A Basic History of the Seattle Sonics Basketball Team

The Seattle SuperSonics, more commonly known as the Seattle Sonics, are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association. The Sonics play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the NBA.

The Seattle Sonics are currently owned by Professional Basketball Club LLC. The official colors of the Sonics are green, gold, and white.

The Seattle SuperSonics were founded in 1967. The Sonics have played their home games since 1967 in three different arenas. From 1967-1978, the Sonics played in Seattle Center Coliseum, also known as KeyArena. From 1978-1985, the Sonics played their home games in The Kingdome. In 1985, the team started playing in Seattle Center Coliseum/KeyArena again. In 1994, the team moved to the Tacoma Dome while KeyArena was being remodeled. Since 1995, the Sonics have played their home games in KeyArena in Seattle.

The Seattle Sonics have won a total of six division titles in their history. They won their division in 1979, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2005. The Sonics won their conference in 1978, 1979, and 1996. In 1979, the Seattle Sonics won their only NBA Championship.

Lenny Wilkens is the only former member of the Seattle SuperSonics to be in the National Basketball Hall of Fame. He was inducted as a player and a coach and did both for the Sonics. He was the coach of the 1979 NBA Champion Seattle SuperSonics.

The Seattle Sonics have retired a total of six numbers. The players whose jersey numbers have been retired are Gus Williams - 1, Nate McMillan - 10, Lenny Wilkens - 19, Spencer Haywood - 24, Fred Brown - 32, and Jack Sikma - 43. McMillan was also head coach of the Sonics from 2000-2005.

Some other former fan favorites in Seattle include Vin Baker, Shawn Kemp, Detlef Schrempf, and Gary Payton.

The Seattle Sonics have had several famous coaches in their history including Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, George Karl, and Paul Westphal.

Gary Payton has played the most career games as a Seattle Sonic, playing in 999 games with the team. Payton is also the team's all-time points leader with 18,207, assists leader with 7,384, and steals leader with 2,107.