1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics season was the inaugural season for the expansion Seattle SuperSonics franchise in the National Basketball Association. The team's official arena was the Seattle Center Coliseum.

With a team built in its majority from the 1967 expansion draft featuring Walt Hazzard and six-year veteran Tom Meschery, and with Al Bianchi at the head coach position, the Sonics finished the season with a 23–59 record and fifth place in the Western Division, six games behind the Chicago Bulls, and did not qualify to enter the playoffs.

Draft picks

Main articles: 1967 NBA draft and 1967 NBA Expansion Draft

The twelve-man roster for the 1967–68 season consisted of three rookies from the 1967 NBA Draft and nine players from the expansion draft. Al Bianchi's choice of player-coach Richie Guerin from the St. Louis Hawks came as a surprise to most, since Guerin had already announced his retirement, and thus did not play for the Sonics. He would return for the 1968–69 season to play for the relocated Atlanta Hawks after Seattle traded him in the offseason. Selecting Tom Meschery from the San Francisco Warriors was made possible after the Warriors unprotected him for the draft, after Meschery informed the San Francisco front office that he desired to join the Peace Corps. Seattle's offer, however, was accepted by Meschery. The SuperSonics planned to sign former Seattle University player Charlie Williams before the start of the regular season, but league rules prohibited the Seattle franchise to offer him a contract, since Williams was expelled from college after a point shaving scandal.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	6	Al Tucker	SF	United States	Oklahoma Baptist
2	19	Bob Rule	C / PF	United States	Colorado State
5	54	Plummer Lott	SF / SG	United States	Seattle

Roster

1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
F/C	10	Akin, Henry	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1944–07–31	Morehead State
PG	42	Hazzard, Walt	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1942–04–15	UCLA
SG	11	Kron, Tommy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1943–02–28	Kentucky
SF	43	Lott, Plummer	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1945–12–11	Seattle
PF	14	Meschery, Tom	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1938–10–26	Saint Mary's
F/C	41	Murrey, Dorie	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1943–09–07	Detroit Mercy
F/C	24	Olsen, Bud	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1940–07–25	Louisville
F/C	45	Rule, Bob	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1944–06–29	Colorado State
SG	44	Thorn, Rod	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1941–05–23	West Virginia
SF	33	Tucker, Al	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1943–02–24	Oklahoma Baptist
PG	12	Weiss, Bob	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1942–05–07	Penn State
C	15	Wilson, George	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1942–05–09	Cincinnati

Head coach

Al Bianchi

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Seattle kicked off the regular season with a game against the San Francisco Warriors on October 13 at the Cow Palace, where they fell 114–116. Walt Hazzard had a high scoring debut, leading the Sonics' offense with 30 points, followed by Tom Meschery with 26. After a week off, the Sonics played in consecutive days against the other expansion franchise, the San Diego Rockets, splitting the series and thus winning their first regular season game in franchise history. After two streaks of four and eight straight losses, the Sonics found themselves quickly near the bottom of the Western Division by the end of the first four weeks of competition. A few surprising results stood out, including their only victory against Bill Russell's Boston Celtics in a double-header in Philadelphia, with the Celtics trailing by as much as 44 points after the first half, and an outstanding performance by rookie Bob Rule, with 47 points in a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers. On the other hand, the SuperSonics were on the losing end of two NBA scoring records. First, in December with a 122–160 loss against defending champions Philadelphia 76ers, that set a new NBA record for most points by a team in a quarter and a 123–154 loss against the Lakers on January that tied a franchise record for Los Angeles for most points in a game. With six games left in the regular season the Sonics were behind two games from the Chicago Bulls in a last effort to obtain a berth in the playoffs, But in spite of defeating the Bulls in two of those six games, Chicago managed to pull away with the fourth place in the Western Division and the last spot in the playoff race, six games above the Sonics.

