1987–88 Seattle SuperSonics season

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 a 44–38 record. However, in the 1988 NBA Playoffs, they lost in five games to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. Xavier McDaniel was selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game.

1987–88 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coachBernie Bickerstaff
General managerBob Whitsitt
Owner(s)Barry Ackerley
ArenaSeattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record44–38 (.537)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Pacific)
Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finishFirst round
(lost to Nuggets 2–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television
RadioKJR

Offseason

Draft picks
Main article: 1987 NBA draft

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
15Scottie Pippen (traded to Chicago)SF United StatesCentral Arkansas
19Derrick McKeyF United StatesAlabama

Roster
1987–88 Seattle SuperSonics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
F 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
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 31 McKey, Derrick 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1966–10–10 Alabama
G 10 McMillan, Nate 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1964–08–03 NC State
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
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

1987–88 Salaries
Player 1987–88 Salary
Tom Chambers $950,000
Xavier McDaniel $875,000
Alton Lister $835,000
Clemon Johnson $502,000
Derrick McKey $355,000
Olden Polynice $350,000
Dale Ellis $325,000
Sedale Threatt $270,000
Russ Schoene $250,000
Danny Young $130,000
Nate McMillan $129,000
Kevin Williams $125,000
TOTAL $5,096,000

Sources:

  • Basketball Reference: SEA Salaries[1]

Regular season

Season standings
Pacific Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6220.756–36–526–1523–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers 5329.646933–820–2123–7
x-Seattle SuperSonics 4438.5371832–912–2919–11
Phoenix Suns 2854.3413422–196–3511–19
Golden State Warriors 2062.2444216–254–377–23
Los Angeles Clippers 1765.2074514–273–387–23
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers6220.756–
2 y-Denver Nuggets5428.6598
3 x-Dallas Mavericks5329.6469
4 x-Portland Trail Blazers5329.6469
5 x-Utah Jazz4735.57315
6 x-Houston Rockets4636.56116
7 x-Seattle SuperSonics4438.53718
8 x-San Antonio Spurs3151.37831
9 Phoenix Suns2854.34134
10 Sacramento Kings2458.29338
11 Golden State Warriors2062.24442
12 Los Angeles Clippers1765.20745

Record vs. opponents
1987–88 NBA records
Team ATL BOS CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIL NJN NYK PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA UTA WAS
Atlanta –2–42–35–12–01–12–42–01–14–22–00–23–35–03–36–01–10–21–12–02–01–13–3
Boston 4–2–3–32–32–00–23–32–01–15–02–00–23–35–15–14–22–02–02–02–01–12–05–1
Chicago 3–23–3–3–30–21–12–42–02–03–32–01–15–15–13–24–22–01–11–11–11–12–03–3
Cleveland 1–53–23–3–1–11–11–50–21–14–21–11–12–45–12–43–21–11–12–02–01–10–26–0
Dallas 0–20–22–01–1–3–31–14–14–22–05–01–42–01–11–11–15–03–25–15–13–23–31–1
Denver 1–12–01–11–13–3–1–14–14–21–15–03–21–12–01–12–03–22–34–25–14–12–42–0
Detroit 4–23–34–25–11–11–1–2–01–13–31–10–24–25–14–24–12–01–12–01–11–12–03–2
Golden State 0–20–20–22–01–41–40–2–0–50–23–30–60–22–00–21–12–41–52–33–21–51–40–2
Houston 1–11–10–21–12–42–41–15–0–2–03–21–42–01–11–11–14–14–14–22–43–23–32–0
Indiana 2–40–53–32–40–21–13–32–00–2–1–11–13–36–02–32–42–00–22–02–01–11–12–4
L.A. Clippers 0–20–20–21–10–50–51–13–32–31–1–1–50–20–20–21–12–40–63–20–51–51–40–2
L.A. Lakers 2–02–01–11–14–12–32–06–04–11–15–1–0–22–02–02–05–13–34–15–04–24–11–1
Milwaukee 3–33–31–54–20–21–12–42–00–23–32–02–0–3–23–32–41–11–12–01–11–11–14–1
New Jersey 0–51–51–51–51–10–21–50–21–10–62–00–22–3–3–32–41–10–21–11–10–21–10–6
New York 3–31–52–34–21–11–12–42–01–13–22–00–23–33–3–3–30–21–11–11–10–21–13–3
Philadelphia 0–62–42–42–31–10–21–41–11–14–21–10–24–24–23–3–1–11–11–11–11–12–03–3
Phoenix 1–10–20–21–10–52–30–24–21–40–24–21–51–11–12–01–1–0–63–22–32–42–30–2
Portland 2–00–21–11–12–33–21–15–11–42–06–03–31–12–01–11–16–0–4–15–03–31–42–0
Sacramento 1–10–21–10–21–52–40–23–22–40–22–31–40–21–11–11–12–31–4–3–31–41–50–2
San Antonio 0–20–21–10–21–51–51–12–34–20–25–00–51–11–11–11–13–20–53–3–3–23–30–2
Seattle 0–21–11–11–12–31–41–15–12–31–15–12–41–12–02–01–14–23–34–12–3–1–42–0
Utah 1–10–20–22–03–34–20–24–13–31–14–11–41–11–11–10–23–24–15–13–34–1–2–0
Washington 3–31–53–30–61–10–22–32–00–24–22–01–11–46–03–33–32–00–22–02–00–20–2—

