1975–76 Seattle SuperSonics season explained

The 1975–76 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 9th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The SuperSonics finished the season in second place in the Western Conference with a 43–39 record, the same as the previous year and reached the playoffs for a second consecutive season, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the conference semifinals in six games.

Offseason

Draft picks

See main article: article and 1975 NBA draft.

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Team
1	12	Frank Oleynick	Guard		Seattle
2	21	Bruce Seals	Forward

Depth chart

Seattle SuperSonics Depth Chart - 1975-76
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Slick Watts
SG	Fred Brown	Herm Gilliam	Frank Oleynick	Rod Derline
SF	Bruce Seals	Mike Bantom	Tal Skinner	Willie Norwood
PF	Leonard Gray	John Hummer
C	Tom Burleson	Zaid Abdul-Aziz

Regular season

Season standings

• z – clinched division title
• y – clinched division title
• x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1975–76 NBA records

Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DET	GSW	HOU	KCK	LAL	MIL	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–3	2–3	2–2	2–5	1–3	2–2	2–5	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–4	3–2	2–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–5
Boston	3–2	—	4–3	2–2	3–2	4–0	2–2	4–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	4–1	5–2	4–3	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–2
Buffalo	3–2	3–4	—	3–1	3–2	1–3	1–3	3–2	4–0	2–2	3–1	4–1	4–3	3–4	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–3
Chicago	2–2	2–2	1–3	—	0–4	3–4	1–4	1–3	1–6	3–2	3–4	2–2	0–4	0–4	2–3	1–4	2–3	0–4
Cleveland	5–2	2–3	2–3	4–0	—	2–2	1–3	2–4	1–3	2–2	4–0	4–3	3–2	3–2	3–1	4–0	3–1	4–2
Detroit	3–1	0–4	3–1	4–3	2–2	—	0–5	2–2	5–2	1–4	3–4	1–3	3–1	1–3	1–4	2–3	3–2	2–2
Golden State	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–1	3–1	5–0	—	2–2	4–1	5–2	5–0	2–2	4–0	3–1	4–2	4–2	4–3	3–1
Houston	5–2	1–4	2–3	3–1	4–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–4	3–2	3–2	0–4	3–1	2–2	3–4
Kansas City	2–2	2–2	0–4	6–1	3–1	2–5	1–4	2–2	—	2–3	2–5	1–3	1–3	1–3	3–2	0–5	2–3	1–3
Los Angeles	3–1	0–4	2–2	2–3	2–2	4–1	2–5	3–1	3–2	—	2–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–4	3–4	3–3	1–3
Milwaukee	2–2	2–2	1–3	4–3	0–4	4–3	0–5	2–2	5–2	3–2	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–2	2–3	2–3	2–2
New Orleans	4–2	1–4	1–4	2–2	3–4	3–1	2–2	4–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	—	2–3	1–4	1–3	3–1	1–3	4–3
New York	2–3	2–5	3–4	4–0	2–3	1–3	0–4	2–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–2	—	5–2	2–2	3–1	0–4	3–2
Philadelphia	3–2	3–4	4–3	4–0	2–3	3–1	1–3	2–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	4–1	2–5	—	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–3
Phoenix	4–0	0–4	1–3	3–2	1–3	4–1	2–4	4–0	2–3	4–2	2–3	3–1	2–2	1–3	—	5–2	4–3	0–4
Portland	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–1	0–4	3–2	2–4	1–3	5–0	4–3	3–2	1–3	1–3	0–4	2–5	—	3–3	2–2
Seattle	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–2	1–3	2–3	3–4	2–2	3–2	3–3	3–2	3–1	4–0	2–2	3–4	3–3	—	1–3
Washington	5–1	2–3	3–2	4–0	2–4	2–2	1–3	4–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–4	2–3	3–2	4–0	2–2	3–1	—

Game log

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 1| October 24| Portland| W 105–97| Fred Brown (29)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,601| 1–0

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 2| October 26| Phoenix| W 113–99| Leonard Gray (27)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,288| 2–0

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 3| October 28| @ Chicago| L 90–101|Slick Watts (28)| || || Chicago Stadium
5,115| 2–1

