1975–76 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1975–76 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 9th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The SuperSonics finished the season in second place in the Western Conference with a 43–39 record, the same as the previous year and reached the playoffs for a second consecutive season, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the conference semifinals in six games.

YouTube Encyclopedic

1/5
Views:
24 947
4 350
7 689
4 658
4 477

Transcription

Offseason

Draft picks

Note: only draft picks who participated in at least one game in the NBA are listed.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Team
1	12	Frank Oleynick	Guard	United States	Seattle
2	21	Bruce Seals	Forward	United States	Utah Stars (ABA)

Roster

1975–76 Seattle SuperSonics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
F/C	35	Abdul-Aziz, Zaid	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1946–04–07	Iowa State
F/C	40	Bantom, Mike	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1951–12–03	Saint Joseph's
G	32	Brown, Fred	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1948–08–07	Iowa
C	16	Burleson, Tommy	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1952–02–24	NC State
G	25	Derline, Rod	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1952–03–11	Seattle
G/F	3	Gilliam, Herm	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1946–05–05	Purdue
F	11	Gray, Leonard	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	1951–12–19	Long Beach State
F/C	42	Hummer, John	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1948–05–04	Princeton
F	15	Norwood, Willie	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1947–08–08	Alcorn State
G	44	Oleynick, Frank	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1955–02–20	Seattle
F	45	Seals, Bruce	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1953–06–18	Xavier (LA)
G/F	22	Skinner, Talvin	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1952–09–10	Maryland Eastern Shore
G	13	Watts, Donald	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1951–07–22	Xavier (LA)

Head coach

Bill Russell

Assistant coach(es)

Bob Hopkins

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Depth chart

Seattle SuperSonics Depth Chart - 1975-76
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Slick Watts
SG	Fred Brown	Herm Gilliam	Frank Oleynick	Rod Derline
SF	Bruce Seals	Mike Bantom	Tal Skinner	Willie Norwood
PF	Leonard Gray	John Hummer
C	Tom Burleson	Zaid Abdul-Aziz

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Division
y-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–	36–5	23–18	17–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16	31–10	12–29	12–14
x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17	27–14	15–26	15–11
Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19	31–11	9–31	10–16
Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22	25–15	12–30	11–15

#	Western Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–
2	x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16
3	x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17
4	y-Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	21
5	x-Detroit Pistons	36	46	.439	23

6	Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19
7	Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22
8	Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	28
9	Chicago Bulls	24	58	.293	35

z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1975–76 NBA records
Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DET	GSW	HOU	KCK	LAL	MIL	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–3	2–3	2–2	2–5	1–3	2–2	2–5	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–4	3–2	2–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–5
Boston	3–2	—	4–3	2–2	3–2	4–0	2–2	4–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	4–1	5–2	4–3	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–2
Buffalo	3–2	3–4	—	3–1	3–2	1–3	1–3	3–2	4–0	2–2	3–1	4–1	4–3	3–4	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–3
Chicago	2–2	2–2	1–3	—	0–4	3–4	1–4	1–3	1–6	3–2	3–4	2–2	0–4	0–4	2–3	1–4	2–3	0–4
Cleveland	5–2	2–3	2–3	4–0	—	2–2	1–3	2–4	1–3	2–2	4–0	4–3	3–2	3–2	3–1	4–0	3–1	4–2
Detroit	3–1	0–4	3–1	4–3	2–2	—	0–5	2–2	5–2	1–4	3–4	1–3	3–1	1–3	1–4	2–3	3–2	2–2
Golden State	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–1	3–1	5–0	—	2–2	4–1	5–2	5–0	2–2	4–0	3–1	4–2	4–2	4–3	3–1
Houston	5–2	1–4	2–3	3–1	4–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–4	3–2	3–2	0–4	3–1	2–2	3–4
Kansas City	2–2	2–2	0–4	6–1	3–1	2–5	1–4	2–2	—	2–3	2–5	1–3	1–3	1–3	3–2	0–5	2–3	1–3
Los Angeles	3–1	0–4	2–2	2–3	2–2	4–1	2–5	3–1	3–2	—	2–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–4	3–4	3–3	1–3
Milwaukee	2–2	2–2	1–3	4–3	0–4	4–3	0–5	2–2	5–2	3–2	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–2	2–3	2–3	2–2
New Orleans	4–2	1–4	1–4	2–2	3–4	3–1	2–2	4–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	—	2–3	1–4	1–3	3–1	1–3	4–3
New York	2–3	2–5	3–4	4–0	2–3	1–3	0–4	2–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–2	—	5–2	2–2	3–1	0–4	3–2
Philadelphia	3–2	3–4	4–3	4–0	2–3	3–1	1–3	2–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	4–1	2–5	—	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–3
Phoenix	4–0	0–4	1–3	3–2	1–3	4–1	2–4	4–0	2–3	4–2	2–3	3–1	2–2	1–3	—	5–2	4–3	0–4
Portland	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–1	0–4	3–2	2–4	1–3	5–0	4–3	3–2	1–3	1–3	0–4	2–5	—	3–3	2–2
Seattle	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–2	1–3	2–3	3–4	2–2	3–2	3–3	3–2	3–1	4–0	2–2	3–4	3–3	—	1–3
Washington	5–1	2–3	3–2	4–0	2–4	2–2	1–3	4–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–4	2–3	3–2	4–0	2–2	3–1	—