Game log
1987–88 game log
Total: 44–38 (home: 32–9; road: 12–29)
November: 6–6 (home: 5–1; road: 1–5)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1November 6, 1987
7:30 pm PST		@ L.A. LakersL 109–113Tom Chambers (20)The Forum
17,505		0–1
2November 7Phoenix Suns96-112Dale Ellis (27)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,252		1–1
3November 10Dallas Mavericks117-101Dale Ellis (28)Seattle Center Coliseum
10,447		1–2
4November 12vs San Antonio Spurs123-118Xavier McDaniel (23)HemisFair Arena
6,399		1–3
5November 13vs Dallas Mavericks95-103Dale Ellis (22)Reunion Arena
17,007		2–3
6November 15vs Houston Rockets108-106Dale Ellis (34)The Summit
16,611		2–4
7November 18Portland Trail Blazers114-120Xavier McDaniel (32)Seattle Center Coliseum
8,461		3–4
8November 20Milwaukee Bucks97-99Xavier McDaniel (30)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,601		4–4
9November 21Washington Bullets103-124Xavier McDaniel (28)Seattle Center Coliseum
13,437		5–4
10November 24, 1987
7:30 pm PST		L.A. LakersW 103–85Xavier McDaniel (34)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,634		6–4
11November 27vs Boston Celtics117-112Dale Ellis (37)Boston Garden
14,890		6–5
12November 28vs Indiana Pacers131-115Dale Ellis (29)Market Square Arena
11,538		6–6
December: 9–7 (home: 5–0; road: 4–7)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
13December 1vs New York Knicks109-112Dale Ellis (37)Madison Square Garden (IV)
11,424		7–6
14December 2vs Cleveland Cavaliers104-102Dale Ellis (25)Coliseum at Richfield
6,207		7–7
15December 4vs Philadelphia 76ers118-105Tom Chambers (24)The Spectrum
13,115		7–8
16December 5vs Washington Bullets99-115Xavier McDaniel (26)Capital Centre
11,604		8–8
17December 8Cleveland Cavaliers96-107Dale Ellis
Xavier McDaniel
(25)		Seattle Center Coliseum
8,520		9–8
18December 10vs Los Angeles Clippers113-96Dale Ellis (20)Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
5,852		9–9
19December 12Los Angeles Clippers95-116Xavier McDaniel (35)Seattle Center Coliseum
10,623		10–9
20December 14vs Utah Jazz116-95Dale Ellis (29)Salt Palace
12,212		10–10
21December 15vs Portland Trail Blazers128-109Xavier McDaniel (22)Memorial Coliseum
12,666		10–11
22December 17Sacramento Kings109-114Tom Chambers (42)Seattle Center Coliseum
10,238		11–11
23December 19vs Golden State Warriors102-129Xavier McDaniel (32)Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena
12,998		12–11
24December 20, 1987
7:30 pm PST		@ L.A. LakersL 94–103Dale Ellis (24)The Forum
17,505		12–12
25December 23vs Phoenix Suns102-103Dale Ellis (35)Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
10,351		13–12
26December 26vs Denver Nuggets115-111Xavier McDaniel (26)McNichols Sports Arena
12,403		13–13
27December 28Denver Nuggets100-108Xavier McDaniel (30)Seattle Center Coliseum
13,007		14–13
28December 30Boston Celtics105-111Tom Chambers (31)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,850		15–13
January: 9–6 (home: 8–1; road: 1–5)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
29January 2Philadelphia 76ers114-116Xavier McDaniel (35)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,250		16–13
30January 5vs Portland Trail Blazers126-114Dale Ellis (32)Memorial Coliseum
12,666		16–14
31January 6Houston Rockets95-110Tom Chambers (46)Seattle Center Coliseum
11,289		17–14
32January 9San Antonio Spurs133-141Dale Ellis (47)Seattle Center Coliseum
11,565		18–14
33January 10vs Sacramento Kings109-108Dale Ellis (30)ARCO Arena (I)
10,333		18–15
34January 13Golden State Warriors115-144Xavier McDaniel (30)Seattle Center Coliseum
7,909		19–15
35January 15Utah Jazz105-124Dale Ellis (39)Seattle Center Coliseum
10,418		20–15
36January 16vs Los Angeles Clippers112-114 (OT)Dale Ellis (41)Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
8,697		21–15
37January 18Indiana Pacers105-115Dale Ellis (29)Seattle Center Coliseum
10,151		22–15
38January 20New York Knicks96-108Xavier McDaniel (41)Seattle Center Coliseum
11,767		23–15
39January 22, 1988
7:30 pm PST		DetroitW 109–106Dale Ellis (47)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,737		24–15
40January 24, 1988
12:30 pm PST		L.A. LakersL 109–116Xavier McDaniel (35)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,739		24–16
41January 26vs Sacramento Kings100-116Dale Ellis (42)ARCO Arena (I)
