1993–94 Seattle SuperSonics season

1993–94 Seattle SuperSonics season
Pacific Division Champions
Head coach	George Karl
General manager	Bob Whitsitt
Arena	Seattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record	63–19 (.768)
Place	Division: 1st (Pacific) Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	West First Round (Eliminated 2–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Northwest Cable Sports, KOMO-TV
Radio	KOMO-AM and FM

The 1993–94 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 26th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the third season with George Karl as head coach and the addition of Detlef Schrempf, the Sonics finished the season with a franchise best 63–19 record and made the Playoffs as the number one seed in the Western Conference for the first time since the 1978–79 season, where the SuperSonics won their first NBA Championship. Gary Payton made his first All-Star appearance as he was selected for the 1994 NBA All-Star Game along with his teammate Shawn Kemp. However, the Sonics didn't make it past the first round, losing to the Denver Nuggets in five games after taking a 2–0 lead in the series. It was the first time in NBA Playoffs history that a number 8 seed defeated a number 1 seeded team.

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 1993 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	23	Ervin Johnson	C	United States	New Orleans
2	42	Adonis Jordan	PG	United States	Kansas

Roster

Seattle SuperSonics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From SG 17 Askew, Vincent 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–02–28 Memphis C 44 Cage, Michael 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1962–01–28 San Diego State PF 40 Kemp, Shawn 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1969–11–26 Trinity Valley CC SG 13 Gill, Kendall 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1968–05–25 Illinois C 50 Johnson, Ervin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1967–12–21 New Orleans SF 35 King, Chris 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1969–07–24 Wake Forest C 25 King, Rich 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1969–04–04 Nebraska SG 10 McMillan, Nate 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1964–08–03 North Carolina State PG 20 Payton, Gary 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1968–07–23 Oregon State C 14 Perkins, Sam 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1961–06–14 North Carolina SG 22 Pierce, Ricky 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1959–08–19 Rice C 55 Scheffler, Steve 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1967–09–03 Purdue SF 11 Schrempf, Detlef 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 214 lb (97 kg) 1963–01–21 Washington	Head coach George Karl (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Michael Cage	Ervin Johnson	Steve Scheffler	Rich King
PF	Shawn Kemp	Sam Perkins
SF	Detlef Schrempf	Vincent Askew	Chris King
SG	Kendall Gill	Ricky Pierce
PG	Gary Payton	Nate McMillan

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics	63	19	.768	—	37–4	26–15	25–5
x-Phoenix Suns	56	26	.683	7	36–5	20–21	19–11
x-Golden State Warriors	50	32	.610	13	29–12	21–20	19–11
x-Portland Trail Blazers	47	35	.573	16	30–11	17–24	17–13
Los Angeles Lakers	33	49	.402	30	21–20	12–29	7–23
Sacramento Kings	28	54	.341	35	20–21	8–33	9–21
Los Angeles Clippers	27	55	.329	36	17–24	10–31	9–21

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Seattle SuperSonics	63	19	.768	–
2	y-Houston Rockets	58	24	.707	5
3	x-Phoenix Suns	56	26	.683	7
4	x-San Antonio Spurs	55	27	.671	8
5	x-Utah Jazz	53	29	.646	10
6	x- Golden State Warriors	50	32	.610	13
7	x-Portland Trail Blazers	47	35	.573	16
8	x-Denver Nuggets	42	40	.512	21
9	Los Angeles Lakers	33	49	.402	30
10	Sacramento Kings	28	54	.341	35
11	Los Angeles Clippers	27	55	.329	36
12	Minnesota Timberwolves	20	62	.244	43
13	Dallas Mavericks	13	69	.159	50

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (8) Denver Nuggets: Nuggets win series 3-2

• Game 1 @ Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle (April 28): Seattle 106, Denver 82
• Game 2 @ Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle (April 30): Seattle 97, Denver 87
• Game 3 @ McNichols Sports Arena, Denver (May 2): Denver 110, Seattle 93
• Game 4 @ McNichols Sports Arena, Denver (May 5): Denver 94, Seattle 85 (OT)
• Game 5 @ Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle (May 7): Denver 98, Seattle 94 (OT)

