1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics season was the inaugural season for the expansion Seattle SuperSonics franchise in the National Basketball Association. The team's official arena was the Seattle Center Coliseum.

1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coach	Al Bianchi
General manager	Don Richman
Owners	Sam Schulman
Arena	Seattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record	23–59 (.280)
Place	Division: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KTNT-TV
Radio	KOMO
1968–69 >

With a team built in its majority from the 1967 expansion draft featuring Walt Hazzard and six-year veteran Tom Meschery,^[1] and with Al Bianchi at the head coach position, the Sonics finished the season with a 23–59 record and fifth place in the Western Division, six games behind the Chicago Bulls, and did not qualify to enter the playoffs.

Offseason

Expansion draft

Main articles: 1967 NBA draft and 1967 NBA expansion draft

The twelve-man roster for the 1967–68 season consisted of three rookies from the 1967 NBA Draft and nine players from the expansion draft. Al Bianchi's choice of player-coach Richie Guerin from the St. Louis Hawks came as a surprise to most, since Guerin had already announced his retirement, and thus did not play for the Sonics.^[2] He would return for the 1968–69 season to play for the relocated Atlanta Hawks after Seattle traded him in the offseason. Selecting Tom Meschery from the San Francisco Warriors was made possible after the Warriors unprotected him for the draft, after Meschery informed the San Francisco front office that he desired to join the Peace Corps. Seattle's offer, however, was accepted by Meschery.^[3] The SuperSonics planned to sign former Seattle University player Charlie Williams before the start of the regular season, but league rules prohibited the Seattle franchise to offer him a contract, since Williams was expelled from college after a point shaving scandal.^[4][5]

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	6	Al Tucker	SF	United States	Oklahoma Baptist
2	19	Bob Rule	C / PF	United States	Colorado State
3	30	Sam Singleton	G	United States	Nebraska–Omaha
4	43	Larry Bunce	C	United States	Utah State
5	54	Plummer Lott	SF / SG	United States	Seattle
6	67	Gordon Harris	C	United States	Washington
7	78	Dick Kolberg	F	United States	UC Santa Barbara
8	91	Willie Wolters	F	Germany	Boston College
9	101	Roderick McDonald	SF/PF	United States	Whitworth
10	113	Gary Lechman	G	United States	Gonzaga
11	122	Randy Matson	F	United States	Texas A&M
12	133	Rubin Russell	SG	United States	North Texas State
13	140	John Schroeder	C	United States	Ohio
14	147	Jim Sutherland	F	United States	Clemson
15	152	Willie Campbell	C	United States	Nebraska

Roster

1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F/C 10 Henry Akin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1944–07–31 Morehead State PG 42 Walt Hazzard 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1942–04–15 UCLA SG 11 Tommy Kron 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1943–02–28 Kentucky SF 43 Plummer Lott 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1945–12–11 Seattle PF 14 Tom Meschery 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1938–10–26 Saint Mary's F/C 41 Dorie Murrey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1943–09–07 Detroit Mercy F/C 24 Bud Olsen 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1940–07–25 Louisville F/C 45 Bob Rule 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1944–06–29 Colorado State SG 44 Rod Thorn 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1941–05–23 West Virginia SF 33 Al Tucker 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1943–02–24 Oklahoma Baptist PG 12 Bob Weiss 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1942–05–07 Penn State C 15 George Wilson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1942–05–09 Cincinnati

Head coach Al Bianchi Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Standings

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-St. Louis Hawks	56	26	.683	–	25–7	22–13	9–6	31–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers	52	30	.634	4	30–11	18–19	4–0	28–12
x-San Francisco Warriors	43	39	.524	13	27–14	16–23	0–2	24–16
x-Chicago Bulls	29	53	.354	27	11–22	12–24	6–7	11–29
Seattle SuperSonics	23	59	.280	33	10–21	7–24	6–14	15–25
San Diego Rockets	15	67	.183	41	8–33	4–26	3–8	11–29

Regular season

Seattle's Tom Meschery and Bob Rule against Philadelphia's Wilt Chamberlain in the SuperSonics' 118–107 loss to the 76ers at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 1967.

