Seattle Sonics - 1987 

So there were three rounds including the 1987 Western Conference Finals. They got through Dallas and then Houston. I was surprised they won the Mavericks series, but that was a bit of revenge for Dale Ellis who was traded from the Mavericks to the Sonics. Issue with the Rockets was they lost two key players from their 1986 NBA Finals team - Lewis Lloyde and Mitchell Wiggins. Also, Sampson was out hurt most of the year, but was there for the playoffs and definitely not 100%. His career just declined after those injuries and forced him into early retirement. Their Twin Tower Strategy with Olajuwon and Sampson was the main reason they got to the 1986 NBA Finals, but wasn’t working anymore with Sampson’s injuries. Now in terms of Seattle, I felt like they had a lot going for them. Bernie Bickerstaff was a younger coach but had a lot of energy and utilized his bench which was the same - young and full of energy. They had three starters who averaged more than 20 ppg with SG Dale Ellis (that year’s most improved player), SF Xavier McDaniel, and PF Tom Chambers. Chambers was an All Star that year (and won the All Star Game MVP) and you could make a strong case that Ellis and McDaniel also should have been All Stars. I believe they were the only team with three players who averaged 20 ppg. So in reference to the PG spot they had a solid hard working Rookie with Nate McMillan and at Center they had Alton Lister with backups Clemson Johnson and the Enforcer Maurice Lucas who could play Center or PF.

As of the end of the 2023-2024 season, the 1987 Sonics is the last NBA team with a losing record to win a postseason series, and they did it twice in that postseason, by winning their first round and their second round series. Since then, some teams with losing records have come close to winning a playoff series, but they fell short in the end. Most notable = the 1993 Lakers, the 1996 Suns, the 2008 Hawks

very good team

KVOS post production. Interesting. That station was based in Bellingham where I'm from. Miss those days of having that station around.

eddie johnson was not on this team

why were the 87 sonics elite i'm NOT 4 sure cuz they didn't have a top of the line head coach or any elite players