1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics season

1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics season
Pacific Division Champions Western Conference Champions
Head coach	George Karl
General manager	Wally Walker
Arena	KeyArena at Seattle Center
Results Record 64–18 (.780) Place Division: 1st (Pacific) Conference: 1st (Western) Playoff finish NBA Finals (eliminated 2–4) Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com Local media Television Prime Sports Northwest, KOMO-TV Radio KOMO-AM and FM < 1994–95 1996–97 >

The 1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 28th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] After two consecutive playoffs appearances losing in the first round, the Sonics finished the regular with a franchise best 64–18 record, surpassing the record from the 1993–94 season, and earned their third number one seed in the Western Conference in franchise history. Led by Shawn Kemp and Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton, the SuperSonics defeated the Sacramento Kings in the first round, swept the reigning champions Houston Rockets and got past the Utah Jazz in seven games in the Conference Finals to reach their first NBA Finals since 1979, where they would face the Chicago Bulls. After an 0–3 start in the series, Seattle managed to win their next two home games, but eventually lost the series in game six in Chicago.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Club
1	26	Sherell Ford	SF	United States	Illinois
2	54	Eurelijus Žukauskas	C	Lithuania	Neptūnas Klaipėda

Roster

Seattle SuperSonics 1995–96 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. DOB From 2.5 !G/F 2 USA ! Askew, Vincent style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–02–28 Memphis 5.5 !F/C 34 USA ! Brickowski, Frank style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1959–08–14 Penn State 4.0 !F 1 USA ! Ford, Sherell style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1972–08–26 Illinois 1.5 !G 33 USA ! Hawkins, Hersey style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1966–09–29 Bradley 6.0 !C 50 USA ! Johnson, Ervin style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 83 !6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1967–12–21 New Orleans 5.5 !F/C 40 USA ! Kemp, Shawn style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1969–11–26 Trinity Valley CC 2.5 !G/F 10 USA ! McMillan, Nate style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1964–08–03 North Carolina State 1.5 !G 20 USA ! Payton, Gary style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1968–07–23 Oregon State 5.5 !F/C 14 USA ! Perkins, Sam style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1961–06–14 North Carolina 5.5 !F/C 55 USA ! Scheffler, Steve style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1967–09–03 Purdue 5.5 !F/C 11 GER ! Schrempf, Detlef style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 214 lb (97 kg) 1963–01–21 Washington 1.5 !G 3 USA ! Snow, Eric style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1973–04–04 Michigan State 2.5 !G/F 25 USA ! Wingate, David style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–12–15 Georgetown	Head coach George Karl (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Ervin Johnson	Frank Brickowski	Steve Scheffler
PF	Shawn Kemp	Sam Perkins
SF	Detlef Schrempf	Vincent Askew		Sherell Ford
SG	Hersey Hawkins	David Wingate
PG	Gary Payton	Nate McMillan	Eric Snow

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics	64	18	.780	–	38–3	26–15	21–3
x-Los Angeles Lakers	53	29	.646	11	30–11	23–18	17–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers	44	38	.537	20	26–15	18–23	11–13
x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	23	25–16	16–25	9–15
x-Sacramento Kings	39	43	.476	25	26–15	13–28	11–13
Golden State Warriors	36	46	.439	28	23–18	13–28	7–17
Los Angeles Clippers	29	53	.354	35	19–22	10–31	7–17

Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Seattle SuperSonics	64	18	.780	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	59	23	.720	5
3	x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	9
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	53	29	.646	11
5	x-Houston Rockets	48	34	.585	16
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	44	38	.537	20
7	x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	23
8	x-Sacramento Kings	39	43	.476	25
9	Golden State Warriors	36	46	.439	28
10	Denver Nuggets	35	47	.427	29
11	Los Angeles Clippers	29	53	.354	35
12	Dallas Mavericks	26	56	.317	38
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	26	56	.317	38
14	Vancouver Grizzlies	15	67	.183	49

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (8) Sacramento Kings Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the SuperSonics and Kings.

