In 1970, the two star players, Bob Rule and Lenny Wilkens were part of the NBA All-Star Game. The team then acquired Spencer Haywood who along with Wilkens would take the Sonics to their first winning season in 1971. Wilkens was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers the next season and the Sonics had a poor year after that.

In 1975, under head coach Bill Russell, the SuperSonics made their first playoffs. They lost in the second round to the Golden State Warriors. The next year, they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs. Russell left in 1977 and Bob Hopkins came in as coach but was soon replaced by Lenny Wilkens who turned the team around again. He led them to the NBA Finals in 1978 which they lost to the Washington Bullets. The next year they faced the Bullets once again in the Finals and this time the Sonics won the Finals. This was their first and only NBA Championship till date.

In 1983, Sam Schulman sold the team to Barry Ackerley and the team’s performance went downhill after that. The situation improved only in the 1990’s after they drafted Shaun Kemp and Gary Payton. George Karl joined as head coach in 1992 and the Sonics made the Western Conference Finals where they were beaten by the Phoenix Suns. The next year, the SuperSonics lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. This was the first instance when an eighth seed defeated a first seed in a playoff series.

In 1996, they had perhaps the strongest team yet with Gary Payton, Hersey Hawkins, Nate McMillan and Shaun Kemp in the roster. They made the NBA Finals but lost to the Chicago Bulls. In the next two years, they won the Pacific Division titles and remained a top team in the Western Conference.

In 2005, the Sonics won their sixth division title. Their head coach Nate McMillan left the team after that and the team missed the playoffs that season.

The Current Sonics

The SuperSonics has been playing their home games at the Key Arena from 1995 till date. They played there from the beginning but moved temporarily to The Kingdome from 1978 to 1985. While the Key Arena was being remodeled in 1994, they played at the Tacoma Dome for a year. They are owned by Clay Bennett and the head coach is P.J. Carlesimo.