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1979–80 Seattle SuperSonics season
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
NBA professional basketball team season
March 2026
August 2023
Seattle SuperSonics 1980 56 26 Pacific 2 3 Lenny Wilkens Zollie Volchok Sam Schulman KingdomeSeattle Center Coliseum (playoffs)Hec Edmundson Pavilion (playoffs) Conference finals(lost to Lakers 1–4) SEA KIRO-TV KIRO
The 1979–80 Seattle SuperSonics season was the SuperSonics' 13th season in the NBA.1979-80 Seattle SuperSonics The SuperSonics entered the season as the defending NBA champions, having defeated the Washington Bullets in five games in the 1979 NBA Finals, winning their first NBA championship.
In the playoffs, the SuperSonics defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in three games in the First Round, then defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games in the Semi-finals, before losing to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the conference finals.
Offseason
Draft
1979 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 6 James Bailey PF/C United States Rutgers 1 7 Vinnie Johnson SG/PG United States Baylor 2 43 Johnny Moore PG United States Texas 4 73 James Donaldson C United Kingdom Washington State 4 87 Richie Allen F United States Cal State Dominguez Hills
Roster
Seattle SuperSonics 1979–80
20 James Bailey basketball PF 6 9 220 1957–05–21 Rutgers
32 Fred Brown basketball SG 6 3 182 1948–08–07 Iowa
24 Dennis Johnson SG 6 4 185 1954–09–18 Pepperdine
27 John Johnson basketball, born 1947 SF 6 7 200 1947–10–18 Iowa
15 Vinnie Johnson SG 6 2 200 1956–09–01 Baylor
23 Tom LaGarde C 6 10 220 1955–02–10 North Carolina
8 Lonnie Shelton PF 6 8 240 1955–10–19 Oregon State
43 Jack Sikma C 6 11 230 1955–11–14 Illinois Wesleyan
36 Paul Silas PF 6 7 220 1943–07–12 Creighton
42 Wally Walker SF 6 7 190 1954–07–18 Virginia
1 Gus Williams basketball PG 6 2 175 1953–10–10 USC
Lenny Wilkens Les Habegger https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1980.html October 11, 1979
Standings
SEA
SEA
Game log
Regular season
G Date Opponent Score Record 1 October 14 @ San Diego L 93–98 0–1 2 October 16 @ Phoenix L 86–102 0–2 3 October 17 Los Angeles W 112–110 1–2 4 October 19 San Diego W 106–98 2–2 5 October 21 @ Los Angeles L 97–106 2–3 6 October 24 Kansas City W 105–92 3–3 7 October 26 Phoenix L 86–92 3–4 8 October 27 @ San Diego L 105–110 3–5 9 October 28 Chicago W 108–97 4–5 10 October 31 Denver W 97–89 5–5 11 November 2 San Antonio W 117–107 6–5 12 November 4 @ Milwaukee W 114–101 7–5 13 November 6 @ Chicago W 114–97 8–5 14 November 7 @ Denver L 92–113 8–6 15 November 10 @ Utah W 88–87 9–6 16 November 14 Milwaukee W 136–117 10–6 17 November 16 Cleveland W 108–100 11–6 18 November 17 @ Golden State W 108–103 12–6 19 November 18 @ Portland L 95–100 12–7 20 November 21 Los Angeles W 119–110 13–7 21 November 23 Portland W 94–90 14–7 22 November 28 Phoenix W 127–116 15–7 23 November 30 @ Kansas City W 107–102 (OT) 16–7 24 December 1 @ Utah L 95–97 16–825 December 2 Golden State W 111–98 17–8 26 December 5 Utah W 115–96 18–8 27 