10,333		25–16
42January 29vs Dallas Mavericks117-109Dale Ellis (35)Reunion Arena
17,007		25–17
43January 30vs San Antonio Spurs112-102 (OT)Xavier McDaniel
Tom Chambers
(27)		HemisFair Arena
8,319		25–18
February: 4–9 (home: 3–2; road: 1–7)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
44February 1vs Utah Jazz105-100Dale Ellis (40)Salt Palace
12,212		25–19
45February 4Atlanta Hawks119-109Dale Ellis (36)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,611		25–20
46February 9vs Portland Trail Blazers139-123Tom Chambers (21)Memorial Coliseum
12,666		25–21
47February 11Houston Rockets115-120Tom Chambers (36)Seattle Center Coliseum
13,038		26–21
48February 13vs Golden State Warriors109-95Dale Ellis (28)Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,502		26–22
49February 15Dallas Mavericks128-122 (OT)Tom Chambers (29)Seattle Center Coliseum
13,492		26–23
50February 17vs Milwaukee Bucks115-93Dale Ellis (26)MECCA Arena
11,052		26–24
51February 18, 1988
4:30 pm PST		@ DetroitL 95–108Tom Chambers (24)Pontiac Silverdome
24,482		26–25
52February 20vs New Jersey Nets101-113Dale Ellis (30)Brendan Byrne Arena
11,137		27–25
53February 21vs Atlanta Hawks129-113Dale Ellis (31)Omni Coliseum
15,437		27–26
54February 23vs Chicago Bulls104-97 (OT)Dale Ellis (34)Chicago Stadium
17,648		27–27
55February 26Sacramento Kings130-133Dale Ellis (37)Seattle Center Coliseum
11,632		28–27
56February 27Golden State Warriors111-114Dale Ellis (30)Seattle Center Coliseum
10,752		29–27
March: 8–6 (home: 5–3; road: 3–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
57March 1, 1988
7:30 pm PST		L.A. LakersW 114–100Dale Ellis (26)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,850		30–27
58March 4Utah Jazz125-110Tom Chambers (29)Seattle Center Coliseum
11,268		30–28
59March 5Denver Nuggets115-102Dale Ellis (27)Seattle Center Coliseum
13,287		30–29
60March 8vs Golden State Warriors116-121 (OT)Dale Ellis (29)Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena
11,178		31–29
61March 9vs Sacramento Kings97-106Dale Ellis (24)ARCO Arena (I)
10,333		32–29
62March 13New Jersey Nets102-115Tom Chambers (25)Seattle Center Coliseum
9,040		33–29
63March 15vs Phoenix Suns111-90Dale Ellis (38)Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
11,159		33–30
64March 17vs Houston Rockets115-106Tom Chambers (24)The Summit
16,611		33–31
65March 18vs San Antonio Spurs110-118 (OT)Xavier McDaniel (31)HemisFair Arena
7,353		34–31
66March 20vs Denver Nuggets108-95Dale Ellis (23)McNichols Sports Arena
13,117		34–32
67March 23Portland Trail Blazers108-118Dale Ellis (35)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,250		35–32
68March 26Los Angeles Clippers98-131Dale Ellis (27)Seattle Center Coliseum
11,650		36–32
69March 29Chicago Bulls103-106Tom Chambers (34)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,850		37–32
70March 31San Antonio Spurs117-115Dale Ellis
Tom Chambers
(27)		Seattle Center Coliseum
9,210		37–33
April: 7–5 (home: 6–2; road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
71April 2Phoenix Suns107-151Xavier McDaniel (26)Seattle Center Coliseum
9,790		38–33
72April 5, 1988
7:30 pm PDT		@ L.A. LakersL 90–94Tom Chambers (21)The Forum
17,505		38–34
73April 6Golden State Warriors102-114Derrick McKey (18)Seattle Center Coliseum
9,520		39–34
74April 8Portland Trail Blazers100-114Xavier McDaniel (34)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,438		40–34
75April 9Houston Rockets108-104Xavier McDaniel (27)Seattle Center Coliseum
13,584		40–35
76April 13Los Angeles Clippers92-113Xavier McDaniel (23)Seattle Center Coliseum
Not announced		41–35
77April 15Dallas Mavericks88-115Alton Lister (19)Seattle Center Coliseum
12,576		42–35
78April 16vs Phoenix Suns121-119 (OT)Sedale Threatt (31)Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
11,406		42–36
79April 19vs Denver Nuggets134-114Tom Chambers (29)McNichols Sports Arena
14,478		42–37
80April 20Phoenix Suns98-121Dale Ellis (24)Seattle Center Coliseum
Not announced		43–37
81April 22Utah Jazz110-109Dale Ellis (20)Seattle Center Coliseum
14,250		43–38
82April 24vs Los Angeles Clippers100-109Russ Schoene
Tom Chambers
(20)		Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Not announced		44–38
1987–88 season schedule
  • Green background indicates win.
  • Red background indicates loss.