The SuperSonics registered an attendance of 202,263 during the regular season, the sixth best in the league in that regard. Walt Hazzard was selected to represent the West in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game and Bob Rule and Al Tucker were selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Season standings

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-St. Louis Hawks	56	26	.683	–	25–7	22–13	9–6	31–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers	52	30	.634	4	30–11	18–19	4–0	28–12
x-San Francisco Warriors	43	39	.524	13	27–14	16–23	0–2	24–16
x-Chicago Bulls	29	53	.354	27	11–22	12–24	6–7	11–29
Seattle SuperSonics	23	59	.280	33	10–21	7–24	6–14	15–25
San Diego Rockets	15	67	.183	41	8–33	4–26	3–8	11–29

Record vs. opponents

1967–68 NBA records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	CIN	DET	LAL	NYK	PHI	SDR	SFW	SEA	STL
Baltimore	–	3–5	2–5	5–3	4–4	3–4	3–5	0–8	7–0	2–5	5–2	2–5
Boston	5–3	–	5–2	3–5	6–2	4–3	6–2	4–4	7–0	4–3	6–1	4–3
Chicago	5–2	2–5	–	5–2	3–4	1–7	2–5	1–6	4–4	2–6	3–5	1–7
Cincinnati	3–5	5–3	2–5	–	4–4	1–6	3–5	3–5	7–0	4–3	6–1	1–6
Detroit	4–4	2–6	4–3	4–4	–	2–5	4–4	1–7	5–2	4–3	6–1	4–3
Los Angeles	4–3	3–4	7–1	6–1	5–2	–	4–3	2–5	7–1	4–4	4–4	6–2
New York	5–3	2–6	5–2	5–3	4–4	3–4	–	3–5	6–1	5–2	4–3	1–6
Philadelphia	8–0	4–4	6–1	5–3	7–1	5–2	5–3	–	6–1	4–3	7–0	5–2
San Diego	0–7	0–7	4–4	0–7	2–5	1–7	1–6	1–6	–	2–6	3–5	1–7
San Francisco	5–2	3–4	6–2	3–4	3–4	4–4	2–5	3–4	6–2	–	7–1	1–7
Seattle	2–5	1–6	5–3	1–6	1–6	4–4	3–4	0–7	5–3	1–7	–	0–8
St. Louis	5–2	3–4	7–1	6–1	3–4	2–6	6–1	2–5	7–1	7–1	8–0	—

Game log

2012–13 game log
Total: 23–59 (Home: 10–21; Road: 7–23; Neutral: 6–15)

October: 2–6 (home: 1–2; road: 1–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 13	@ San Francisco	L 116–144	Walt Hazzard (30)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 5,619	0–1
2	October 20	San Diego	L 114–121	Walt Hazzard (32)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,473	0–2
3	October 21	@ San Diego	W 117–110 (OT)	Walt Hazzard (22)	San Diego Sports Arena 5,413	1–2
4	October 22	Cincinnati	L 94–106	Walt Hazzard (27)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,116	1–3
5	October 24	Baltimore	L 125–136	Bob Rule (25)	Portland, Oregon 1,533	1–4
6	October 27	@ Philadelphia	L 115–132	Bob Rule (18)	The Spectrum 4,352	1–5
7	October 28	@ St. Louis	L 109–116	Tommy Kron (21)	Kiel Auditorium 5,218	1–6
8	October 31	Chicago	W 114–104	Walt Hazzard (34)	Seattle Center Coliseum 3,109	2–6

