Did You Know...

The Seattle SuperSonics, who arrived into the National Basketball Association as an expansion team in 1969, won an NBA title in 1979 and have made three appearances in the NBA finals (1978, 1979, and 1996). The SuperSonics, who currently play their home games at Key Arena, which is located in Seattle, Washington, are led by superstar Ray Allen, who was acquired in 2003 in a trade for the 13 year veteran Gary Payton, who was shipped to Milwaukee.

At the time, Ronald "Skip" Murray, who was included in the deal, was considered to be a throw-in who would soon be cut. However, Murray managed to stick with the team and opened the 2003-2004 season on a tear and was leading the NBA. in scoring after the first couple of weeks. The 2003-2004 SuperSonics team is led by both Payton and Murray, as well as Brent Barry, who won the Slam Dunk Contest in 1996, and Rashard Lewis, who went straight from high school to the National Basketball Association in 1998 and became the youngest player in SuperSonics history to start a game.

Although the Super Sonics 2003 first round draft pick Nick Collison was out for the entire 2003-2004 season with an injured shoulder, the Sonics expect Collison to be a fixture in the starting lineup for years to come, though he did not start many games in 2004-05. The Sonics will need strong efforts from Allen, Murray, Barry, Lewis, and Collison to achieve the success that the Sonics experienced in the late 1970's when they made two consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, in the early 1980's when they were coached by the winningest coach in NBA history Lenny Wilkens, and in the mid 1980's; when they were led by Dale Ellis, Xavier McDonald, and 1987 All-Star Game MVP Tom Chambers.