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 4| October 29| @ Kansas City| W 92–91|Bruce Seals (25)| || || Kemper Arena
9,464| 3–1

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 5| October 31| @ Los Angeles| L 104–120|Fred Brown (33)| || || The Forum
12,118| 3–2

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 6| November 2| Washington| L 85–94|Tommy Burleson (20)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 3–3

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 7| November 5| @ Detroit| L 107–124|Slick Watts (25)| || || Cobo Arena
4,777| 3–4

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 8| November 6| @ Washington| L 100–110|Fred Brown (29)| || || Capital Centre
7,732| 3–5

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 9| November 8| @ Atlanta| L 94–107|Fred Brown (24)| || || Omni Coliseum
4,382| 3–6

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 10| November 9| @ New Orleans| W 111–97|Fred Brown (41)| || || Louisiana Superdome
13,472| 4–6

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 11| November 12| Kansas City| L 92–107|Fred Brown (19)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
11,213| 4–7

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 12| November 13| @ Phoenix| L 103–106|Bruce Seals (24)| || || Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
5,016| 4–8

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 13| November 14| Cleveland| W 100–97 (OT)|Fred Brown (26)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
11,969| 5–8

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 14| November 16| Golden State| W 102–98|Fred Brown (30)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 6–8

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 15| November 19| Chicago| W 97–87|Fred Brown (25)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,114| 7–8

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 16| November 23| Milwaukee| W 112–104|Tommy Burleson (28)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,021| 8–8

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 17| November 25| @ New York| W 128–127 (OT)|Tommy Burleson (35)| || || Madison Square Garden
15,548| 9–8

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 18| November 26| @ Boston| W 110–109|Fred Brown (30)| || || Boston Garden
12,189| 10–8

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 19| November 28| @ Philadelphia| L 94–113|Tommy Burleson (18)| || || The Spectrum
13,674| 10–9

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 20| November 29| @ Cleveland| L 108–124|Fred Brown (30)| || || Coliseum at Richfield
10,151| 10–10

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 21| December 2| @ Kansas City| W 101–90|Fred Brown (31)| || || Kemper Arena
7,670| 11–10

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 22| December 3| @ Houston| L 101–107|Bruce Seals (16)| || || The Summit
5,374| 11–11

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 23| December 6| @ Golden State| L 94–104|Fred Brown (17)| || || Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
12,677| 11–12

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 24| December 7| Golden State| L 106–115|Fred Brown, Slick Watts (22)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 11–13

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 25| December 10| Chicago| W 99–79|Fred Brown (17)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
12,471| 12–13

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 26| December 12| Detroit| W 97–95|Fred Brown (27)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
12,859| 13–13

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 27| December 14| Philadelphia| W 114–105|Fred Brown (31)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 14–13

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 28| December 17| Cleveland| L 101–115|Rod Derline (16)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
12,291| 14–14

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 29| December 19| New Orleans| W 113–102|Herm Gilliam (24)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
11,427| 15–14

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 30| December 21| Milwaukee| L 101–103|Mike Bantom (20)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
12,188| 15–15

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 31| December 23| @ Portland| L 100–125|Tommy Burleson (23)| || || Memorial Coliseum
8,610| 15–16

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 32| December 26| Kansas City| W 90–87|Bruce Seals (21)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,673| 16–16

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 33| December 27| Los Angeles| L 100–109|Tommy Burleson (25)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 16–17

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 34| December 28| Houston| W 116–106|Fred Brown (23)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,702| 17–17

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 35| December 30| @ Los Angeles| W 112–100|Fred Brown (34)| || || The Forum
12,740| 18–17

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 36| January 2| Boston| L 98–102|Fred Brown (34)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 18–18

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 37| January 4| Golden State| W 97–85|Fred Brown (20)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,669| 19–18

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 38| January 7| New York| W 91–89|Fred Brown (24)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 20–18

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 39| January 9| @ Phoenix| W 112–110 (OT)|Tommy Burleson (25)| || || Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
5,774| 21–18

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 40| January 11| Buffalo| L 104–125|Leonard Gray (20)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 21–19

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 41| January 13| @ Milwaukee| L 108–114|Fred Brown (24)| || || MECCA Arena
10,496| 21–20