November : 5–11 (home: 3–1; road: 2–10)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
9	November 1	San Diego	L 125–139	Al Tucker (23)	Portland, Oregon 2,593	2–7
10	November 2	Chicago	L 105–109	Bob Rule (27)	Spokane, Washington 1,051	2–8
11	November 3	New York	L 100–134	Walt Hazzard (19)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,654	2–9
12	November 7	@ San Francisco	L 112–126	Bob Weiss (20)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 3,168	2–10
13	November 8	@ St. Louis	L 96–111	Walt Hazzard (20)	Kiel Auditorium 3,022	2–11
14	November 9	Detroit	L 118–119	Walt Hazzard (33)	Madison Square Garden	2–12
15	November 11	@ Baltimore	L 129–134	Walt Hazzard (26)	Baltimore Civic Center 4,685	2–13
16	November 14	Boston	L 111–114	Bob Weiss (29)	Madison Square Garden	2–14
17	November 17	San Diego	W 130–124	Walt Hazzard (30)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,162	3–14
18	November 19	Detroit	W 132–130 (OT)	Bob Rule (31)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,468	4–14
19	November 20	Detroit	L 118–120	Bob Weiss (27)	Tacoma, Washington 2,311	4–15
20	November 21	L. A. Lakers	W 137–132	Bob Rule (47)	Seattle Center Coliseum 8,122	5–15
21	November 23	Boston	W 133–106	Bob Rule (26)	Philadelphia	6–15
22	November 25	Cincinnati	L 133–153	Walt Hazzard (19)	Cleveland, Ohio 3,455	6–16
23	November 25	@ New York	L 110–111	Walt Hazzard (21)	Madison Square Garden 9,011	6–17
24	November 28	@ Chicago	W 111–108	Three players (20)	Chicago Stadium 1,659	7–17

December : 4–14 (home: 2–8; road: 2–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
25	December 1	Philadelphia	L 109–133	Bob Rule (29)	Boston	7–18
26	December 3	St. Louis	L 109–123	Tom Meschery (23)	Seattle Center Coliseum 7,938	7–19
27	December 5	@ San Francisco	L 121–133	Walt Hazzard (29)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 2,306	7–20
28	December 8	Chicago	L 114–115	Walt Hazzard, Bob Rule (21)	Seattle Center Coliseum 3,835	7–21
29	December 10	L. A. Lakers	W 133–123	Al Tucker (35)	Seattle Center Coliseum 7,006	8–21
30	December 12	Philadelphia	L 107–118	Al Tucker (27)	New York City	8–22
31	December 15	@ Chicago	W 122–115	Walt Hazzard (36)	Chicago Stadium 1,686	9–22
32	December 17	Philadelphia	L 124–139	Rod Thorn (22)	Seattle Center Coliseum 11,294	9–23
33	December 18	Detroit	L 122–140	Rod Thorn (29)	Tacoma, Washington 1,658	9–24
34	December 19	Boston	L 114–118	Walt Hazzard (37)	Seattle Center Coliseum 6,889	9–25
35	December 20	Philadelphia	L 122–160	Walt Hazzard (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 7,714	9–26
36	December 22	New York	W 120–108	Al Tucker (31)	Seattle Center Coliseum 8,515	10–26
37	December 23	@ San Francisco	L 124–131	Walt Hazzard (19)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 3,862	10–27
38	December 24	San Francisco	L 113–127	Walt Hazzard (20)	Seattle Center Coliseum 6,226	10–28
39	December 25	@ Cincinnati	L 112–118	Rod Thorn (26)	Cincinnati Gardens 3,323	10–29
40	December 26	New York	W 137–135	Walt Hazzard (37)	Philadelphia	11–29
41	December 28	San Diego	L 125–143	Walt Hazzard (45)	Seattle Center Coliseum 5,889	11–30
42	December 31	San Francisco	L 124–126	Walt Hazzard (26)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,591	11–31

