1985–86 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1985–86 NBA season was the SuperSonics' 19th season in the NBA.^[1]

1985–86 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coach	Bernie Bickerstaff
General manager	Lenny Wilkens
Owner(s)	Barry Ackerley
Arena	Seattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record	31–51 (.378)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific) Conference: 11th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KVOS-TV
Radio	KIRO
< 1984–85 1986–87 >

The SuperSonics finished the season in eleventh place in the Western Conference with a 31–51 record, the same as the previous year.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1985 NBA draft

Player	Position	Nationality	School/club team
Xavier McDaniel	Small forward	United States	Wichita State
Alex Stivrins	Small forward	United States	Creighton, Colorado
Michael Phelps	Shooting guard	United States	Alcorn State

Roster

Number	Name	Position	Height	Experience	College
33	Frank Brickowski	Center	6–9	1 yr.	Pennysalvania State
24	Tom Chambers	Power forward	6–10	4 yr.	Utah
15	Gerald Henderson	Point guard	6–2	6 yr.	Virginia Commonwealth
55	Rod Higgins	Small forward	6–7	3 yr.	California State, Fresno
52	George Johnson	Center	6–11	12 yr.	Dillard
35	Brian Martin	Power forward	6–9	Rookie	University of Kansas
40	Tim McCormick	Center	6–11	1 yr.	Michigan
34	Xavier McDaniel	Small forward	6–7	Rookie	Wichita State
25	Michael Phelps	Shooting guard	6–4	Rookie	Alcorn State University
51	David Pope	Small forward	6–7	1 yr.	Norfolk State
43	Jack Sikma	Center	6–11	8 yr.	Illinois Wesleyan University
14	Ricky Sobers	Shooting guard	6–3	10 yr.	Nevada, Las Vegas
42	Alex Stivrins	Small forward	6–8	Rookie	Creighton, Colorado
23	Danny Vranes	Small forward	6–7	4 yr.	Utah
4	Al Wood	Shooting guard	6–6	4 yr.	North Carolina
22	Danny Young	Point guard	6–3	1 yr.	Wake Forest

Staff management

• Bob Kloppenburg, Assistant coach
• Lorin Miller, Assistant coach

Salaries

Player	Salary
Jack Sikma	$1,600,000
Tom Chambers	$800,000
Xavier McDaniel	$525,000
Al Wood	$450,000
Ricky Sobers	$425,000
Danny Vranes	$400,000
Gerald Henderson	$350,000
Tim McCormick	$228,333
Rod Higgins	$190,000
Danny Young	$75,000
George Johnson	$70,000
Michael Phelps	$70,000

Season overview

Highs

• Seattle finishes the season on a positive note, defeating the Golden State Warriors on the home.
• Great draft picks like Xavier McDaniel.
• Tom Chambers' strong shot and high-flying dunks.
• Went on a 3-game winning streak between November 22–26.

Lows

• Seattle would lose their first 3 games.
• Losing streaks of 3 to 6 games.
• On November 8, 1985, the Sonics play the Portland Trail Blazers, a familiar rival dubbed as the "I-5 Rivalry". The game is held at Memorial Coliseum in Portland. The Trail Blazers win the game by a score of 92–88.

Standings

Division

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	62	20	.756	–	35–6	27–14	23–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers	40	42	.488	22	27–14	13–28	18–12
Phoenix Suns	32	50	.390	30	23–18	9–32	16–14
Los Angeles Clippers	32	50	.390	30	22–19	10–31	10–20
Seattle SuperSonics	31	51	.378	31	24–17	7–34	11–19
Golden State Warriors	30	52	.366	32	24–17	6–35	12–18

Conference

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Houston Rockets	51	31	.622	11
3	x-Denver Nuggets	47	35	.573	15
4	x-Dallas Mavericks	44	38	.537	18
5	x-Utah Jazz	42	40	.512	20
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	40	42	.488	22
7	x-Sacramento Kings	37	45	.451	25
8	x-San Antonio Spurs	35	47	.427	27
9	Phoenix Suns	32	50	.390	30
10	Los Angeles Clippers	32	50	.390	30
11	Seattle SuperSonics	31	51	.378	31
12	Golden State Warriors	30	52	.366	32