Game log

1975–76 game log
Total: 43–39 (home: 31–10; road: 12–29)

October: 3–2 (home: 2–0; road: 1–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 24	Portland	W 105–97	Fred Brown (29)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,601	1–0
2	October 26	Phoenix	W 113–99	Leonard Gray (27)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,288	2–0
3	October 28	@ Chicago	L 90–101	Slick Watts (28)	Chicago Stadium 5,115	2–1
4	October 29	@ Kansas City	W 92–91	Bruce Seals (25)	Kemper Arena 9,464	3–1
5	October 31	@ Los Angeles	L 104–120	Fred Brown (33)	The Forum 12,118	3–2

November : 7–8 (home: 4–2; road: 3–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
6	November 2	Washington	L 85–94	Tommy Burleson (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	3–3
7	November 5	@ Detroit	L 107–124	Slick Watts (25)	Cobo Arena 4,777	3–4
8	November 6	@ Washington	L 100–110	Fred Brown (29)	Capital Centre 7,732	3–5
9	November 8	@ Atlanta	L 94–107	Fred Brown (24)	Omni Coliseum 4,382	3–6
10	November 9	@ New Orleans	W 111–97	Fred Brown (41)	Louisiana Superdome 13,472	4–6
11	November 12	Kansas City	L 92–107	Fred Brown (19)	Seattle Center Coliseum 11,213	4–7
12	November 13	@ Phoenix	L 103–106	Bruce Seals (24)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,016	4–8
13	November 14	Cleveland	W 100–97 (OT)	Fred Brown (26)	Seattle Center Coliseum 11,969	5–8
14	November 16	Golden State	W 102–98	Fred Brown (30)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	6–8
15	November 19	Chicago	W 97–87	Fred Brown (25)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,114	7–8
16	November 23	Milwaukee	W 112–104	Tommy Burleson (28)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,021	8–8
17	November 25	@ New York	W 128–127 (OT)	Tommy Burleson (35)	Madison Square Garden 15,548	9–8
18	November 26	@ Boston	W 110–109	Fred Brown (30)	Boston Garden 12,189	10–8
19	November 28	@ Philadelphia	L 94–113	Tommy Burleson (18)	The Spectrum 13,674	10–9
20	November 29	@ Cleveland	L 108–124	Fred Brown (30)	Coliseum at Richfield 10,151	10–10

December : 8–7 (home: 6–4; road: 2–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
21	December 2	@ Kansas City	W 101–90	Fred Brown (31)	Kemper Arena 7,670	11–10
22	December 3	@ Houston	L 101–107	Bruce Seals (16)	The Summit 5,374	11–11
23	December 6	@ Golden State	L 94–104	Fred Brown (17)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 12,677	11–12
24	December 7	Golden State	L 106–115	Fred Brown, Slick Watts (22)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	11–13
25	December 10	Chicago	W 99–79	Fred Brown (17)	Seattle Center Coliseum 12,471	12–13
26	December 12	Detroit	W 97–95	Fred Brown (27)	Seattle Center Coliseum 12,859	13–13
27	December 14	Philadelphia	W 114–105	Fred Brown (31)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	14–13
28	December 17	Cleveland	L 101–115	Rod Derline (16)	Seattle Center Coliseum 12,291	14–14
29	December 19	New Orleans	W 113–102	Herm Gilliam (24)	Seattle Center Coliseum 11,427	15–14
30	December 21	Milwaukee	L 101–103	Mike Bantom (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 12,188	15–15
31	December 23	@ Portland	L 100–125	Tommy Burleson (23)	Memorial Coliseum 8,610	15–16
32	December 26	Kansas City	W 90–87	Bruce Seals (21)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,673	16–16
33	December 27	Los Angeles	L 100–109	Tommy Burleson (25)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	16–17
34	December 28	Houston	W 116–106	Fred Brown (23)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,702	17–17
35	December 30	@ Los Angeles	W 112–100	Fred Brown (34)	The Forum 12,740	18–17