January : 5–7 (home: 1–3; road: 4–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
43	January 1	St. Louis	L 94–115	Walt Hazzard (17)	Seattle Center Coliseum 3,604	11–32
44	January 5	Boston	L 121–128	Bob Rule (31)	Seattle Center Coliseum 9,188	11–33
45	January 6	@ San Diego	W 122–104	Walt Hazzard (28)	San Diego Sports Arena 6,738	12–33
46	January 8	New York	L 113–119	Tom Meschery (24)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,548	12–34
47	January 10	@ Boston	L 110–123	Walt Hazzard	Boston Garden 3,701	12–35
48	January 15	New York	W 129–113	Walt Hazzard (24)	Boston	13–35
49	January 16	Baltimore	W 142–116	Tom Meschery (33)	Chicago, Illinois 3,500	14–35
50	January 19	@ Detroit	L 119–133	Walt Hazzard (41)	Cobo Arena 5,887	14–36
51	January 20	@ St. Louis	L 115–120	Walt Hazzard (25)	Kiel Auditorium 5,118	14–37
52	January 21	@ L. A. Lakers	L 123–154	Walt Hazzard (24)	The Forum 9,262	14–38
53	January 28	Baltimore	W 135–126	Walt Hazzard (23)	Tacoma, Washington 3,181	15–38
54	January 30	L. A. Lakers	W 128–116	Walt Hazzard (31)	Seattle Center Coliseum 6,262	16–38

February : 4–10 (home: 2–2; road: 2–8)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
55	February 1	St. Louis	L 110–113	Rod Thorn (32)	Seattle Center Coliseum 5,564	16–39
56	February 2	@ L. A. Lakers	L 113–151	Walt Hazzard, Bob Rule (17)	The Forum 12,021	16–40
57	February 4	@ L. A. Lakers	L 131–137	Tom Meschery (28)	The Forum 7,796	16–41
58	February 5	Cincinnati	W 132–129 (OT)	Walt Hazzard (45)	Phoenix, Arizona 4,680	17–41
59	February 8	L. A. Lakers	W 115–110	Walt Hazzard (31)	Seattle Center Coliseum 6,526	18–41
60	February 11	San Francisco	W 146–118	Walt Hazzard (29)	Seattle Center Coliseum 9,505	19–41
61	February 14	Philadelphia	L 125–149	Walt Hazzard (25)	Seattle Center Coliseum 9,449	19–42
62	February 15	@ Cincinnati	L 119–132	Walt Hazzard (31)	Cincinnati Gardens 2,306	19–43
63	February 16	@ Baltimore	L 118–147	Walt Hazzard (30)	Baltimore Civic Center 3,748	19–44
64	February 17	@ New York	L 111–134	Bob Weiss (22)	Madison Square Garden 13,256	19–45
65	February 20	@ Philadelphia	L 108–140	Walt Hazzard (25)	The Spectrum 6,417	19–46
66	February 21	Chicago	L 106–108	Walt Hazzard, Rod Thorn (25)	Baltimore, Maryland	19–47
67	February 23	@ San Diego	W 127–122	Walt Hazzard (31)	San Diego Sports Arena 4,834	20–47
68	February 24	Boston	L 137–141	Walt Hazzard (38)	Vancouver, Canada 8,129	20–48

March : 3–11 (home: 1–5; road: 2–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location Attendance	Record
69	March 2	@ L. A. Lakers	L 121–127	Walt Hazzard (31)	The Forum 11,335	20–49
70	March 3	Cincinnati	L 128–138	Rod Thorn (22)	Seattle Center Coliseum 8,894	20–50
71	March 5	Baltimore	L 121–126	Tommy Kron (27)	Seattle Center Coliseum 4,939	20–51
72	March 7	St. Louis	L 133–150	Walt Hazzard, Rod Thorn (29)	Portland, Oregon 2,428	20–52
73	March 8	Baltimore	L 116–122	Tom Meschery (30)	Olympia, Washington 4,012	20–53
74	March 9	@ San Diego	W 115–111	Tom Meschery (23)	San Diego Sports Arena 6,331	21–53
75	March 10	San Francisco	L 112–118	Al Tucker (28)	Seattle Center Coliseum 5,536	21–54
76	March 11	Boston	L 112–119	Tom Meschery (22)	Seattle Center Coliseum 8,136	21–55
77	March 12	@ Detroit	L 123–139	Tommy Kron (24)	Cobo Arena 5,304	21–56
78	March 13	@ Cincinnati	L 123–142	Bob Rule (46)	Cincinnati Gardens 4,958	21–57
79	March 15	@ Chicago	W 113–101	Walt Hazzard (21)	Chicago Stadium 3,426	22–57
80	March 16	@ St. Louis	L 106–124	Walt Hazzard (24)	Kiel Auditorium 7,665	22–58
81	March 18	Detroit	L 82–88	Walt Hazzard (22)	Seattle Center Coliseum 6,244	22–59
82	March 19	Chicago	W 122–104	Walt Hazzard (36)	Seattle Center Coliseum 10,429	23–59