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Streak
1	October 26	@ Dallas Mavericks	95–101	0–1	Lost 1
2	October 29	@ Houston Rockets	99–111	0–2	Lost 2
3	October 31	@ Denver Nuggets	73–90	0–3	Lost 3
4	November 2	Chicago Bulls	118–100	1–3	Won 1
5	November 5	New York Knicks	84–80	2–3	Won 2
6	November 6	@ Golden State Warriors	101–105	2–4	Lost 1
7	November 8	@ Portland Trail Blazers	88–92	2–5	Lost 2
8	November 9	@ Sacramento Kings	93–98	2–6	Lost 3
9	November 12	Dallas Mavericks	109–90	3–6	Won 1
10	November 13	@ Los Angeles Clippers	93–89	4–6	Won 2
11	November 15	@ Phoenix Suns	99–117	4–7	Lost 1
12	November 16	@ San Antonio Spurs	95–97 (OT)	4–8	Lost 2
13	November 20	Milwaukee Bucks	106–116	4–9	Lost 3
14	November 22	Houston Rockets	122–103	5–9	Won 1
15	November 24	Denver Nuggets	110–84	6–9	Won 2
16	November 26	Los Angeles Clippers	131–99	7–9	Won 3
17	November 29	@ Los Angeles Lakers	107–108	7–10	Lost 1
18	November 30	@ Denver Nuggets	131–123 (2OT)	8–10	Won 1
19	December 3	San Antonio Spurs	123–103	9–10	Won 2
20	December 5	@ Cleveland Cavaliers	97–100	9–11	Lost 1
21	December 6	@ Washington Bullets	109–115	9–12	Lost 2
22	December 8	@ Philadelphia 76ers	105–100	10–12	Won 1
23	December 10	@ Milwaukee Bucks	98–117	10–13	Lost 1
24	December 11	@ Atlanta Hawks	97–105	10–14	Lost 2
25	December 13	Los Angeles Clippers	114–95	11–14	Won 1
26	December 15	@ Golden State Warriors	105–112	11–15	Lost 1
27	December 17	Phoenix Suns	99–104	11–16	Lost 2
28	December 19	Detroit Pistons	97–99	11–17	Lost 3
29	December 21	Portland Trail Blazers	97–114	11–18	Lost 4
30	December 27	Golden State Warriors	114–102	12–18	Won 1
31	December 28	Los Angeles Clippers	106–111	12–19	Lost 1
32	December 30	@ Utah Jazz	105–107	12–20	Lost 2
33	January 3	Denver Nuggets	117–107	13–20	Won 1
34	January 6	Phoenix Suns	97–114	13–21	Lost 1
35	January 7	Utah Jazz	91–84	14–21	Won 1
36	January 9	@ Denver Nuggets	90–94	14–22	Lost 1
37	January 11	Los Angeles Lakers	105–99	15–22	Won 1
38	January 13	Dallas Mavericks	89–90	15–23	Lost 1
39	January 15	@ Los Angeles Clippers	103–110	15–24	Lost 2
40	January 17	@ Phoenix Suns	100–103	15–25	Lost 3
41	January 18	@ Sacramento Kings	96–98 (OT)	15–26	Lost 4
42	January 21	Houston Rockets	96–100	15–27	Lost 5
43	January 23	@ Portland Trail Blazers	107–117 (2OT)	15–28	Lost 6
44	January 25	New Jersey Nets	106–99	16–28	Won 1
45	January 28	Philadelphia 76ers	99–106	16–29	Lost 1
46	January 30	@ New Jersey Nets	89–82	17–29	Won 1
47	January 31	@ Indiana Pacers	94–101	17–30	Lost 1
48	February 2	@ Boston Celtics	101–114	17–31	Lost 2
49	February 4	@ Indiana Pacers	119–124 (OT)	17–32	Lost 3
50	February 6	@ Sacramento Kings	106–115	17–33	Lost 4
51	February 11	Utah Jazz	105–92	18–33	Won 1
52	February 13	Boston Celtics	98–107	18–34	Lost 1
53	February 15	Washington Bullets	112–106	19–34	Won 1
54	February 17	Atlanta Hawks	100–87	20–34	Won 2
55	February 19	@ Detroit Pistons	113–118	20–35	Lost 1
56	February 21	@ New York Knicks	104–117	20–36	Lost 2
57	February 22	@ Chicago Bulls	125–129 (3OT)	20–37	Lost 3
58	February 25	Sacramento Kings	100–102	20–38	Lost 4
59	February 27	Portland Trail Blazers	107–94	21–38	Won 1
60	March 3	Houston Rockets	118–105	22–38	Won 2
61	March 5	Indiana Pacers	112–120	22–39	Lost 1
62	March 7	Cleveland Cavaliers	120–106	23–39	Won 1
63	March 9	Los Angeles Lakers	106–108	23–40	Lost 1
64	March 10	@ Golden State Warriors	111–108	24–40	Won 1
65	March 12	@ Los Angeles Clippers	96–100	24–41	Lost 1
66	March 13	@ Los Angeles Lakers	92–105	24–42	Lost 2
67	March 16	San Antonio Spurs	129–115	25–42	Won 1
68	March 18	Utah Jazz	104–107	25–43	Lost 1
69	March 20	Golden State Warriors	116–104	26–43	Won 1
70	March 21	@ Portland Trail Blazers	108–115	26–44	Lost 1
71	March 23	@ San Antonio Spurs	107–104	27–44	Won 1
72	March 24	@ Utah Jazz	108–116	27–45	Lost 1
73	March 26	@ Phoenix Suns	107–120	27–46	Lost 2
74	March 27	Sacramento Kings	101–103	27–47	Lost 3
75	March 29	Los Angeles Lakers	88–87	28–47	Won 1
76	March 30	Phoenix Suns	103–89	29–47	Won 2
77	April 1	@ Los Angeles Lakers	104–109	29–48	Lost 1
78	April 2	Portland Trail Blazers	109–121	29–49	Lost 2
79	April 5	@ Dallas Mavericks	111–109	30–49	Won 1
80	April 8	@ Houston Rockets	95–109	30–50	Lost 1
81	April 10	Dallas Mavericks	109–115	30–51	Lost 2
82	April 12	Golden State Warriors	121–101	31–51	Won 1