Seattle kicked off the regular season with a game against the San Francisco Warriors on October 13 at the Cow Palace, where they fell 114–116.^[6] Walt Hazzard had a high scoring debut, leading the Sonics' offense with 30 points, followed by Tom Meschery with 26.^[7] After a week off, the Sonics played in consecutive days against the other expansion franchise, the San Diego Rockets, splitting the series and thus winning their first regular season game in franchise history.^[8] After two streaks of four and eight straight losses,^[8] the Sonics found themselves quickly near the bottom of the Western Division by the end of the first four weeks of competition.^[9] A few surprising results stood out, including their only victory^[8] against Bill Russell's Boston Celtics in a double-header in Philadelphia,^[10] with the Celtics trailing by as much as 44 points after the first half,^[11] and an outstanding performance by rookie Bob Rule, with 47 points in a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.^[12] On the other hand, the SuperSonics were on the losing end of two NBA scoring records. First, in December with a 122–160 loss against defending champions Philadelphia 76ers, that set a new NBA record for most points by a team in a quarter^[13] and a 123–154 loss against the Lakers on January that tied a franchise record for Los Angeles for most points in a game.^[14] With six games left in the regular season the Sonics were behind two games from the Chicago Bulls in a last effort to obtain a berth in the playoffs,^[15] But in spite of defeating the Bulls in two of those six games,^[8] Chicago managed to pull away with the fourth place in the Western Division and the last spot in the playoff race, six games above the Sonics.^[16]

The SuperSonics registered an attendance of 202,263 during the regular season, the sixth best in the league in that regard.^[17] Walt Hazzard was selected to represent the West in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game^[18] and Bob Rule and Al Tucker were selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.^[19]