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (SEA-SAC)	Venue	Recap	Television
1	April 26	Seattle	97	Sacramento	85	1-0	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	1	TNT 10:30et
2	April 28	Seattle	81	Sacramento	90	1-1	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	2	TNT 9:00et
3	April 30	Sacramento	89	Seattle	96	2-1	ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California	3	TNT 10:30et
4	May 2	Sacramento	87	Seattle	101	3-1	ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California	4	TBS 10:30et
Seattle wins series 3–1

West Conference Semifinals

(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (5) Houston Rockets Last Playoff Meeting: 1993 Western Conference Semifinals (Seattle won 4-3)

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (SEA-HOU)	Venue	Recap	Television
1	May 4	Seattle	108	Houston	75	1-0	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	1	NBC 3:30et
2	May 6	Seattle	105	Houston	101	2-0	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	2	TNT 9:00et
3	May 10	Houston	112	Seattle	115	3-0	The Summit, Houston, Texas	3	TNT 9:30et
4*	May 12	Houston	107	Seattle	114	4-0	The Summit, Houston, Texas	4	NBC 3:00et
Seattle wins series 4–0

*Required overtime

West Conference Finals

(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (3) Utah Jazz Last Playoff Meeting: 1993 Western Conference First Round (Seattle won 3-2)

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (SEA-UTAH)	Venue	Recap	Television
1	May 18	Seattle	102	Utah	72	1-0	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	1	NBC 3:30et
2	May 20	Seattle	91	Utah	87	2-0	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	2	TNT 9:00et
3	May 24	Utah	96	Seattle	76	2-1	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	3	NBC 9:00et
4	May 26	Utah	86	Seattle	88	3-1	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	4	NBC 3:30et
5*	May 28	Seattle	95	Utah	98	3-2	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	5	NBC 9:00et
6	May 30	Utah	118	Seattle	83	3-3	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	6	NBC 9:00et
7	June 2	Seattle	90	Utah	86	4-3	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	7	NBC 7:30et
Seattle wins series 4–3

*Required overtime

NBA Finals

Chicago Bulls vs. Seattle SuperSonics

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (CHI-SEA)	Venue	Recap	Television
1	June 5	Chicago	107	Seattle	90	1-0	United Center, Chicago, Illinois	1	NBC 9:00et
2	June 7	Chicago	92	Seattle	88	2-0	United Center, Chicago, Illinois	2	NBC 9:00et
3	June 9	Seattle	86	Chicago	108	3-0	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	3	NBC 7:30et
4	June 12	Seattle	107	Chicago	86	3-1	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	4	NBC 9:00et
5	June 14	Seattle	89	Chicago	78	3-2	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington	5	NBC 9:00et
6	June 16	Chicago	87	Seattle	75	4-2	United Center, Chicago, Illinois	6	NBC 7:30et
Chicago wins NBA Finals series 4–2

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Askew, VincentVincent Askew	69	2	25.0	.493	.337	.764	3.2	2.4	.7	.2	8.4
Brickowski, FrankFrank Brickowski	63	8	15.7	.488	.405	.709	2.4	.9	.4	.1	5.4
Ford, SherellSherell Ford	28	1	5.0	.375	.160	.765	.9	.2	.3	.0	3.2
Hawkins, HerseyHersey Hawkins	82	82	34.4	.473	.384	.874	3.6	2.7	1.8	.2	15.6
Johnson, ErvinErvin Johnson	81	60	18.8	.511	.333	.669	5.3	.6	.5	1.6	5.5
Kemp, ShawnShawn Kemp	79	76	33.3	.561	.417	.742	11.4	2.2	1.2	1.6	19.6
McMillan, NateNate McMillan	55	14	22.9	.420	.380	.707	3.8	3.6	1.7	.3	5.0
Payton, GaryGary Payton	81	81	39.0	.484	.328	.748	4.2	7.5	2.9	.2	19.3
Perkins, SamSam Perkins	82	20	26.5	.408	.355	.793	4.5	1.5	1.0	.6	11.8
Scheffler, SteveSteve Scheffler	35	2	5.2	.533	.200	.474	.9	.1	.2	.1	1.7
Schrempf, DetlefDetlef Schrempf	63	60	34.9	.486	.408	.776	5.2	4.4	.9	.1	17.1
Snow, EricEric Snow	43	1	9.0	.420	.200	.592	1.0	1.7	.7	.0	2.7
Wingate, DavidDavid Wingate	60	3	11.6	.415	.441	.780	.9	1.0	.3	.1	3.7