December 8 @ Golden State W 125–100 19–8 28 December 9 Chicago L 112–121 19–9 29 December 11 @ Milwaukee W 103–99 20–9 30 December 12 @ Indiana W 112–107 21–9 31 December 14 Houston W 109–101 22–9 32 December 16 Denver W 123–121 23–9 33 December 19 New Jersey L 114–122 23–10 34 December 21 New York W 121–102 24–10 35 December 23 @ Los Angeles L 97–102 24–11 36 December 26 San Diego W 124–104 25–11 37 December 28 Portland W 126–97 26–11 38 December 30 @ Portland W 107–100 27–11 39 January 2 Washington L 134–139 (2OT) 27–12 40 January 4 Detroit W 123–105 28–12 41 January 5 @ Golden State W 121–112 29–12 42 January 6 @ San Diego L 103–105 29–13 43 January 8 Indiana W 120–111 30–13 44 January 11 Utah W 100–90 31–13 45 January 12 @ Denver W 105–102 32–13 46 January 13 Golden State W 109–101 33–13 47 January 15 @ Washington W 120–100 34–13 48 January 18 @ New York W 124–117 35–13 49 January 20 @ Boston W 108–106 (2OT) 36–13 50 January 23 @ Atlanta W 98–96 37–13 51 January 25 @ San Antonio L 116–125 37–14 52 January 26 @ Houston L 111–123 37–15 53 January 30 Kansas City L 97–99 37–16 54 January 31 Milwaukee W 105–101 38–16 55 February 5 @ Cleveland W 123–121 39–16 56 February 7 @ Detroit W 119–102 40–16 57 February 8 @Philadelphia W 109–94 41–16 58 February 10 @ New Jersey W 122–107 42–16 59 February 13 Atlanta W 93–86 43–16 60 February 14 Denver W 93–84 44–16 61 February 17 Boston W 109–108 45–16 62 February 19 @ Chicago L 106–115 45–17 63 February 20 @ Kansas City L 105–107 45–18 64 February 23 @ Utah W 105–95 46–18 65 February 26 @ Los Angeles L 108–131 46–19 66 February 27 Philadelphia L 98–101 (OT) 46–20 67 February 29 Chicago W 108–101 47–20 68 March 2 Utah W 103–91 48–20 69 March 4 @ Portland W 98–97 49–20 70 March 5 @ Phoenix L 111–127 49–21 71 March 8 @ Denver W 104–97 50–21 72 March 9 @ Kansas City L 93–113 50–22 73 March 12 @ Milwaukee L 103–112 50–23 74 March 14 @ Chicago W 122–101 51–23 75 March 19 Milwaukee L 106–108 51–24 76 March 21 San Diego W 107–104 52–24 77 March 22 Los Angeles L 92–97 52–25 78 March 23 Kansas City W 112–90 53–25 79 March 25 Phoenix W 104–95 54–25 80 March 26 @ Phoenix L 99–109 54–26 81 March 28 Golden State W 108–82 55–26 82 March 30 Portland W 135–104 56–26
Playoffs
Seattle SuperSonics yes 1980
Seattle SuperSonics First round yes yes no 2 0 0 1
|-
| 1
| April 2
| Portland
| W 120–110
| Gus Williams (35)
| three players tied (8)
| Gus Williams (6)
| Kingdome26,412
| 1–0
|-
| 2
| April 4
| @ Portland
| L 95–105 (OT)
| Dennis Johnson (24)
| Lonnie Shelton (12)
| Gus Williams (8)
| Memorial Coliseum12,666
| 1–1
|-
| 3
| April 6
| Portland
| W 103–86
| Gus Williams (21)
| John Johnson (8)
| Williams, D. Johnson (6)
| Kingdome23,546
| 2–1
|-
Seattle SuperSonics Conference Semi-finals yes no 2 2 2 1
|-
| 1
| April 8
| Milwaukee
| W 114–113 (OT)
| Gus Williams (30)
| Jack Sikma (11)
| John Johnson (6)
| Seattle Center Coliseum13,648
| 1–0
|-
| 2
| April 9
| Milwaukee
| L 112–114 (OT)
| Lonnie Shelton (25)
| Lonnie Shelton (9)
| Williams, J. Johnson (7)
| Seattle Center Coliseum14,050
| 1–1
|-
| 3
| April 11
| @ Milwaukee
| L 91–95
| Jack Sikma (20)
