1998–99 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1998–99 NBA season was the 32nd season for the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association.^[1] Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.^[2]

1998–99 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coach	Paul Westphal
General manager	Wally Walker
Arena	KeyArena at Seattle Center
Results
Record	25–25 (.500)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific) Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KSTW Fox Sports Northwest (Kevin Calabro, Marques Johnson)
Radio	KJR (Kevin Calabro, Marques Johnson)
< 1997–98 1999–00 >

During the off-season, the SuperSonics signed free agents Billy Owens and former Sonics center Olden Polynice,^[3][4][5] and acquired Don MacLean from the New Jersey Nets.^[6][7][8] The SuperSonics got off to a strong start under new head coach Paul Westphal,^[9][10][11] winning their first six games of the regular season. However, the team soon fell apart losing nine of their next twelve games, as Vin Baker only played 34 games due to thumb and knee injuries;^[12][13][14] Owens and MacLean both missed large parts of the regular season also due to injuries. From there, the SuperSonics would play around .500 basketball for the remainder of the season, finishing in fifth place in the Pacific Division with a 25–25 record,^[15] losing a tie-breaker for the #8 seed in the Western Conference to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and missing the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 1989–90 season.

Gary Payton averaged 21.7 points, 8.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, while Detlef Schrempf averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and Baker provided the team with 13.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. In addition, sixth man Dale Ellis contributed 10.3 points per game off the bench, while Hersey Hawkins provided with 10.3 points and 1.6 steals per game, MacLean contributed 10.9 points per game in only just 17 games, Owens provided with 7.8 points in only just 21 games, and Polynice averaged 7.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.^[16] Payton also finished in ninth place in Most Valuable Player voting, and in third place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[17][18][19]

Following the season, Schrempf signed as a free agent with the Portland Trail Blazers,^{[20][21][22][23]} while Hawkins was traded to the Chicago Bulls,^{[24][25][26][27]} Polynice signed with the Utah Jazz,^[28][29] and Ellis, Owens and MacLean were all traded to the Orlando Magic;^[30][31][32] however, all three players would never play for the Magic, as Ellis was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks,^[33][34][35] Owens was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers,^[36][37] and MacLean was dealt to the Houston Rockets in a three-team trade, but was released to free agency, and would later on sign with the Phoenix Suns near the end of the next season.^[38]

Draft picks

Main article: 1998 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	27	Vladimir Stepania	C	Georgia	KK Olimpija
2	32	Rashard Lewis	SF	United States	Alief Elsik High School
2	33	Jelani McCoy	PF/C	United States	UCLA

Roster

1998–99 Seattle SuperSonics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F/C 42 Vin Baker 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 232 lb (105 kg) 1971–11–23 Hartford G 12 Drew Barry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 1973–02–17 Georgia Tech G 4 James Cotton  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1975–12–14 Long Beach State G 22 John Crotty 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1969–07–15 Virginia G/F 3 Dale Ellis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1960–08–06 Tennessee G 33 Hersey Hawkins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1966–09–29 Bradley G/F 7 Rashard Lewis  6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1979–08–08 Alief Elsik HS (TX) F/C 34 Jelani McCoy 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1977–12–06 UCLA F 24 Don MacLean 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1970–01–16 UCLA G 6 Moochie Norris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1973–07–27 West Florida G/F 30 Billy Owens  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1969–05–01 Syracuse G 20 Gary Payton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1968–07–23 Oregon State C 0 Olden Polynice 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1964–11–21 Virginia F 11 Detlef Schrempf 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 214 lb (97 kg) 1963–01–21 Washington C 5 Vladimir Stepania 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 236 lb (107 kg) 1976–05–08 Georgia F/C 15 Aaron Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1971–10–02 Xavier

Head coach Paul Westphal Assistant(s) Dwane Casey Bob Weiss Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Portland Trail Blazers	35	15	.700	–	22–3	13–12	15–7
x-Los Angeles Lakers	31	19	.620	4	18–7	13–12	14–8
x-Sacramento Kings	27	23	.540	8	16–9	11–14	11–9
x-Phoenix Suns	27	23	.540	8	15–10	12–13	9–10
Seattle SuperSonics	25	25	.500	10	17–8	8–17	11–10
Golden State Warriors	21	29	.420	14	13–12	8–17	8–11
Los Angeles Clippers	9	41	.180	26	6–19	3–22	3–16

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-San Antonio Spurs	37	13	.740	–
2	y-Portland Trail Blazers	35	15	.700	2
3	x-Utah Jazz	37	13	.740	–
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	31	19	.620	6
5	x-Houston Rockets	31	19	.620	6
6	x-Sacramento Kings	27	23	.540	10
7	x-Phoenix Suns	27	23	.540	10
8	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	25	25	.500	12
9	Seattle SuperSonics	25	25	.500	12
10	Golden State Warriors	21	29	.420	16
11	Dallas Mavericks	19	31	.380	18
12	Denver Nuggets	14	36	.280	23
13	Los Angeles Clippers	9	41	.180	28
14	Vancouver Grizzlies	8	42	.160	29

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

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

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Gary Payton	50	50	40.2	.434	.295	.721	4.9	8.7	2.2	.2	21.7
Detlef Schrempf	50	39	35.3	.472	.395	.823	7.4	3.7	.8	.5	15.0
Hersey Hawkins	50	34	32.9	.419	.306	.902	4.0	2.5	1.6	.4	10.3
Olden Polynice	48	47	30.9	.472	1.000	.309	8.9	.9	.4	.6	7.7
Dale Ellis	48	5	25.7	.441	.433	.757	2.4	.8	.5	.1	10.3
Aaron Williams	40	2	11.5	.423	.000	.730	3.2	.6	.4	.6	4.0
Vin Baker	34	31	34.2	.453	.000	.450	6.2	1.6	.9	1.0	13.8
Jelani McCoy	26	0	12.7	.737		.500	3.0	.2	.4	.8	5.1
John Crotty†	24	0	15.1	.405	.371	.851	1.3	2.4	.4	.0	6.1
Vladimir Stepania	23	6	13.6	.424	.000	.525	3.3	.5	.4	1.0	5.5
Billy Owens	21	19	21.5	.394	.455	.800	3.8	1.8	.6	.2	7.8
Rashard Lewis	20	7	7.3	.365	.167	.571	1.3	.2	.4	.1	2.4
Don MacLean	17	10	21.5	.396	.273	.625	3.8	.9	.3	.3	10.9
Drew Barry	17	0	10.8	.313	.333	.692	1.2	1.7	.4	.1	2.2
Moochie Norris	12	0	11.7	.325	.400	.375	1.7	2.0	.6	.0	3.2
James Cotton	10	0	5.9	.333	.000	.722	1.0	.0	.3	.0	2.5

Player Statistics Citation:^[16]

Awards and records

Awards

• Gary Payton, All-NBA Second Team
• Gary Payton, NBA All-Defensive First Team

Records

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions Player Signed Former team

Subtractions Player Left New team