January : 5–9 (home: 3–2; road: 2–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
36	January 2	Boston	L 98–102	Fred Brown (34)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	18–18
37	January 4	Golden State	W 97–85	Fred Brown (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,669	19–18
38	January 7	New York	W 91–89	Fred Brown (24)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	20–18
39	January 9	@ Phoenix	W 112–110 (OT)	Tommy Burleson (25)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,774	21–18
40	January 11	Buffalo	L 104–125	Leonard Gray (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	21–19
41	January 13	@ Milwaukee	L 108–114	Fred Brown (24)	MECCA Arena 10,496	21–20
42	January 14	@ Atlanta	W 112–110	Fred Brown (33)	Omni Coliseum 4,376	22–20
43	January 16	@ Washington	L 85–100	Slick Watts (19)	Capital Centre 9,425	22–21
44	January 17	@ Buffalo	L 101–110	Fred Brown (28)	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 8,469	22–22
45	January 21	@ Detroit	L 104–111	Fred Brown (26)	Cobo Arena 3,612	22–23
46	January 22	@ Cleveland	L 99–109	Fred Brown (17)	Coliseum at Richfield 5,102	22–24
47	January 24	@ Houston	L 103–110	Fred Brown (37)	The Summit 5,027	22–25
48	January 28	@ Portland	L 104–124	Fred Brown (26)	Memorial Coliseum 10,930	22–26
49	January 30	Washington	W 123–100	Fred Brown (29)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	23–26

February : 8–5 (home: 6–2; road: 2–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
50	February 6	Portland	L 100–109	Leonard Gray (32)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,419	23–27
51	February 7	@ Golden State	L 100–127	Tommy Burleson (26)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 12,787	23–28
52	February 8	Phoenix	L 101–107 (OT)	Tommy Burleson (33)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,039	23–29
53	February 11	New Orleans	W 93–90	Tommy Burleson (25)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,595	24–29
54	February 13	Atlanta	W 119–102	Tommy Burleson, Herm Gilliam (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,925	25–29
55	February 14	@ Portland	W 122–108	Bruce Seals (29)	Memorial Coliseum 11,347	26–29
56	February 15	Detroit	W 109–107	Herm Gilliam (22)	Seattle Center Coliseum 13,728	27–29
57	February 18	Boston	W 124–99	Fred Brown (29)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	28–29
58	February 20	Philadelphia	W 111–92	Fred Brown (26)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	29–29
59	February 22	Los Angeles	W 97–91	Fred Brown (27)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	30–29
60	February 25	@ Buffalo	W 126–94	Fred Brown (31)	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 8,691	31–29
61	February 27	@ Boston	L 118–122	Fred Brown (33)	Boston Garden 15,320	31–30
62	February 29	@ Philadelphia	L 115–130	Fred Brown (23)	The Spectrum 11,649	31–31

March : 8–5 (home: 6–0; road: 2–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
63	March 2	@ New York	W 109–105	Bruce Seals (29)	Madison Square Garden 14,227	32–31
64	March 3	@ Detroit	L 110–114	Fred Brown (24)	Cobo Arena 3,096	32–32
65	March 5	@ Kansas City	L 93–111	Fred Brown (17)	Kemper Arena 5,852	32–33
66	March 7	@ New Orleans	L 106–124	Leonard Gray (16)	Louisiana Superdome 8,008	32–34
67	March 9	@ Chicago	L 101–102	Fred Brown (26)	Chicago Stadium 4,614	32–35
68	March 10	@ Milwaukee	W 110–105	Fred Brown (26)	MECCA Arena 9,587	33–35
69	March 14	New York	W 113–103	Fred Brown (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	34–35
70	March 17	Buffalo	W 122–111	Fred Brown (37)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	35–35
71	March 21	Houston	W 117–107	Fred Brown, Tommy Burleson (24)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	36–35
72	March 23	@ Phoenix	L 97–104	Fred Brown (32)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,589	36–36
73	March 24	Milwaukee	W 135–110	Bruce Seals (27)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	37–36
74	March 28	Atlanta	W 127–112	Fred Brown (27)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	38–36
75	March 31	Los Angeles	W 120–109	Fred Brown, Herm Gilliam (22)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	39–36

April : 4–3 (home: 4–0; road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
76	April 2	@ Los Angeles	L 105–113	Tommy Burleson (32)	The Forum 10,784	39–37
77	April 3	@ Golden State	L 115–130	Willie Norwood (20)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 12,787	39–38
78	April 4	Phoenix	W 117–89	Fred Brown (33)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	40–38
79	April 7	Chicago	W 115–114	Willie Norwood (24)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	41–38
80	April 9	Golden State	W 119–103	Fred Brown (26)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	42–38
81	April 10	@ Phoenix	L 95–121	Herm Gilliam (22)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,577	42–39
82	April 11	Portland	W 132–131	Fred Brown (33)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	43–39