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
Frank Brickowski	40	2	311	.517		.667	6.3	2.4	1.3	0.8	9.0
Tom Chambers	66	26	2019	.466	.271	.836	7.7	2.4	1.0	0.7	21.8
Gerald Henderson	82	82	2568	.482	.346	.830	2.6	6.8	1.9	0.2	15.0
Rod Higgins	12	0	94	.333	.250	.600	4.6	2.3	0.8	0.4	8.4
George Johnson	41	0	264	.522		.688	8.2	1.8	0.8	5.0	4.8
Brian Martin	3	0	7	.500			20.6	0.0	0.0	5.1	10.3
Tim McCormick	77	42	1705	.570	.500	.713	8.5	1.8	0.4	0.6	14.4
Xavier McDaniel	82	80	2706	.490	.200	.687	8.7	2.6	1.3	0.5	18.7
Michael Phelps	70	18	880	.409	.083	.595	3.6	2.9	1.8	0.0	11.4
David Pope	11	0	74	.450	1.000	.500	5.4	1.9	1.0	0.5	10.2
Jack Sikma	80	78	2790	.462	.000	.864	9.7	3.9	1.2	0.9	17.7
Ricky Sobers	78	0	1279	.444	.302	.880	2.8	5.1	1.2	0.1	17.0
Alex Stivrins	3	0	14	.250		.250	7.7	2.6	0.0	0.0	7.7
Danny Vranes	80	19	1569	.461	.000	.520	6.4	1.6	1.4	0.7	6.9
Al Wood	78	34	1749	.435	.135	.782	5.0	2.3	1.2	0.4	18.6
Danny Young	82	29	1901	.506	.324	.849	2.3	5.7	2.1	0.2	10.8

Awards and records

• Xavier McDaniel, All-Rookie 1st Team