1987–88 Seattle SuperSonics season

1987–88 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coach	Bernie Bickerstaff
General manager	Bob Whitsitt
Arena	Seattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record	44–38 (.537)
Place	Division: 3rd (Pacific) Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish	West First Round (Eliminated 2-3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Northwest Cable Sports, KOMO-TV
Radio	KOMO-AM and FM

The 1987–88 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 21st season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was Bernie Bickerstaff's first season with a winning percentage above .500, coaching the Sonics to the 1988 NBA Playoffs where they lost in five games to the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

Offseason

Draft picks

Seattle selected future hall of famer Scottie Pippen in the first round thanks to a pick acquired from the New York Knicks, but traded him on draft day to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice and two future conditional draft picks.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	5	Scottie Pippen	SF	United States	Central Arkansas
1	9	Derrick McKey	F	United States	Alabama
3	55	Tommy Amaker			Duke
4	78	Todd Linder			Tampa
5	101	Michael Tait			Clemson
6	124	Tom Gneiting			BYU
7	147	Mike Giomi			North Carolina State

Roster

Seattle SuperSonics 1987–88 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. DOB From F/C 24 Chambers, Tom 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1959–06–21 Utah G/F 3 Ellis, Dale 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1960–08–06 Tennessee F/C 45 Johnson, Clemon 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1956–09–12 Florida A&M F/C 53 Lister, Alton 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1958–10–01 Arizona State F 34 McDaniel, Xavier 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1963–06–04 Wichita State F/C 31 McKey, Derrick 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1966–10–10 Alabama G/F 10 McMillan, Nate 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1964–08–03 North Carolina State F/C 23 Polynice, Olden 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1964–11–21 Virginia F/C 40 Schoene, Russ 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1960–04–16 Chattanooga G 4 Threatt, Sedale 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1961–09–10 West Virginia Tech G 30 Williams, Kevin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1961–09–11 St. John's G 22 Young, Danny 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1962–07–26 Wake Forest	Head coach Bernie Bickerstaff (San Diego) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	62	20	.756	–	36–5	26–15	23–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers	53	29	.646	9	33–8	20–21	23–7
x-Seattle SuperSonics	44	38	.537	18	32–9	12–29	19–11
Phoenix Suns	28	54	.341	34	22–19	6–35	11–19
Golden State Warriors	20	62	.244	42	16–25	4–37	7–23
Los Angeles Clippers	17	65	.207	45	14–27	3–38	7–23

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Denver Nuggets	54	28	.659	8
3	x-Dallas Mavericks	53	29	.646	9
4	x-Portland Trail Blazers	53	29	.646	9
5	x-Utah Jazz	47	35	.573	15
6	x-Houston Rockets	46	36	.561	16
7	x-Seattle SuperSonics	44	38	.537	18
8	x-San Antonio Spurs	31	51	.378	31
9	Phoenix Suns	28	54	.341	34
10	Sacramento Kings	24	58	.293	38
11	Golden State Warriors	20	62	.244	42
12	Los Angeles Clippers	17	65	.207	45

Playoffs

West First Round

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) Seattle SuperSonics: Nuggets win series 3-2

• Game 1 @ McNichols Sports Arena, Denver (April 29): Denver 126, Seattle 123
• Game 2 @ McNichols Sports Arena, Denver (May 1): Seattle 111, Denver 91
• Game 3 @ Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle (May 3): Denver 124, Seattle 115
• Game 4 @ Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle (May 5): Seattle 127, Denver 117
• Game 5 @ McNichols Sports Arena, Denver (May 7): Denver 115, Seattle 96

Last Playoff Meeting: 1978 Western Conference Finals (Seattle won 4-2)

