The Sonics are gone, and I’m not sure if they’re missed or not.
Personally, I don’t miss them, but from time to time I do miss the NBA. It’s so easy to get mesmerized by the athletes. And, no, I don’t buy the argument that they don’t play defense in the NBA. These guys are just that good.
So for the die-hard hoops fans out there, how many of you have become fans of the Portland Trail Blazers? Coach Nate McMillan, the former Sonic player and coach, has the Blazers rolling. And Brandon Roy’s turned into one of the elite players in the league. I caught Roy’s 52-point game against Phoenix on television last Friday. The Seattle native and former Husky guard from Garfield High put on a show. Here’s a column from the Columbian about Roy.
The next night Jamal Crawford, another Seattle native, went for 50 points for the Warriors in a game against Charlotte. Here’s a story about Crawford that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle.
With Bremerton’s Marvin Williams playing well for Atlanta and Seattle’s Nate Robinson (Rainier Beach/UW) healthy and contributing for the improved Knicks, at least Seattle still has a presence in the NBA. And Jason Terry (Franklin/Dallas) remains a solid NBA player, second-year center Steve Hawes (Mercer Island/UW) has been coming on for the Sacramento Kings and Martell Webster (Seattle Prep) is a key player off the bench in Portland.
Crawford, who has a career high of 52, became just the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 50 with three different teams. Wilt Chamberlain, Bernard King and Moses Malone were the others, so that puts Crawford, a Rainier Beach product, in some pretty elite company.
Still, the questions begs to be asked. Does anybody care about the NBA anymore now that the Sonics are gone? Following the franchise’s relocation to Oklahoma City, we have reduced our NBA coverage in our print editions and nobody has complained. On days when space has been really tight, there’s been a couple days when we didn’t even run NBA summaries on our Scoreboard page. I guess I take that as a sign that readers are sick and tired of the NBA right now.
Is that really the case?
As long as Stern is commish I won’t be watching!
Yo Chuck,
I think it would be nice to see regular updates on the Trail Blazers (Sonics South) as they are a very exciting up & coming team. You already track Marvin, which every one appreciates so why not track an exciting team also? Just think what might have become of the Sonics if they had drafted all the area players mentioned in your blog? The whole state would have kept the Sonics safe in our nest, that’s what. But hey that’s just a dream. Bottom line you should be thinking of ways to generate interest, not less sports, just my humble opinion. Thanks for all your to the point story’s.
P.S. Yea the NBA marketing machine does suck, but the best TEAM wins.
Indianola Stan
Don’t forget about Rodney Stuckey, the pride of Kentwood High and Eastern Washington University.