Published reports surfaced this week of a possible upcoming NBA expansion. While those reports didn’t go into specifics, two cities were named as potential hotbeds for NBA franchises.
Seattle and Las Vegas would top the list of new franchises. Seattle was the home of the SuperSonics from 1967 to 2008 before the franchise moved to Oklahoma City. Although follow-up reports indicate that the NBA has no expansion plans, it’s still fun to talk about the Sonics. Here are four former NBA stars you may have forgotten about who donned the Sonics’ green and yellow uniforms.
No. 4: Bill Cartwright, 1994-95 season
Cartwright was known for his days with the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls. The 7-foot-1 center was the Knicks’ third overall pick in 1979. He made his only All-Star appearance of his 15-year career in his rookie season when he reached career highs in points (21.7) and rebounds (8.9).
In 1988, the Knicks traded him to the Bulls as part of a deal for power forward Charles Oakley. With the Bulls, Cartwright was the starting center for three championship teams. He had 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in his six seasons in Chicago.
Late in his career, Cartwright signed as a free agent with the Sonics just before the 1994-95 season. He appeared in just 29 games, starting in 19. He averaged 2.4 points in 14.8 minutes. Cartwright retired after the season.
No. 3: Terry Cummings, 1996-97 season
| Brian Bahr/Allsport.
Terry Cummings played 18 years in the NBA, notably for the Milwaukee Bucks and the San Antonio Spurs. He earned his two All-Star appearances with the Bucks, the first in the 1984-85 season and the other in 1988-89.
He spent six seasons with the Bucks after starting his career with two years playing for the San Diego Clippers. With Milwaukee, he averaged 19.4 points and 7.8 rebounds.
Cummings spent the next six seasons with the Spurs, where he had 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in his freshman season. The 6-foot-9 forward returned to the Bucks for a year before joining the Sonics for 45 games in the 1996-97 season.
After leaving Seattle, Cummings also played for the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors.
No. 2: Horace Grant, 1999-00 season
Like Cartwright, Grant is known for teaming up with Michael Jordan with the Bulls. A four-time NBA champion, Grant was drafted by the Bulls with the 10th overall pick in 1987. He spent the first seven years of his 17-year career in Chicago. During that streak, he had 12.6 points and 8.6 rebounds and made his only All-star appearance in his senior year with the Bulls.
Prior to the 1994-95 season, Grant signed a free agent contract with the Orlando Magic. He spent five years in Orlando before being traded to Seattle as part of a deal with Dale Ellis.
His time with the Sonics didn’t last long. He was part of a four-team trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers after playing just one season in Seattle.
Grant returned to the Magic and then played a second stint with the Lakers after his stint with the Sonics.
No. 1: Patrick Ewing, 2000-01 season
Ewing, of course, made his mark with the Knicks after he was made the first pick of the NBA Draft in 1985. An 11-time All-Star, he made an immediate impact in the NBA, earning rookie honors of the year.
Ewing spent 17 years in the NBA, 15 of them with the Knicks. In New York, he averaged 22.8 points and 10.4 rebounds.
The Knicks traded the aging Ewing to the Sonics before the 2000-01 season. There he started all 79 games at center and had 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds in 26.7 minutes. He only played one year with the Sonics. After Seattle, he ended his Hall of Fame career in Orlando, where he played 65 games for the Magic, starting four.
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All stats courtesy of Basketball Reference.
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