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%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chambers, TomTom Chambers	82	82	32.7	.448	.303	.807	6.0	2.6	1.1	.6	20.4
Ellis, DaleDale Ellis	75	73	37.2	.503	.413	.767	4.5	2.6	1.0	.1	25.8
Johnson, ClemonClemon Johnson	74	26	9.8	.467	.000	.688	2.4	.2	.2	.3	1.6
Lister, AltonAlton Lister	82	55	22.1	.504	.500	.606	7.6	.7	.3	1.7	5.6
McDaniel, XavierXavier McDaniel	78	77	34.7	.488	.280	.715	6.6	3.4	1.2	.7	21.4
McKey, DerrickDerrick McKey	82	4	20.8	.491	.367	.772	4.0	1.3	.9	.8	8.5
McMillan, NateNate McMillan	82	82	29.9	.474	.375	.707	4.1	8.6	2.1	.6	7.6
Polynice, OldenOlden Polynice	82	0	13.2	.465	.000	.639	4.0	.4	.4	.3	4.1
Schoene, RussRuss Schoene	81	2	12.0	.458	.293	.810	2.4	.7	.5	.2	6.0
Threatt, SedaleSedale Threatt^1	26	0	13.6	.519	.143	.833	1.3	2.0	1.3	.2	7.5
Vincent, SamSam Vincent^1	43	0	12.7	.474	.385	.767	1.1	3.2	.5	.1	4.5
Williams, KevinKevin Williams	80	9	13.6	.442	.143	.844	1.6	1.2	.8	.1	6.3
Young, DannyDanny Young	77	0	12.3	.408	.286	.811	1.0	2.8	.7	.0	3.2

1.^ Statistics with the SuperSonics.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chambers, TomTom Chambers	5		25.8	.549	.000	.829	6.2	2.2	.6	.2	25.8
Ellis, DaleDale Ellis	5		34.4	.482	.250	.724	4.6	3.0	.6	.4	20.8
Johnson, ClemonClemon Johnson	5		7.8	.429	.000	.500	1.4	.0	.2	.2	1.4
Lister, AltonAlton Lister	5		15.4	.706	.000	.800	5.8	1.0	.2	1.0	5.6
McDaniel, XavierXavier McDaniel	5		36.0	.556	.500	.500	9.6	5.0	.6	.2	21.2
McKey, DerrickDerrick McKey	5		21.8	.632	.333	.588	4.0	1.6	.6	1.0	12.0
McMillan, NateNate McMillan	5		25.4	.343	.000	.643	4.2	6.6	.4	.6	6.6
Polynice, OldenOlden Polynice	5		13.2	.455	.000	.000	1.6	.0	.6	.0	2.0
Schoene, RussRuss Schoene	5		7.8	.583	.500	.000	1.4	.4	.2	.0	3.2
Threatt, SedaleSedale Threatt	5		16.0	.412	.000	1.000	2.2	2.2	.2	.0	6.4
Williams, KevinKevin Williams	5		14.0	.438	.000	.000	1.6	1.8	.6	.0	2.8
Young, DannyDanny Young	5		19.0	.524	.000	1.000	2.0	3.8	.4	.4	6.4

Awards and records

Awards

• Derrick McKey earned an All-Rookie First Team selection.
• Xavier McDaniel was selected to participate in the 1988 NBA All-Star Game.

Transactions

Overview

Players Added Via draft Derrick McKey Olden Polynice Via free agency Ricky Wilson Via trade Sam Vincent Sedale Threatt

Players Lost Via free agency Maurice Lucas Via trade Sam Vincent Via waiver Ricky Wilson Mike Phelps Tod Murphy

Trades

October 16, 1987	To Seattle SuperSonics Sam Vincent Scott Wedman	To Boston Celtics Conditional 1988 second round pick
February 25, 1988	To Seattle SuperSonics Sedale Threatt	To Chicago Bulls Sam Vincent

Free Agents

Additions Player Signed Former team Ricky Wilson October 7, 1987

Subtractions Player Left New team Maurice Lucas^2 November 10, 1987 Portland Trail Blazers

2.^ Received a conditional 1990 second round pick as compensation.

References

See also

• 1987-88 NBA season