that season and contributed a wonderful performance in the finals.With the SuperSonics trailing 0-3, Gary Payton defended Jordan in the fourth game, allowing him to score only 23 points, creating a new low for Jordan in a single game in all finals.In the sixth game that followed, Gary Payton limited Jordan's scoring to 22 points, but unfortunately he still failed to win and lost the finals.

After the lockout season ended, Kemp the Rainman was no longer in shape, and the Supersonics completely lost their competitiveness.

Before the trade deadline in the 2002-03 season, the Sonics sent Gary Payton, who had played for the team for many years, to the Bucks. He only played half a season in the Bucks.

In the summer of 2003, Gary Payton joined the Lakers in order to try to hit the championship ring he never got .

In the summer of 2004, Gary Payton went to the Boston Celtics. After only playing for half a season, he was packaged and traded to the Eagles by Danny Ainge in exchange for Antoine Walker.Only days later, the Hawks terminated Gary Payton's contract, and he returned to Boston to re-sign with the Celtics.

The league does not approve of this approach. In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, a new regulation has been specially formulated: free agents who are traded and then waived are prohibited from immediately re-signing with the team they were in before being traded.In the middle of the season, you have to wait 30 days before you can sign again. If it is the offseason, you have to wait 20 days.Since the introduction of this rule was triggered by Payton's transfer and quick return to his old club, this clause is also known as the "Gary Payton" clause.

Gary Payton's wishful thinking failed to yield results, and he only played for the Celtics for one season before transferring again. In the summer of 2005, Gary Payton signed a one-year basic salary contract worth $1 million with the Miami Heat who owned O'Neal, where he won the championship ring and fulfilled his championship dream.

Subsequently, Gary Payton gradually faded out of the league stage and announced his retirement in 2008.

Back in the 2002-03 season, the Seattle SuperSonics exchanged Gary Payton for Ray Allen.

Ray Allen was a member of the 96 golden generation. He was selected by the Timberwolves with the fifth pick in the first round, and was immediately traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he started his career.Compared with other shooting guards in the same class, his starlight is not bright.

During the Supersonic period, Ray Allen and Rashad Lewis formed the twin stars, leading the team to struggle in the west. It was the heyday of the cattle and horses and failed to make a difference.Only reached the Western Conference semifinals once in the 04-05 season, and was eliminated by the champion Spurs 4-2.

In 2006, because the Seattle city government was unwilling to spend $2.2 million to renovate the arena, Supersonics owner Howard Schultz decided to sell the team. Due to the small capacity of the Supersonics home court, no one in the local area was willing to buy the team. , Schultz eventually sold the team to a consortium in Oklahoma City.The leader of this consortium is Clay Bennett.

Bennett and Schultz have reached an agreement, as long as Seattle spends $12 million to rebuild the arena within 5 months, the Sonics can stay in Seattle.During this period, an investor in the Bennett consortium revealed to the media that Bennett had no intention of keeping the team in Seattle from the beginning, and was fined $25 by the league.

On October 2007, 10, the new arena construction plan failed. Two days later, Bennett notified league president Stern, saying he hoped to move the team to Oklahoma as soon as possible.It was the Sonics opener, and many in Seattle hated Bennett for making the proposal.

After the 2006-07 season, Ray Allen was traded to the Celtics, Rashad Lewis was traded to the Magic, and the SuperSonics completely entered the reconstruction.That summer, they selected Kevin Durant with the second overall pick.

In the 2007-08 season, the Sonics' record was not outstanding, and they put almost all their energy on training Durant. In the end, Durant won the best rookie award.

In 2008, after a brief legal battle, Bennett and the city of Seattle reached an agreement whereby the Sonics' name, logo and color scheme would be left to Seattle so they could one day be used by a new team in the city.Oklahoma ushered in a team that belongs to them-the Thunder.

Neither the Seattleites nor the Supersonics' legends are willing to admit that the Thunder is the original Supersonics and refuse to retire their jerseys on this team.The Thunder is also willing to accept, did not inherit the history of the Sonics, and did not produce the golden fabric representing the championship on the collar of the jersey.

The 41-year history of the Sonics came to an abrupt end after the team moved to Oklahoma City in 08.

Seattle fans will always miss their Sonics, so it is one of the least supportive Thunder areas in the country.Tonight's game between the Lakers and the Thunder, many people in Seattle are watching the TV, hoping that the Lakers can beat this team that has nothing to do with them.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will usher in their biggest challenge in the regular season this season.

(End of this chapter)