Game log

1967–68 game log Total: 23–59 (Home: 10–21; Road: 7–23; Neutral: 6–15)
October: 2–6 (home: 1–2; road: 1–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 13 @ San Francisco L 116–144 Walt Hazzard (30) Tom Meschery (11) Bob Weiss (4) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 5,619 0–1 2 October 20 San Diego L 114–121 Walt Hazzard (32) Bob Rule (11) Rod Thorn (9) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,473 0–2 3 October 21 @ San Diego W 117–110 (OT) Walt Hazzard (22) Dorie Murrey (14) Five players (2) San Diego Sports Arena 5,413 1–2 4 October 22 Cincinnati L 94–106 Walt Hazzard (27) Tom Meschery (14) Walt Hazzard (6) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,116 1–3 5 October 24 Baltimore L 125–136 Bob Rule (25) George Wilson (13) Rod Thorn (6) Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland, Oregon) 1,533 1–4 6 October 27 @ Philadelphia L 115–132 Bob Rule (18) Tom Meschery (12) Bob Weiss (11) The Spectrum 4,352 1–5 7 October 28 @ St. Louis L 109–116 Tommy Kron (21) Bob Rule (10) Tommy Kron (6) Kiel Auditorium 5,218 1–6 8 October 31 Chicago W 114–104 Walt Hazzard (34) Dorie Murrey (17) Bob Weiss (9) Seattle Center Coliseum 3,109 2–6
November : 5–11 (home: 3–1; road: 2–10) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 9 November 1 San Diego L 125–139 Al Tucker (23) Al Tucker (14) Bob Weiss (9) Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland, Oregon) 2,593 2–7 10 November 2 Chicago L 105–109 Bob Rule (27) Al Tucker (13) Walt Hazzard (5) Spokane Coliseum 1,051 2–8 11 November 3 New York L 100–134 Walt Hazzard (19) Al Tucker (13) Tom Meschery (8) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,654 2–9 12 November 7 @ San Francisco L 112–126 Bob Weiss (20) Tommy Kron (10) Walt Hazzard (7) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 3,168 2–10 13 November 8 @ St. Louis L 96–111 Walt Hazzard (20) George Wilson (21) Bob Weiss (5) Kiel Auditorium 3,022 2–11 14 November 9 vs. Detroit L 118–119 Walt Hazzard (33) Bob Rule (17) Walt Hazzard (7) Madison Square Garden 2–12 15 November 11 @ Baltimore L 129–134 Walt Hazzard (26) Tom Meschery (11) Tommy Kron (6) Baltimore Civic Center 4,685 2–13 16 November 14 vs. Boston L 111–114 Bob Weiss (29) Walt Hazzard (10) Walt Hazzard (6) Madison Square Garden 2–14 17 November 17 San Diego W 130–124 Walt Hazzard (30) Tom Meschery (19) Tommy Kron (10) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,162 3–14 18 November 19 Detroit W 132–130 (OT) Bob Rule (31) Bob Rule (21) Walt Hazzard (15) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,468 4–14 19 November 20 Detroit L 118–120 Bob Weiss (27) Bob Rule, Tom Meschery (13) Tommy Kron (6) Puget Sound Fieldhouse 2,311 4–15 20 November 21 Los Angeles W 137–132 Bob Rule (47) Tom Meschery (17) Walt Hazzard (9) Seattle Center Coliseum 8,122 5–15 21 November 23 vs. Boston W 133–106 Bob Rule (26) Bob Rule, Tom Meschery (11) Walt Hazzard (14) The Spectrum 6–15 22 November 25 Cincinnati L 133–153 Walt Hazzard (19) Tom Meschery (13) Rod Thorn (6) Cleveland Arena 3,455 6–16 23 November 25 @ New York L 110–111 Walt Hazzard (21) Tom Meschery (16) Tom Meschery (5) Madison Square Garden 9,011 6–17 24 November 28 @ Chicago W 111–108 Three players (20) Tom Meschery (14) Walt Hazzard (7) Chicago Stadium 1,659 7–17
December : 4–14 (home: 2–8; road: 2–6) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 25 December 1 vs. Philadelphia L 109–133 Bob Rule (29) Tom Meschery (18) Walt Hazzard (10) Boston Garden 7–18 26 December 3 St. Louis L 109–123 Tom Meschery (23) Tom Meschery (11) Bob Weiss (7) Seattle Center Coliseum 7,938 7–19 27 December 5 @ San Francisco L 121–133 Walt Hazzard (29) George Wilson (12) Bob Weiss (8) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 2,306 7–20 28 December 8 Chicago L 114–115 Walt Hazzard, Bob Rule (21) Tom Meschery (12) Walt Hazzard (6) Seattle Center Coliseum 3,835 7–21 29 December 10 Los Angeles W 133–123 Al Tucker (35) Tom Meschery (16) Walt Hazzard (7) Seattle Center Coliseum 7,006 8–21 30 December 12 vs. Philadelphia L 107–118 Al Tucker (27) Three players (10) Walt Hazzard (6) Madison Square Garden 8–22 31 December 15 @ Chicago W 122–115 Walt Hazzard (36) Dorie Murrey (11) Walt Hazzard (6) Chicago Stadium 1,686 9–22 32 December 17 Philadelphia L 124–139 Rod Thorn (22) Tom Meschery, Al Tucker (11) Bob Weiss (10) Seattle Center Coliseum 11,294 9–23 33 December 18 Detroit L 122–140 Rod Thorn (29) Bob Rule (17) Rod Thorn (7) Puget Sound Fieldhouse 1,658 9–24 34 December 19 Boston L 114–118 Walt Hazzard (37) Bob Rule, George Wilson (10) Walt Hazzard (5) Seattle Center Coliseum 6,889 9–25 35 December 20 Philadelphia L 122–160 Walt Hazzard (20) Dorie Murrey (10) Walt Hazzard (5) Seattle Center Coliseum 7,714 9–26 36 December 22 New York W 120–108 Al Tucker (31) Bob Rule (27) Tommy Kron. Walt Hazzard (8) Seattle Center Coliseum 8,515 10–26 37 December 23 @ San Francisco L 124–131 Walt Hazzard (19) Dorie Murrey (8) Tommy Kron (7) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 3,862 10–27 38 December 24 San Francisco L 113–127 Walt Hazzard (20) Dorie Murrey (13) Tom Meschery, Plummer Lott (6) Seattle Center Coliseum 6,226 10–28 39 December 25 @ Cincinnati L 112–118 Rod Thorn (26) Dorie Murrey (17) Bob Weiss (7) Cincinnati Gardens 3,323 10–29 40 December 26 vs. New York W 137–135 Walt Hazzard (37) Three players (8) Walt Hazzard (7) The Spectrum (Philadelphia) 11–29 41 December 28 San Diego L 125–143 Walt Hazzard (45) Tom Meschery (16) Walt Hazzard, Tommy Kron (8) Seattle Center Coliseum 5,889 11–30 42 December 31 San Francisco L 124–126 Walt Hazzard (26) Tom Meschery (15) Tom Meschery, Walt Hazzard (6) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,591 11–31
