1970–71 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1970–71 Seattle SuperSonics season was the Seattle SuperSonics 4th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In their second season with Lenny Wilkens as head coach, the Sonics finished in 8th place in the Western Conference with a 38–44 record. Trouble arose with the injury of top scorer Bob Rule, who tore his Achilles tendon three games into the season during a match against the Portland Trail Blazers and lost him for the remainder of the season.[1]

1970–71 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coachLenny Wilkens
General managerBob Houbregs
ArenaSeattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record38–44 (.463)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Pacific)
Conference: 8th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTNT-TV
RadioKOMO

Offseason

During the offseason, the SuperSonics traded 10-year veteran Bob Boozer and their first round selection from the 1969 NBA draft, Lucius Allen to the Milwaukee Bucks for Don Smith [2] (later known as Zaid Abdul-Aziz). Despite the early retirement announcement made by 24-year-old Smith to the Sonics' front office,[3] he joined the team and played in 61 games in the regular season.

Draft picks
Main article: 1970 NBA draft

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

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 6 Jim Ard Forward / Center  United States Cincinnati
2 20 Jake Ford Guard  United States Maryland Eastern Shore
2 22 Pete Cross Forward / Center  United States San Francisco
3 40 Gar Heard Forward  United States Oklahoma

Roster
Roster listing
1970–71 Seattle SuperSonics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
F 43 Clemens, Barry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943–05–01 Ohio Wesleyan
F/C 43 Cross, Pete 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1948–03–28 San Francisco
G 33 Ford, Jake 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1946–04–29 Maryland Eastern Shore
F/C 24 Haywood, Spencer 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1949–04–22 Detroit
F 40 Heard, Gar 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948–05–03 Oklahoma
F 22 Kojis, Don 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1939–01–15 Marquette
PF 14 Meschery, Tom 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1938–10–26 Saint Mary's
F/C 45 Rule, Bob 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1944–06–29 Colorado State
F/C 35 Smith, Don 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1946–04–07 Iowa State
G/F 10 Snyder, Dick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1944–02–01 Davidson
SG 44 Thorn, Rod 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1941–05–23 West Virginia
G 19 Wilkens, Lenny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1937–10–28 Providence
G 11 Winfield, Lee 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1947–02–04 North Texas
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Depth chart
Seattle SuperSonics Depth Chart - 1970-71
STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH
PG Lenny Wilkens Lee Winfield Jake Ford
SG Dick Snyder Jake Ford Rod Thorn
SF Don Kojis Barry Clemens
PF Spencer Haywood Tom Meschery Gar Heard
C Bob Rule Zaid Abdul-Aziz Tom Black Pete Cross

Regular season

Season standings
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 4834.585–30–1117–221–115–7
x-San Francisco Warriors 4141.500720–1819–212–212–10
San Diego Rockets 4042.488824–1515–261–114–8
Seattle SuperSonics 3844.4631027–1311–300–110–14
Portland Trail Blazers 2953.3541918–219–262–63–15
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Milwaukee Bucks6616.805
2 y-Los Angeles Lakers4834.585
3 x-Chicago Bulls5131.622
4 x-San Francisco Warriors4141.500
5 Phoenix Suns4834.585
6 Detroit Pistons4537.549
7 San Diego Rockets4042.488
8 Seattle SuperSonics3844.463
9 Portland Trail Blazers2953.354
z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1970–71 NBA records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CIN CLE DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —3–32–43–11–42–44–00–53–21–43–34–21–42–22–32–33–2
Baltimore 3–3—3–33–12–33–34–02–32–31–42–43–33–22–24–12–33–2
Boston 4–23–3—4–04–14–23–12–33–20–50–64–22–32–23–23–23–2
Buffalo 1–31–30–4—0–40–45–71–52–20–42–20–41–36–61–31–31–3
Chicago 4–13–21–44–0—4–04–03–32–41–53–23–23–33–16–04–23–2
Cincinnati 4–23–32–44–00–4—5–11–41–41–42–41–51–44–01–32–31–4
Cleveland 0–40–41–37–50–41–5—2–20–40–40–41–30–42–100–41–30–4
Detroit 5–03–23–25–13–34–12–2—2–31–52–32–32–43–14–21–43–1
Los Angeles 2–33–22–32–24–24–14–03–2—1–43–23–22–44–03–34–24–2
Milwaukee 4–14–15–04–05–14–14–05–14–1—1–44–14–23–14–16–05–1
New York 3–34–26–02–22–34–24–03–22–34–1—2–44–13–14–13–22–3
Philadelphia 2–43–32–44–02–35–13–13–22–31–44–2—3–24–03–23–23–2
Phoenix 4–12–33–23–13–34–14–04–24–22–41–42–3—4–02–43–23–2
Portland 2–22–22–26–61–30–410–21–30–41–31–30–40–4—0–41–32–4
San Diego 3–21–42–33–10–63–14–02–43–31–41–42–34–24–0—2–45–1
San Francisco 3–23–22–33–12–43–23–14–12–40–62–32–32–33–14–2—3–3
Seattle 2–32–32–33–12–34–14–01–32–41–53–22–32–34–21–53–3—

Game log
1970–71 game log
Total: 38–44 (Home: 27–13; Road: 11–30; Neutral: 0–1)
October: 5–5 (Home: 4–1; Road: 1–4)
November : 7–8 (Home: 5–2; Road: 2–6)
December : 6–9 (Home: 4–4; Road: 2–5)
January : 7–8 (Home: 4–2; Road: 3–6)
February : 6–9 (Home: 5–4; Road: 1–5)
March : 7–5 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–4)
1970–71 season 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
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Tom Black [a] 55–14.1.414–.6994.1.8––5.0
Barry Clemens 78–16.5.470–.7283.11.2––7.4
Pete Cross 79–27.8.442–.69012.01.4––8.0
Bob Rule 4–35.5.480–.83311.51.8––29.8
Jake Ford 5–13.6.360–.7271.81.8––6.8
Spencer Haywood 33–35.2.449–.73412.01.5––20.6
Gar Heard 65–15.8.381–.6565.0.7––5.9
Don Kojis 79–27.1.446–.7785.51.6––14.6
Tom Meschery 79–23.1.463–.7506.11.4––9.3
Don Smith 61–20.9.441–.7397.7.7––10.9
Dick Snyder 82–34.4.531–.8373.14.3––19.4
Rod Thorn 63–12.2.472–.6761.62.9––5.6
Lenny Wilkens 71–37.2.419–.8034.59.2––19.8
Lee Winfield 79–20.3.466–.6642.42.8––10.5
  • a Statistics with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Awards and records

Transactions

Overview
Players Added

Via draft

Via trade

Via free agency

 Players Lost

Via trade

^ The Sonics signed Haywood as a free agent after he spent a season with the American Basketball Association's Denver Rockets, who signed Haywood after his sophomore year at the University of Detroit Mercy under a hardship clause. Because eligibility rules of the National Basketball Association at the time required a span of four years after high school graduation for a player to be picked by any team, a legal battle ensued, with the federal court ruling in favor of Haywood.[4]

Trades
September 17, 1970 To Seattle SuperSonics
Don Smith
Cash considerations		 To Milwaukee Bucks
Lucius Allen
Bob Boozer

References
  1. "Boston Minutemen on Time". The Evening News. October 23, 1970. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  2. "Boozer to Bucks". Evening Independent. September 18, 1970. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  3. "Smith Claims Retirement". Florence Times. September 20, 1970. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  4. "Spencer Haywood Wins Court Permission to Play With Supersonics". The Day. March 2, 1971. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
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