Playoffs
1988 playoff game log
First round: 2–3 (home: 1–1; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 29 @ Denver L 123–126 Tom Chambers (29) Xavier McDaniel (10) McDaniel, McMillan (8) McNichols Sports Arena
17,022		 0–1
2 May 1 @ Denver W 111–91 Dale Ellis (24) Xavier McDaniel (17) Nate McMillan (6) McNichols Sports Arena
17,022		 1–1
3 May 3 Denver L 114–125 Tom Chambers (34) Xavier McDaniel (12) Nate McMillan (9) Seattle Center Coliseum
14,250		 1–2
4 May 5 Denver W 127–117 Xavier McDaniel (27) Derrick McKey (7) Danny Young (8) Seattle Center Coliseum
14,250		 2–2
5 May 7 @ Denver L 96–115 Tom Chambers (23) Alton Lister (8) Xavier McDaniel (5) Seattle Center Coliseum
16,040		 2–3
1988 schedule

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
Tom Chambers828232.7.448.303.8076.02.61.1.620.4
Dale Ellis757337.2.503.413.7674.52.61.0.125.8
Clemon Johnson74269.8.467.000.6882.4.2.2.31.6
Alton Lister825522.1.504.500.6067.6.7.31.75.6
Xavier McDaniel787734.7.488.280.7156.63.41.2.721.4
Derrick McKey82420.8.491.367.7724.01.3.9.88.5
Nate McMillan828229.9.474.375.7074.18.62.1.67.6
Olden Polynice82013.2.465.000.6394.0.4.4.34.1
Russ Schoene81212.0.458.293.8102.4.7.5.26.0
Sedale Threatt126013.6.519.143.8331.32.01.3.27.5
Sam Vincent143012.7.474.385.7671.13.2.5.14.5
Kevin Williams80913.6.442.143.8441.61.2.8.16.3
Danny Young77012.3.408.286.8111.02.8.7.03.2
1.^ Statistics with the SuperSonics.

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Tom Chambers525.8.549.000.8296.22.2.6.225.8
Dale Ellis534.4.482.250.7244.63.0.6.420.8
Clemon Johnson57.8.429.000.5001.4.0.2.21.4
Alton Lister515.4.706.000.8005.81.0.21.05.6
Xavier McDaniel536.0.556.500.5009.65.0.6.221.2
Derrick McKey521.8.632.333.5884.01.6.61.012.0
Nate McMillan525.4.343.000.6434.26.6.4.66.6
Olden Polynice513.2.455.000.0001.6.0.6.02.0
Russ Schoene57.8.583.500.0001.4.4.2.03.2
Sedale Threatt516.0.412.0001.0002.22.2.2.06.4
Kevin Williams514.0.438.000.0001.61.8.6.02.8
Danny Young519.0.524.0001.0002.03.8.4.46.4

Awards and records

Awards

Transactions

Overview
Players Added

Via draft

Via free agency

Via trade

 Players Lost

Via free agency

Via trade

Via waiver

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
2.^ Received a conditional 1990 second round pick as compensation.
3.^ Suspended on December 6, 1987 due to failed mandatory drug counseling; later retired altogether.

References
  1. "1987-88 Seattle SuperSonics Salaries". Basketball Reference. Basketball Reference.

See also
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