1981–82 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1981–82 NBA season was the SuperSonics' 15th season in the NBA.^[1]

1981–82 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coach	Lenny Wilkens
General manager	Zollie Volchok
Owner(s)	Sam Schulman
Arena	Kingdome Seattle Center Coliseum (Playoffs)
Results
Record	52–30 (.634)
Place	Division: 2nd (Pacific) Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	Conference Semi-finals (lost to Spurs 1–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KIRO-TV
Radio	KIRO
< 1980–81 1982–83 >

In the playoffs, the SuperSonics defeated the Houston Rockets in three games in the First Round, before losing to the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the Semi-finals.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1981 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	5	Danny Vranes	PF	United States	Utah
3	53	Mark Radford	PG/SG	United States	Oregon State

Roster

1981–82 Seattle SuperSonics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From SG 32 Fred Brown 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1948-08-07 Iowa C 40 James Donaldson 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1957-08-16 Washington State SF 22 Bill Hanzlik 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1957-12-06 Notre Dame SF 27 John Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1947-10-18 Iowa SF 3 Greg Kelser 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1957-09-17 Michigan State SG 30 Mark Radford 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1959-07-05 Oregon State PF 8 Lonnie Shelton 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1955-10-19 Oregon State C 43 Jack Sikma 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1955-11-14 Illinois Wesleyan SG 20 Phil Smith 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1952-04-22 San Francisco PF 33 Ray Tolbert 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1958-09-10 Indiana SF 23 Danny Vranes 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1958-10-29 Utah SF 42 Wally Walker 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1954-07-18 Virginia PG 1 Gus Williams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1953-10-10 USC

Head coach Lenny Wilkens Assistant(s) Les Habegger Dave Harshman Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Updated: February 16, 1982

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	57	25	.695	–	30–11	27–14	21–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	5.0	31–10	21–20	18–12
x-Phoenix Suns	46	36	.561	11.0	31–10	15–26	14–16
Golden State Warriors	45	37	.549	12.0	28–13	17–24	15–15
Portland Trail Blazers	42	40	.512	15.0	27–14	15–26	15–15
San Diego Clippers	17	65	.207	40.0	11–30	6–35	7–23

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	57	25	.695	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	48	34	.585	9
3	x-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	5
4	x-Denver Nuggets	46	36	.561	11
5	x-Phoenix Suns	46	36	.561	11
6	x-Houston Rockets	46	36	.561	11
7	Golden State Warriors	45	37	.549	12
8	Portland Trail Blazers	42	40	.512	15
9	Kansas City Kings	30	52	.366	27
10	Dallas Mavericks	28	54	.341	29
11	Utah Jazz	25	57	.305	32
12	San Diego Clippers	17	65	.207	40