| Jack Sikma (13)
| Williams, J. Johnson (7)
| MECCA Arena10,938
| 1–2
|-
| 4
| April 13
| @ Milwaukee
| W 112–107
| Gus Williams (32)
| Lonnie Shelton (15)
| John Johnson (7)
| MECCA Arena10,938
| 2–2
|-
| 5
| April 15
| Milwaukee
| L 97–108
| Gus Williams (22)
| Jack Sikma (9)
| Dennis Johnson (7)
| Kingdome40,172
| 2–3
|-
| 6
| April 18
| @ Milwaukee
| W 86–85
| Dennis Johnson (18)
| Paul Silas (14)
| John Johnson (7)
| MECCA Arena10,938
| 3–3
|-
| 7
| April 20
| Milwaukee
| W 98–94
| Gus Williams (33)
| Lonnie Shelton (15)
| Dennis Johnson (5)
| Seattle Center Coliseum14,050
| 4–3
|-
Seattle SuperSonics Conference finals yes no 0 2 1 2
|-
| 1
| April 22
| @ Los Angeles
| W 108–107
| Gus Williams (28)
| Lonnie Shelton (9)
| John Johnson (9)
| The Forum17,505
| 1–0
|-
| 2
| April 23
| @ Los Angeles
| L 99–108
| Gus Williams (24)
| Jack Sikma (11)
| Jack Sikma (8)
| The Forum17,505
| 1–1
|-
| 3
| April 25
| Los Angeles
| L 100–104
| Gus Williams (23)
| John Johnson (9)
| Gus Williams (11)
| Hec Edmundson Pavilion8,524
| 1–2
|-
| 4
| April 27
| Los Angeles
| L 93–98
| Gus Williams (25)
| Dennis Johnson (9)
| Gus Williams (7)
| Hec Edmundson Pavilion8,524
| 1–3
|-
| 5
| April 30
| @ Los Angeles
| L 105–111
| Dennis Johnson (29)
| Jack Sikma (9)
| Williams, J. Johnson (6)
| The Forum17,505
| 1–4
|-
SEA yes 1980
Player statistics
Regular season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Bailey, James James Bailey67 10.8.450 .6732.9.4.3.84.7 Brown, Fred Fred Brown80 21.3.479.443.8371.92.2.8.212.0 Johnson, Dennis Dennis Johnson81 36.3.422.207.7805.14.11.81.019.0 Johnson, John John Johnson81 31.3.488 .8015.35.2.9.411.3 Johnson, Vinnie Vinnie Johnson38 8.6.391.000.7951.41.4.5.13.2 LaGarde, Tom Tom LaGarde82 14.2.477 .6573.81.1.2.44.7 Shelton, Lonnie Lonnie Shelton76 29.5.530.200.7637.71.91.21.013.6 Sikma, Jack Jack Sikma82 34.1.475.000.80511.13.4.8.914.3 Silas, Paul Paul Silas82 19.5.378 .6545.3.8.3.13.8 Walker, Wally Wally Walker70 12.1.507 .7502.4.8.3.14.7 Williams, Gus Gus Williams82 36.2.482.194.7883.44.82.4.522.1
Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Bailey, James James Bailey12 11.5.477.000.6502.1.4.8.84.6 Brown, Fred Fred Brown15 20.9.440.294.8572.52.1.1.112.5 Johnson, Dennis Dennis Johnson15 38.8.410.333.8394.33.81.8.717.1 Johnson, John John Johnson15 32.4.494.000.8116.85.7.5.212.4 Johnson, Vinnie Vinnie Johnson5 2.4.333 .4.4.2.0.4 LaGarde, Tom Tom LaGarde14 11.6.370 .8182.9.9.1.03.1 Shelton, Lonnie Lonnie Shelton15 31.3.507.000.6278.31.71.5.812.0 Sikma, Jack Jack Sikma15 35.6.399.000.8528.43.71.1.311.7 Silas, Paul Paul Silas15 17.1.302 .8465.01.0.6.12.5 Walker, Wally Wally Walker13 12.1.514 .7502.2.5.1.24.2 Williams, Gus Gus Williams15 37.6.514.200.7214.05.62.3.523.7
Awards and records
Dennis Johnson, All-NBA Second Team
Gus Williams, All-NBA Second Team
Dennis Johnson, NBA All-Defensive First Team
Transactions
October 19, 1979
Waived Joe Hassett.
Waived Jackie Robinson.
October 11, 1979
Waived Dennis Awtrey.
See also
1979-80 NBA season
References
Category:Seattle SuperSonics seasons
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