January : 5–7 (home: 1–3; road: 4–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 43 January 1 St. Louis L 94–115 Walt Hazzard (17) Tom Meschery (16) Walt Hazzard (5) Seattle Center Coliseum 3,604 11–32 44 January 5 Boston L 121–128 Bob Rule (31) Bob Rule (16) Walt Hazzard (11) Hec Edmundson Pavilion 9,188 11–33 45 January 6 @ San Diego W 122–104 Walt Hazzard (28) Tom Meschery (11) Tommy Kron (11) San Diego Sports Arena 6,738 12–33 46 January 8 New York L 113–119 Tom Meschery (24) Bob Rule (16) Tommy Kron, Walt Hazzard (6) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,548 12–34 47 January 10 @ Boston L 110–123 Walt Hazzard (24) Tom Meschery (10) Tommy Kron (4) Boston Garden 3,701 12–35 48 January 15 vs. New York W 129–113 Walt Hazzard (24) Tommy Kron (10) Walt Hazzard (9) Boston Garden 13–35 49 January 16 vs. Baltimore W 142–116 Tom Meschery (33) Bob Rule (13) Walt Hazzard (9) Chicago Stadium 3,500 14–35 50 January 19 @ Detroit L 119–133 Walt Hazzard (41) Tom Meschery (9) Walt Hazzard, Tommy Kron (6) Cobo Arena 5,887 14–36 51 January 20 @ St. Louis L 115–120 Walt Hazzard (25) Tom Meschery (8) Walt Hazzard (7) Kiel Auditorium 5,118 14–37 52 January 21 @ Los Angeles L 123–154 Walt Hazzard (24) Tom Meschery (11) Walt Hazzard, Tommy Kron (5) The Forum 9,262 14–38 53 January 28 Baltimore W 135–126 Walt Hazzard (23) Al Tucker (13) Tommy Kron (9) Puget Sound Fieldhouse 3,181 15–38 54 January 30 Los Angeles W 128–116 Walt Hazzard (31) Tom Meschery (14) Walt Hazzard (10) Seattle Center Coliseum 6,262 16–38
February : 4–10 (home: 2–2; road: 2–8) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 55 February 1 St. Louis L 110–113 Rod Thorn (32) Bob Rule, George Wilson (12) Walt Hazzard (6) Seattle Center Coliseum 5,564 16–39 56 February 2 @ Los Angeles L 113–151 Walt Hazzard, Bob Rule (17) Bob Rule (11) Walt Hazzard, Rod Thorn (4) The Forum 12,021 16–40 57 February 4 @ Los Angeles L 131–137 Tom Meschery (28) Tom Meschery (12) Walt Hazzard, Walt Hazzard (5) The Forum 7,796 16–41 58 February 5 vs. Cincinnati W 132–129 (OT) Walt Hazzard (45) Tom Meschery (11) Walt Hazzard (7) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 4,680 17–41 59 February 8 Los Angeles W 115–110 Walt Hazzard (31) George Wilson (19) Rod Thorn (9) Seattle Center Coliseum 6,526 18–41 60 February 11 San Francisco W 146–118 Walt Hazzard (29) Al Tucker (15) Walt Hazzard (9) Seattle Center Coliseum 9,505 19–41 61 February 14 Philadelphia L 125–149 Walt Hazzard (25) Tom Meschery (10) Rod Thorn (11) Hec Edmundson Pavilion 9,449 19–42 62 February 15 @ Cincinnati L 119–132 Walt Hazzard (31) Dorie Murrey (11) Walt Hazzard (6) Cincinnati Gardens 2,306 19–43 63 February 16 @ Baltimore L 118–147 Walt Hazzard (30) Tom Meschery (11) Bob Weiss (7) Baltimore Civic Center 3,748 19–44 64 February 17 @ New York L 111–134 Bob Weiss (22) Bob Rule (9) Bob Weiss (6) Madison Square Garden 13,256 19–45 65 February 20 @ Philadelphia L 108–140 Walt Hazzard (25) Bud Olsen (9) Rod Thorn (6) The Spectrum 6,417 19–46 66 February 21 vs. Chicago L 106–108 Walt Hazzard, Rod Thorn (25) Tom Meschery (14) Rod Thorn (9) Baltimore Civic Center 19–47 67 February 23 @ San Diego W 127–122 Walt Hazzard (31) Bob Rule (13) Walt Hazzard (11) San Diego Sports Arena 4,834 20–47 68 February 24 vs. Boston L 137–141 Walt Hazzard (38) Bob Rule (18) Walt Hazzard (5) Pacific Coliseum (Vancouver) 8,129 20–48
March : 3–11 (home: 1–5; road: 2–6) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 69 March 2 @ Los Angeles L 121–127 Walt Hazzard (31) Bob Rule (15) Walt Hazzard, Bob Weiss (8) The Forum 11,335 20–49 70 March 3 Cincinnati L 128–138 Rod Thorn (22) Dorie Murrey, George Wilson (11) Walt Hazzard (5) Seattle Center Coliseum 8,894 20–50 71 March 5 Baltimore L 121–126 Tommy Kron (27) George Wilson (16) Bob Weiss (7) Seattle Center Coliseum 4,939 20–51 72 March 7 St. Louis L 133–150 Walt Hazzard, Rod Thorn (29) George Wilson (11) Walt Hazzard (8) Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland, Oregon) 2,428 20–52 73 March 8 Baltimore L 116–122 Tom Meschery (30) Al Tucker (14) Rod Thorn (7) Marcus Pavilion (Olympia, WA) 4,012 20–53 74 March 9 @ San Diego W 115–111 Tom Meschery (23) Tom Meschery (16) Bob Weiss (10) San Diego Sports Arena 6,331 21–53 75 March 10 San Francisco L 112–118 Al Tucker (28) Bob Rule (15) Bob Weiss (9) Seattle Center Coliseum 5,536 21–54 76 March 11 Boston L 112–119 Tom Meschery (22) Bob Rule (15) Bob Weiss (8) Seattle Center Coliseum 8,136 21–55 77 March 12 @ Detroit L 123–139 Tommy Kron (24) George Wilson (10) Bob Weiss (7) Cobo Arena 5,304 21–56 78 March 13 @ Cincinnati L 123–142 Bob Rule (46) Tommy Kron (8) Tommy Kron (12) Cincinnati Gardens 4,958 21–57 79 March 15 @ Chicago W 113–101 Walt Hazzard (21) Tommy Kron, Tom Meschery (11) Three players (3) Chicago Stadium 3,426 22–57 80 March 16 @ St. Louis L 106–124 Walt Hazzard (24) Tom Meschery (12) Walt Hazzard (11) Kiel Auditorium 7,665 22–58 81 March 18 Detroit L 82–88 Walt Hazzard (22) Tom Meschery (18) Walt Hazzard (5) Seattle Center Coliseum 6,244 22–59 82 March 19 Chicago W 122–104 Walt Hazzard (36) Bob Rule (15) Walt Hazzard (10) Seattle Center Coliseum 10,429 23–59