1967–68 season schedule

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

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Henry Akin	36	–	7.2	.336	–	.645	1.6	.4	–	–	3.1
Walt Hazzard	79	–	33.7	.441	–	.774	4.2	6.2	–	–	24.0
Tommy Kron	76	–	23.6	.396	–	.790	4.7	3.7	–	–	9.7
Plummer Lott	44	–	10.9	.311	–	.613	2.1	.8	–	–	2.5
Tom Meschery	82	–	34.8	.469	–	.707	10.2	2.4	–	–	14.5
Dorie Murrey	81	–	18.4	.436	–	.689	7.4	.8	–	–	7.3
Bud Olsen	73	–	12.3	.456	–	.274	2.8	1.0	–	–	3.8
Bob Rule	82	–	29.6	.489	–	.658	9.5	1.2	–	–	18.1
Rod Thorn	66	–	25.3	.451	–	.737	4.0	3.5	–	–	15.2
Al Tucker	81	–	29.2	.442	–	.707	7.5	1.4	–	–	13.1
Bob Weiss	82	–	19.7	.430	–	.839	1.8	4.2	–	–	9.8
George Wilson	77	–	16.1	.359	–	.703	6.1	.7	–	–	6.1

Awards and records

Al Tucker and Bob Rule earned NBA All-Rookie First Team selections
Walt Hazzard played for the West in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game held at Madison Square Garden in New York City

References

Associated Press (May 4, 1967). Meschery Going to Seattle, The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
"Seattle Makes Sure Guerin Stays Retired". The Free Lance–Star. Associated Press. May 2, 1967. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
"Meschery signs to play with Sonics". The Bulletin. May 4, 1967. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
"Sonics Lose Sweet Charlie". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. September 2, 1967. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
United Press International (September 1, 1967) Williams Says Ruling Wrecked Hopes of Pro Basketball Play, The Modesto Bee. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
Associated Press (October 14, 1967). Oaks Win in ABA Debut; Warriors Trounce Seattle, The Portsmouth Times. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
Seattle SuperSonics at San Francisco Warriors Box Score, October 13, 1967. Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
^ 1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics Schedule and Results. Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
United Press International (November 15, 1967). Coaches of Royals and Bulls Having It Tough, The Dispatch. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
Ralph Bernstein, Associated Press (November 24, 1967). You Had to See It to Know It Wasn't a Joke, Lewiston Evening Journal. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
Seattle SuperSonics vs Boston Celtics Box Score, November 23, 1967. Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
United Press International (November 22, 1967). Rule Scores 47 as Seattle Halts Los Angeles Lakers, The Beaver County Times. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
Associated Press (December 21, 1967). Sonics Pounded–Mightily, Ellensburg Daily Record. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
United Press International (January 22, 1968). Baylor & West Set Scoring Record As Lakers Dump Sonics, The Bryan Times. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
Associated Press (March 12, 1968). Bulls Nearing Playoff Spot, Spokane Daily Chronicle. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
Bulls Clinch Playoff Spot With Victory, The Beaver County Times. March 14, 1968. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
1967–68 Seattle SuperSonics Roster and Statistics. Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
Associated Press (January 23, 1968). West Stars—Lost Their Glitter?, Meriden Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
Monroe Leads All-Rookie Five, The Washington Afro American. April 9, 1968. Retrieved June 24, 2012.

v t e 1967–68 NBA season by team
1967 NBA expansion draft 1967 NBA draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions
Eastern	Baltimore Boston Cincinnati Detroit New York Philadelphia
Western	Chicago Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco Seattle St. Louis