Last Playoff Meeting: 1988 Western Conference First Round (Denver won 3-2)

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	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Vincent Askew	80	3	21.1	.481	.194	.829	2.3	2.4	.9	.2	9.1
Michael Cage	82	42	20.8	.545	.000	.486	5.4	.5	.9	.5	4.6
Alphonso Ford	6	0	2.7	.538	1.000	.500	.0	.2	.3	.0	2.7
Kendall Gill	79	77	30.8	.443	.317	.782	3.4	3.5	1.9	.4	14.1
Ervin Johnson	45	3	6.2	.415	.000	.630	2.6	.2	.2	.5	2.6
Shawn Kemp	79	73	32.9	.538	.250	.741	10.8	2.6	1.8	2.1	18.1
Chris King	15	0	5.7	.396	.286	.577	1.0	.7	.3	.0	3.7
Rich King	27	0	2.9	.441	.000	.500	.7	.3	.0	.1	1.5
Nate McMillan	73	8	25.8	.447	.391	.564	3.9	5.3	3.0	.3	6.0
Gary Payton	82	82	35.1	.504	.278	.595	3.3	6.0	2.3	.2	16.5
Sam Perkins	81	41	26.8	.438	.367	.801	4.5	1.4	.8	.4	12.3
Ricky Pierce	51	0	20.0	.471	.188	.896	1.6	1.8	.8	.1	14.5
Steve Scheffler	35	1	4.3	.609	.000	.950	.7	.2	.2	.0	2.1
Detlef Schrempf	81	80	33.7	.493	.324	.769	5.6	3.4	.9	.1	15.0

1.^ Statistics with the SuperSonics.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Vincent Askew	5	0	19.0	.357	.000	.842	1.2	1.8	.2	.0	7.2
Michael Cage	5	5	18.6	.375	.000	.333	5.4	.8	.8	1.0	2.8
Kendall Gill	5	5	30.6	.433	.222	.619	4.8	2.0	1.2	.2	13.4
Ervin Johnson	2	0	4.0	.000	.000	.000	2.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
Shawn Kemp	5	5	41.2	.371	.000	.667	9.8	3.4	2.0	2.4	14.8
Chris King	5	0	3.5	.000	.000	.000	5.2	3.7	.2	.0	.0
Nate McMillan	5	0	21.8	.320	.364	.250	3.2	2.0	1.2	.2	4.2
Gary Payton	5	5	36.2	.493	.333	.421	3.4	5.6	1.6	.4	15.8
Sam Perkins	5	0	28.2	.333	.429	.882	7.2	.8	.8	.4	9.8
Ricky Pierce	5	0	14.8	.452	.000	.706	1.0	.6	.2	.0	8.0
Steve Scheffler	1	0	9.0	1.000	.000	.000	3.0	.0	1.0	.0	2.0
Detlef Schrempf	5	5	34.8	.520	.333	.867	5.4	2.0	.2	.6	18.6

Awards and records

Awards

• Shawn Kemp earned an All-NBA Second Team selection.
• Gary Payton earned All-NBA Third Team and All-Defensive First Team selections.
• Nate McMillan earned an All-Defensive Second Team selection and finished the season as leader in total steals and steals per game.
• Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton were both selected to play in the 1994 NBA All-Star Game for the West. It was Kemp's first start as an All-Star, and Payton's first appearance in an All-Star Game.

Transactions

Overview

Players Added ---- Via draft Ervin Johnson Chris King (from 1992 NBA Draft) Via free agency Alphonso Ford Via trade Kendall Gill Detlef Schrempf

Players Lost ---- Via trade Dana Barros Eddie Johnson Derrick McKey Gerald Paddio

Trades

September 1, 1993	To Seattle SuperSonics----Kendall Gill	To Charlotte Hornets----Dana Barros----Eddie Johnson----Hornets option to swap 1994 first round picks with the SuperSonics.
November 1, 1993	To Seattle SuperSonics----Detlef Schrempf	To Indiana Pacers----Derrick McKey----Gerald Paddio

Free agents

Additions

Player Signed Former team Alphonso Ford March 22, 1994 1.^ First of two 10-day contracts. See also 1993-94 NBA season References