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 42| January 14| @ Atlanta| W 112–110|Fred Brown (33)| || || Omni Coliseum
4,376| 22–20

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 43| January 16| @ Washington| L 85–100|Slick Watts (19)| || || Capital Centre
9,425| 22–21

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 44| January 17| @ Buffalo| L 101–110|Fred Brown (28)| || || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
8,469| 22–22

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 45| January 21| @ Detroit| L 104–111|Fred Brown (26)| || || Cobo Arena
3,612| 22–23

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 46| January 22| @ Cleveland| L 99–109|Fred Brown (17)| || || Coliseum at Richfield
5,102| 22–24

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 47| January 24| @ Houston| L 103–110|Fred Brown (37)| || || The Summit
5,027| 22–25

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 48| January 28| @ Portland| L 104–124|Fred Brown (26)| || || Memorial Coliseum
10,930| 22–26

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 49| January 30| Washington| W 123–100|Fred Brown (29)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 23–26

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 50| February 6| Portland| L 100–109|Leonard Gray (32)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,419| 23–27

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 51| February 7| @ Golden State| L 100–127|Tommy Burleson (26)| || || Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
12,787| 23–28

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 52| February 8| Phoenix| L 101–107 (OT)|Tommy Burleson (33)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,039| 23–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 53| February 11| New Orleans| W 93–90|Tommy Burleson (25)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,595| 24–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 54| February 13| Atlanta| W 119–102|Tommy Burleson, Herm Gilliam (20)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,925| 25–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 55| February 14| @ Portland| W 122–108|Bruce Seals (29)| || || Memorial Coliseum
11,347| 26–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 56| February 15| Detroit| W 109–107|Herm Gilliam (22)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
13,728| 27–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 57| February 18| Boston| W 124–99|Fred Brown (29)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 28–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 58| February 20| Philadelphia| W 111–92|Fred Brown (26)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 29–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 59| February 22| Los Angeles| W 97–91|Fred Brown (27)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 30–29

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 60| February 25| @ Buffalo| W 126–94|Fred Brown (31)| || || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
8,691| 31–29

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 61| February 27| @ Boston| L 118–122|Fred Brown (33)| || || Boston Garden
15,320| 31–30

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 62| February 29| @ Philadelphia| L 115–130|Fred Brown (23)| || || The Spectrum
11,649| 31–31

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 63| March 2| @ New York| W 109–105|Bruce Seals (29)| || || Madison Square Garden
14,227| 32–31

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 64| March 3| @ Detroit| L 110–114|Fred Brown (24)| || || Cobo Arena
3,096| 32–32

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 65| March 5| @ Kansas City| L 93–111|Fred Brown (17)| || || Kemper Arena
5,852| 32–33

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 66| March 7| @ New Orleans| L 106–124|Leonard Gray (16)| || || Louisiana Superdome
8,008| 32–34

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 67| March 9| @ Chicago| L 101–102|Fred Brown (26)| || || Chicago Stadium
4,614| 32–35

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 68| March 10| @ Milwaukee| W 110–105|Fred Brown (26)| || || MECCA Arena
9,587| 33–35

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 69| March 14| New York| W 113–103|Fred Brown (20)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 34–35

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 70| March 17| Buffalo| W 122–111|Fred Brown (37)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 35–35

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 71| March 21| Houston| W 117–107|Fred Brown, Tommy Burleson (24)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 36–35

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 72| March 23| @ Phoenix| L 97–104|Fred Brown (32)| || || Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
7,589| 36–36

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 73| March 24| Milwaukee| W 135–110|Bruce Seals (27)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 37–36

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 74| March 28| Atlanta| W 127–112|Fred Brown (27)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 38–36

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 75| March 31| Los Angeles| W 120–109|Fred Brown, Herm Gilliam (22)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 39–36

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 76| April 2| @ Los Angeles| L 105–113|Tommy Burleson (32)| || || The Forum
10,784| 39–37

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 77| April 3| @ Golden State| L 115–130|Willie Norwood (20)| || || Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
12,787| 39–38

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 78| April 4| Phoenix| W 117–89|Fred Brown (33)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 40–38