Game log

Regular season

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	October 31	Phoenix	W 94–84	Gus Williams (28)	1–0
2	November 1	@ Portland	L 94–104	Gus Williams (21)	1–1
3	November 4	@ Los Angeles	L 103–106	Gus Williams (29)	1–2
4	November 6	Denver	L 105–109	Wally Walker, Jack Sikma (20)	1–3
5	November 10	@ Golden State	W 123–113	Gus Williams (33)	2–3
6	November 11	Dallas	W 107–79	Lonnie Shelton (18)	3–3
7	November 13	San Antonio	L 112–119	Jack Sikma (39)	3–4
8	November 18	@ San Antonio	L 93–111	Lonnie Shelton, Jack Sikma (19)	3–5
9	November 20	Dallas	W 90–89	Gus Williams (22)	4–5
10	November 22	New Jersey	W 109–92	Lonnie Shelton (22)	5–5
11	November 25	Portland	W 110–103	Fred Brown (23)	6–5
12	November 27	Houston	W 117–110	Gus Williams (33)	7–5
13	November 28	@ San Diego	L 120–122	Jack Sikma (29)	7–6
14	December 1	Chicago	W 103–87	Gus Williams (25)	8–6
15	December 2	Los Angeles	W 104–96	Jack Sikma (27)	9–6
16	December 4	@ Kansas City	L 109–112	Jack Sikma (30)	9–7
17	December 5	@ Atlanta	W 92–85	Gus Williams (22)	10–7
18	December 8	@ Houston	W 107–96	Gus Williams (29)	11–7
19	December 9	@ San Antonio	L 99–110	Jack Sikma (28)	11–8
20	December 12	Detroit	W 117–111	Gus Williams (33)	12–8
21	December 13	San Diego	W 98–74	Gus Williams (18)	13–8
22	December 15	Denver	W 126–120	Gus Williams (33)	14–8
23	December 17	@ San Diego	W 106–92	Gus Williams (24)	15–8
24	December 19	@ Utah	W 115–103	Gus Williams (30)	16–8
25	December 23	Utah	W 113–99	Lonnie Shelton (27)	17–8
26	December 25	@ Portland	L 94–99	Gus Williams (25)	17–9
27	December 28	Golden State	W 104–100	Jack Sikma, Gus Williams (26)	18–9
28	December 30	Philadelphia	L 99–102	Gus Williams (31)	18–10
29	January 2	@ Phoenix	L 97–120	Gus Williams (22)	18–11
30	January 3	@ Los Angeles	W 110–90	Gus Williams (27)	19–11
31	January 6	Dallas	W 107–100	Jack Sikma (25)	20–11
32	January 7	Houston	W 116–107	Jack Sikma (25)	21–11
33	January 9	@ Denver	W 125–110	Gus Williams (39)	22–11
34	January 13	Indiana	W 106–86	Gus Williams (19)	23–11
35	January 15	Utah	W 115–103	Gus Williams (42)	24–11
36	January 17	Golden State	W 122–97	Lonnie Shelton (22)	25–11
37	January 19	@ Cleveland	W 99–97	Jack Sikma (28)	26–11
38	January 20	@ Washington	L 95–106	Jack Sikma, Gus Williams (21)	26–12
39	January 22	@ Boston	W 118–106	Lonnie Shelton (37)	27–12
40	January 23	@ Philadelphia	L 87–100	Jack Sikma (23)	27–13
41	January 25	@ New York	W 113–99	Gus Williams (25)	28–13
42	January 27	@ Kansas City	W 110–103	Gus Williams (31)	29–13
43	February 3	Kansas City	W 97–87	Gus Williams (28)	30–13
44	February 5	@ Golden State	W 108–99	Jack Sikma (30)	31–13
45	February 6	Utah	W 129–103	Jack Sikma (20)	32–13
46	February 7	San Diego	W 99–97	Gus Williams (21)	33–13
47	February 9	New York	W 114–105	Jack Sikma (25)	34–13
48	February 11	@ Houston	L 100–117	Sikma, Williams, Donaldson (16)	34–14
49	February 12	@ Dallas	L 100–103	Jack Sikma (30)	34–15
50	February 14	@ San Antonio	L 94–114	Jack Sikma (22)	34–16
51	February 16	@ Los Angeles	L 101–108	Gus Williams (30)	34–17
52	February 18	Washington	W 105–87	Gus Williams (26)	35–17
53	February 19	Atlanta	L 122–127 (4OT)	Williams, Brown (24)	35–18
54	February 21	Boston	W 103–100	Gus Williams (34)	36–18
55	February 25	Los Angeles	L 98–104	Wally Walker (18)	36–19
56	February 26	@ Utah	W 98–97	Jack Sikma (24)	37–19
57	February 28	Phoenix	L 98–103	Jack Sikma (33)	37–20
58	March 3	Cleveland	W 136–107	Greg Kelser (19)	38–20
59	March 5	Dallas	W 98–97	Gus Williams (38)	39–20
60	March 7	San Diego	W 144–106	Gus Williams (30)	40–20
61	March 9	@ Chicago	L 104–109	Gus Williams (25)	40–21
62	March 12	@ Milwaukee	W 112–110	Gus Williams (30)	41–21
63	March 14	@ New Jersey	W 98–97	Gus Williams (23)	42–21
64	March 16	@ Indiana	L 96–109	Gus Williams (18)	42–22
65	March 18	@ Detroit	L 115–119	Gus Williams (33)	42–23
66	March 19	@ Kansas City	W 109–103	Gus Williams (27)	43–23
67	March 21	@ Phoenix	W 115–105	Gus Williams (41)	44–23
68	March 24	Milwaukee	W 99–97	Jack Sikma (22)	45–23
69	March 26	Houston	L 97–99	Gus Williams (26)	45–24
70	March 28	Portland	W 109–101	Jack Sikma (25)	46–24
71	March 30	@ Denver	L 142–145 (OT)	Gus Williams (32)	46–25
72	March 31	Kansas City	L 109–116	Lonnie Shelton (23)	46–26
73	April 2	San Antonio	W 111–86	Gus Williams (33)	47–26
74	April 4	Denver	W 140–116	Jack Sikma (29)	48–26
75	April 6	Phoenix	W 102–91	Gus Williams (27)	49–26
76	April 8	@ San Diego	W 117–115 (OT)	Gus Williams (41)	50–26
77	April 10	@ Phoenix	L 99–116	Gus Williams (21)	50–27
78	April 11	@ Los Angeles	L 104–107	Jack Sikma (26)	50–28
79	April 13	Portland	W 88–86	Jack Sikma (22)	51–28
80	April 14	Golden State	L 93–104	Gus Williams (23)	51–29
81	April 17	@ Golden State	W 95–94	Jack Sikma (28)	52–29
82	April 19	@ Portland	L 114–119	James Donaldson (23)	52–30