1975–76 season schedule

Playoffs

1976 playoff game log

Conference semifinals: 2–4 (home: 2–1; road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 13	Phoenix	W 102–99	Fred Brown (34)	Fred Brown (7)	Slick Watts (8)	Seattle Center Coliseum 12,408	1–0
2	April 15	Phoenix	L 111–116	Fred Brown (45)	Tommy Burleson (12)	Slick Watts (6)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	1–1
3	April 18	@ Phoenix	L 91–103	Slick Watts (18)	three players tied (8)	Slick Watts (7)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,036	1–2
4	April 20	@ Phoenix	L 114–130	Fred Brown (33)	Tommy Burleson (20)	Herm Gilliam (7)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,036	1–3
5	April 25	Phoenix	W 114–108	Bruce Seals (28)	Willie Norwood (13)	Slick Watts (12)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,096	2–3
6	April 24	@ Phoenix	L 112–123	Seals, Watts (24)	Bruce Seals (7)	Slick Watts (11)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,192	2–4

1976 schedule

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	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Zaid Abdul-Aziz	27	8.3	.467	.552	2.8	.6	.3	.6	3.2
Mike Bantom	66	22.8	.471	.675	5.6	1.5	.4	.4	8.4
Fred Brown	76	33.1	.488	.869	4.2	2.7	1.9	.2	23.1
Tommy Burleson	82	32.3	.481	.750	9.0	2.2	.9	1.8	15.6
Al Carlson	28	10.0	.342	.621	2.6	.5	.3	.4	2.6
Rod Derline	49	6.9	.403	.804	.6	.5	.2	.0	3.9
Herm Gilliam	81	20.3	.442	.776	2.7	2.5	1.0	.1	8.5
Leonard Gray	66	32.4	.474	.746	6.0	3.1	1.1	.5	13.8
John Hummer	29	12.6	.478	.415	2.7	.9	.2	.3	2.8
Willie Norwood	64	15.7	.485	.749	3.6	.9	.7	.1	6.9
Frank Oleynick	52	12.5	.402	.688	.9	1.0	.4	.1	5.9
Bruce Seals	81	30.1	.436	.678	6.3	1.5	.8	.5	11.8
Gene Short	7	5.3	.545	.500	1.0	.3	.0	.0	1.9
Talvin Skinner	72	17.0	.463	.613	3.7	.9	.7	.1	4.3
Slick Watts	82	33.9	.427	.578	4.5	8.1	3.2	.2	13.0

Playoffs

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Zaid Abdul-Aziz	5	12.0	.700	.727	4.2	.4	.0	1.0	7.2
Mike Bantom	6	19.0	.579	.700	3.8	1.3	.7	.3	9.7
Fred Brown	6	39.3	.511	.795	4.7	2.8	2.2	.0	28.5
Tommy Burleson	6	34.7	.600	.761	9.5	1.7	1.0	1.3	20.8
Rod Derline	4	10.3	.200	1.000	1.0	.3	.3	.0	1.5
Herm Gilliam	6	14.3	.222	.625	1.8	2.0	1.0	.0	2.8
John Hummer	3	5.3	.667		.3	.0	.0	.0	1.3
Willie Norwood	6	35.8	.414	.611	6.3	1.3	1.2	.2	9.8
Bruce Seals	6	30.2	.441	.692	6.0	.5	.8	1.0	13.0
Talvin Skinner	6	14.3	.286	.733	2.5	1.2	.8	.3	3.2
Slick Watts	6	32.8	.435	.478	3.0	8.2	2.0	.3	11.8

Awards and records

Slick Watts led the league in totals in assists and steals, as well as assists per game and was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. He was also presented with the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.
Fred Brown made his first All-Star appearance at the 1976 NBA All-Star Game.

Transactions

Overview

Players Added	Players Lost
Via draft Frank Oleynick Bruce Seals Via trade Mike Bantom Herm Gilliam Gene Short (later waived) Via free agency Zaid Abdul-Aziz Al Carlson (later waived) Rod Derline Willie Norwood	Via trade Archie Clark Jim Fox Spencer Haywood Waived Wardell Jackson Dean Tolson

Trades

September 24, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Detroit Pistons
September 24, 1975	1978 first round pick	Archie Clark
October 22, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Milwaukee Bucks
October 22, 1975	1976 second round pick	Jim Fox
October 22, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Atlanta Hawks
October 22, 1975	Herm Gilliam	1976 third round pick
October 24, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To New York Knicks
October 24, 1975	1979 first round pick	Spencer Haywood
November 22, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Phoenix Suns
November 22, 1975	Mike Bantom	Cash considerations