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 79| April 7| Chicago| W 115–114|Willie Norwood (24)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 41–38

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 80| April 9| Golden State| W 119–103|Fred Brown (26)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 42–38

|-bgcolor=#fcc| 81| April 10| @ Phoenix| L 95–121|Herm Gilliam (22)| || || Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
9,577| 42–39

|-bgcolor=#cfc| 82| April 11| Portland| W 132–131|Fred Brown (33)| || || Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 43–39

Playoffs

See main article: article and 1976 NBA playoffs. |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| April 13| Phoenix| W 102–99| Fred Brown (34)| Fred Brown (7)| Slick Watts (8)| Seattle Center Coliseum
12,408| 1–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 2| April 15| Phoenix| L 111–116| Fred Brown (45)| Tommy Burleson (12)| Slick Watts (6)| Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 1–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 3| April 18| @ Phoenix| L 91–103| Slick Watts (18)| three players tied (8)| Slick Watts (7)| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
13,036| 1–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 4| April 20| @ Phoenix| L 114–130| Fred Brown (33)| Tommy Burleson (20)| Herm Gilliam (7)| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
13,036| 1–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 5| April 25| Phoenix| W 114–108| Bruce Seals (28)| Willie Norwood (13)| Slick Watts (12)| Seattle Center Coliseum
14,096| 2–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 6| April 24| @ Phoenix| L 112–123| Seals, Watts (24)| Bruce Seals (7)| Slick Watts (11)| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
13,192| 2–4

Player statistics

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
	27		8.3	.467		.552	2.8	.6	.3	.6	3.2
	66		22.8	.471		.675	5.6	1.5	.4	.4	8.4
	76		33.1	.488		.869	4.2	2.7	1.9	.2	23.1
	82		32.3	.481		.750	9.0	2.2	.9	1.8	15.6
	28		10.0	.342		.621	2.6	.5	.3	.4	2.6
	49		6.9	.403		.804	.6	.5	.2	.0	3.9
	81		20.3	.442		.776	2.7	2.5	1.0	.1	8.5
	66		32.4	.474		.746	6.0	3.1	1.1	.5	13.8
	29		12.6	.478		.415	2.7	.9	.2	.3	2.8
	64		15.7	.485		.749	3.6	.9	.7	.1	6.9
	52		12.5	.402		.688	.9	1.0	.4	.1	5.9
	81		30.1	.436		.678	6.3	1.5	.8	.5	11.8
	7		5.3	.545		.500	1.0	.3	.0	.0	1.9
	72		17.0	.463		.613	3.7	.9	.7	.1	4.3
	82		33.9	.427		.578	4.5	8.1	3.2	.2	13.0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
	5		12.0	.700		.727	4.2	.4	.0	1.0	7.2
	6		19.0	.579		.700	3.8	1.3	.7	.3	9.7
	6		39.3	.511		.795	4.7	2.8	2.2	.0	28.5
	6		34.7	.600		.761	9.5	1.7	1.0	1.3	20.8
	4		10.3	.200		1.000	1.0	.3	.3	.0	1.5
	6		14.3	.222		.625	1.8	2.0	1.0	.0	2.8
	3		5.3	.667			.3	.0	.0	.0	1.3
	6		35.8	.414		.611	6.3	1.3	1.2	.2	9.8
	6		30.2	.441		.692	6.0	.5	.8	1.0	13.0
	6		14.3	.286		.733	2.5	1.2	.8	.3	3.2
	6		32.8	.435		.478	3.0	8.2	2.0	.3	11.8

Awards and records

• Slick Watts led the league in totals in assists and steals, as well as assists per game and was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. He was also presented with the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.
• Fred Brown made his first All-Star appearance at the 1976 NBA All-Star Game.

Transactions

Trades

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September 24, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Detroit Pistons
	1978 first round pick	Archie Clark
October 22, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Milwaukee Bucks
	1976 second round pick	Jim Fox
October 22, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Atlanta Hawks
	Herm Gilliam	1976 third round pick
October 24, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To New York Knicks
	1979 first round pick	Spencer Haywood
November 22, 1975	To Seattle SuperSonics	To Phoenix Suns
	Mike Bantom	Cash considerations