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Askew, VincentVincent Askew	19	0	18.2	.343	.261	.607	2.2	1.4	.7	.4	3.7
Brickowski, FrankFrank Brickowski	21	3	9.8	.421	.273	.750	1.4	.5	.3	.2	2.0
Hawkins, HerseyHersey Hawkins	21	21	34.0	.452	.344	.895	3.0	2.2	1.3	.2	12.3
Johnson, ErvinErvin Johnson	18	18	14.1	.371	.000	.818	3.8	.4	.3	.8	3.1
Kemp, ShawnShawn Kemp	20	20	36.0	.570	.000	.795	10.4	1.5	1.2	2.0	20.9
McMillan, NateNate McMillan	19	0	20.3	.406	.475	.643	3.7	2.7	1.2	.3	4.4
Payton, GaryGary Payton	21	21	43.4	.485	.410	.633	5.1	6.8	1.8	.3	20.7
Perkins, SamSam Perkins	21	1	31.1	.459	.368	.754	4.3	1.7	.7	.3	12.3
Scheffler, SteveSteve Scheffler	8	0	2.8	.000	.000	.000	.8	.3	.1	.0	.0
Schrempf, DetlefDetlef Schrempf	21	21	37.6	.475	.368	.750	5.0	3.2	.7	.2	16.0
Snow, EricEric Snow	10	0	2.4	.143	.000	.000	.4	.6	.2	.0	.2
Wingate, DavidDavid Wingate	13	0	5.2	.438	.500	1.000	.2	.0	.0	.0	1.5

Awards and records

Awards

• Gary Payton was named the Defensive Player of the Year and led the league in total steals and steals per game.

All-NBA Teams

• Shawn Kemp – All-NBA Second Team
• Gary Payton – All-NBA Second Team

NBA All-Defensive Teams

• Gary Payton – All-Defensive First Team

1996 NBA All-Star Game

• Shawn Kemp (fourth appearance, second start)
• Gary Payton (third appearance)

Transactions

Overview

Players Added ---- Via draft Sherell Ford Via trade Frank Brickowski Hersey Hawkins Eric Snow David Wingate

Players Lost ---- Via trade Byron Houston Šarūnas Marčiulionis Retired Bill Cartwright

Trades

June 27, 1995	To Seattle SuperSonics----Hersey Hawkins----David Wingate	To Charlotte Hornets----Kendall Gill
June 28, 1994	To Seattle SuperSonics----Eric Snow	To Milwaukee Bucks----Draft rights to Eurelijus Žukauskas----Conditional 1996 second round pick
September 18, 1995	To Seattle SuperSonics----Frank Brickowski	To Sacramento Kings----Byron Houston----Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Steve Scheffler	October 6, 1995	Re-signed

See also

• 1995-96 NBA season

References

1995–96 NBA season by team 1995 NBA Expansion Draft 1995 NBA Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston Miami New Jersey New York Orlando Philadelphia Washington Central Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee Toronto Western Midwest Dallas Denver Houston Minnesota San Antonio Utah Vancouver Pacific Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Sacramento Seattle

Seattle SuperSonics seasons Franchise All-time roster 1960s 1967–68 1968–69 1970s 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1980s 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 Bold indicates NBA Finals victory