Playoffs

1982 playoff game log
First round: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 21 Houston W 102–87 Gus Williams (27) Jack Sikma (13) Gus Williams (12) Kingdome 14,071 1–0 2 April 23 @ Houston L 70–91 Gus Williams (18) Jack Sikma (11) four players tied (3) The Summit 15,676 1–1 3 April 25 Houston W 104–83 Jack Sikma (30) Jack Sikma (17) Gus Williams (12) Kingdome 14,071 2–1
Conference Semi-finals: 1–4 (home: 1–2; road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 27 San Antonio L 93–95 Jack Sikma (26) Jack Sikma (12) Hanzlik, Brown (4) Kingdome 14,457 0–1 2 April 28 San Antonio W 114–99 Gus Williams (34) G. Johnson, Corzine (8) Gus Williams (9) Kingdome 19,403 1–1 3 April 30 @ San Antonio L 97–99 Gus Williams (25) Jack Sikma (15) Gus Williams (11) HemisFair Arena 14,019 1–2 4 May 2 @ San Antonio L 113–115 Gus Williams (33) James Donaldson (16) Gus Williams (7) HemisFair Arena 15,002 1–3 5 May 5 San Antonio L 103–109 Gus Williams (36) Jack Sikma (11) Gus Williams (9) Kingdome 23,180 1–4
1982 schedule

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	RPG	Rebounds per game	BPG	Blocks per game
MIN	Minutes played	APG	Assists per game	TPG	Turnovers per game
PPG	Points per game	SPG	Steals per game	FPG	Field goals per game

Season

Seattle SuperSonics Stats - 1981-82
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Fred Brown	82	21.8	11.2	1.7	2.9	0.8	0.0	1.2	4.8
James Donaldson	82	20.9	8.1	6.0	0.6	0.3	1.7	1.4	3.1
Bill Hanzlik	81	24.4	5.8	3.3	2.3	1.0	0.4	1.3	2.1
Greg Kelser	49	11.4	4.9	3.1	0.9	0.3	0.3	1.3	1.7
John Johnson	14	13.4	4.2	1.3	2.1	0.3	0.2	1.2	1.6
Mark Radford	43	8.6	3.4	0.7	1.3	0.4	0.0	1.0	1.3
Lonnie Shelton	81	32.9	14.9	6.3	3.1	1.2	0.5	2.5	6.3
Jack Sikma	82	37.2	19.6	12.7	3.4	1.2	1.3	2.6	7.1
Phil Smith	26	22.9	8.2	2.7	2.8	0.8	0.3	1.5	3.3
Ray Tolbert	52	9.5	3.4	1.9	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.6	1.5
Danny Vranes	77	14.0	4.9	2.6	0.7	0.4	0.3	0.9	1.9
Wally Walker	70	28.1	9.9	4.4	3.1	0.5	0.4	1.6	4.3
Gus Williams	80	36.0	23.4	3.1	6.9	2.2	0.5	2.5	9.7

Playoffs

Seattle SuperSonics Stats - 1981-82
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Fred Brown	8	19.8	11.9	1.9	2.3	0.6	0.0	1.1	5.4
James Donaldson	8	23.6	6.8	9.3	0.9	0.3	0.6	1.3	2.3
Bill Hanzlik	8	25.4	6.5	4.0	2.5	0.8	0.6	1.6	2.0
Greg Kelser	3	2.0	1.3	1.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.0
John Johnson	7	22.7	5.4	2.0	4.9	0.9	0.0	1.6	2.1
Lonnie Shelton	8	33.3	12.8	7.4	2.0	0.6	0.9	2.5	5.0
Jack Sikma	8	39.4	20.5	12.1	3.0	1.1	1.0	2.0	7.1
Phil Smith	8	11.5	3.1	1.0	0.9	0.6	0.1	0.5	1.5
Ray Tolbert	4	7.8	2.5	1.3	0.3	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.8
Danny Vranes	6	4.8	0.5	0.3	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.3	0.2
Wally Walker	8	19.6	4.9	4.0	1.9	0.5	0.5	0.9	2.4
Gus Williams	8	39.4	26.3	3.3	8.1	1.6	0.6	2.3	10.3

Notes:

• Mark Radford did not play due to injury.

Awards and records

• Gus Williams, All-NBA First Team, NBA Comeback Player of the Year
• Lonnie Shelton, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• Jack Sikma, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Transactions

See also

• 1981-82 NBA season