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
Henry Akin	36	–	7.2	.336	–	.645	1.6	.4	–	–	3.1
Walt Hazzard	79	–	33.7	.441	–	.774	4.2	6.2	–	–	24.0
Tommy Kron	76	–	23.6	.396	–	.790	4.7	3.7	–	–	9.7
Plummer Lott	44	–	10.9	.311	–	.613	2.1	.8	–	–	2.5
Tom Meschery	82	–	34.8	.469	–	.707	10.2	2.4	–	–	14.5
Dorie Murrey	81	–	18.4	.436	–	.689	7.4	.8	–	–	7.3
Bud Olsen	73	–	12.3	.456	–	.274	2.8	1.0	–	–	3.8
Bob Rule	82	–	29.6	.489	–	.658	9.5	1.2	–	–	18.1
Rod Thorn	66	–	25.3	.451	–	.737	4.0	3.5	–	–	15.2
Al Tucker	81	–	29.2	.442	–	.707	7.5	1.4	–	–	13.1
Bob Weiss	82	–	19.7	.430	–	.839	1.8	4.2	–	–	9.8
George Wilson	77	–	16.1	.359	–	.703	6.1	.7	–	–	6.1

Awards and records

• Al Tucker and Bob Rule earned NBA All-Rookie First Team selections
• Walt Hazzard played for the West in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game held at Madison Square Garden in New York City