The Thunder in the offseason, using Oladipo to catch Paul George's big fish, the thunder of the new season will be eager to try. For the first time since its founding in 2008, the Oklahoma Thunder have fished an All-Star in the free market to help the team. But when old fans see the Thunder, they always think of his predecessor, the Seattle SuperSonics, a team with a long history and many historical superstars.
Seattle Supersonics, founded in 1967. It was one of the earliest teams in the NBA West, and it was 41 years until the team was changed to the Thunder in 2008. It's called Supersonic because Boeing, the world's largest airline, is located in Seattle. In 1967, Boeing was developing supersonic technology, and at the same time Seattle was preparing to form an NBA team, Boeing helped, hence the name Supersonic. At the beginning of its establishment, supersonic speeds must have been bullied by the old team. In the early years of its existence, the Supersonics still sent the baby team until 1973, when The Lord of the Rings Bill Russell arrived.
In 1973, Russell, who was alone in Boston, wanted to continue his basketball dream behind the scenes after retiring, so he came from the East Coast of the United States to Seattle on the far West Coast as general manager. After Russell became general manager, the team saw immediate results. In 1975, the team reached the playoffs for the first time, and the team began to be on the rise. However, Russell did not agree with the concept of the team owner, so in 1976 Russell resigned as general manager, and before leaving, he selected the first superstar in supersonic history for the team, Dennis Johnson.
Dennis Johnson, a brilliant historic point guard, was Magic Johnson's biggest rival in the same position in the West at the time. In 1976, after the team selected Dennis Johnson, they immediately centered on him and invited Thousand Win coach Lannie Wilkens as head coach. In the 1977-1978 season, the Supersonics reached the Finals for the first time, but lost 3:4 to the Washington Bullets. But the team was not reconciled, in 1978-1979, the team played a record of 52 wins and 30 losses to reach the finals again, and won the NBA championship, which was also the team's first and only championship.
After the NBA entered the 80s, it began to enter the era of black and white males. The NBA in the 80s belonged to the era of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and even Jordan, who debuted at the peak, was overwhelmed by these two, not to mention the supersonic speed that sent Dennis Johnson away and began to enter the reconstruction period. In the NBA in the 80s, in addition to the Celtics and Lakers, other teams were foils.
Fast forward to the '90s, and the Supersonics welcomed two Hall of Famers, Sean Kemp and Gary Payton. The supersonics of the 90s were the second peak of team history. Chinese fans also began to know this team in the 90s and had die-hard fans. But the team survived the black and white duo of the 80s and was ruled by Michael Jordan in the 90s. In the 1996 Finals, supersonics came to the finals again after nearly 20 years, but their opponent was the Bulls, who won 72 wins and 10 losses! Helplessly, supersonic speed can't stop the bull iron ride. Later, Sean Campo parted ways with the team due to unsuccessful requests for a big contract. Only Gary Peyton was left to hold on. But Gary Payton survived Jordan and ushered in O'Neal, and the road to supersonic revival was far away. Finally, in 2004, Gary Payton went to the Lakers to form f4, and the team won Ray Allen and Lewis, and the team entered the Twins era, which is also the final elegy of the supersonic.
In the supersonic speed in 2005, although Allen and Lewis could average 20 points per game, the team's record did not improve at all. At the same time, the original owner of the team sold the team to the Russian city tycoon Krebenet. The latter said that if Seattle did not build a new stadium for the team, it would move to Russia. In the 06-07 season, Lewis traveled to Orlando, where Ray Allen was traded to the Celtics after the season's wild brushdowns, forming the Boston Big Three of the Famous Shock League. The Supersonics, on the other hand, won the No. 2 pick, selecting Durant, the Supersonics' last star, in the summer.
The 07-08 season, which was supersonic's last season and Durant's first. Due to the reconstruction period, the team's record is second to last (hence the selection of Westbrook in 2008). Durant did well that year, winning the team's last honor , Best Rookie. After the season, the team moved to Oklahoma, and Durant became the last former supersonic player on active duty. Since then, the NBA has no longer had a seattle position, and the supersonic has become a team that lives in the memory of fans.