Background: After years of early playoff heartbreaks, frustrations, disappointments, and exits, the City of Seattle fully expected their beloved SuperSonics to finally reach their true potential and take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 1996 for the first time since the 1979 team did so. After coming up one game short of winning the Conference Finals to Phoenix in 1993 fans truly believed Head Coach George Karl and his boys were on the fast track to Championship gold. Yet first round exits to Denver in 1994 and Los Angeles in 1995 had cranked up the heat on Karl and his team to finally quit wasting time and bring Seattle the trophy they so desperately craved. 
Led by the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year and All-Star Point Guard Gary Payton and rim shattering All-Star Forward Shawn Kemp the Sonics finished the regular season with a Franchise best 64-18 record. With sharpshooting Forward Detlef Shcrempf, sparkplug Hersey Hawkins, and big man Sam “Big Smooth” Perkins providing complimentary fire power to Seattle’s one-two punch in Payton and Kemp. Seattle four times in the ’96 season went on winning streaks that lasted five games or more, including a stretch in late February and into early March that saw the team win 14 straight.
Seattle ranked 2nd that year in points per game averaging 104.5 that year, as well as 4th in field goal percentage (.480). Not to mention all five guys in the SuperSonics starting lineup averaged in the double figures in points per game.
The Playoffs: Seattle lost one combined game in the first two rounds of the playoffs against Sacramento in the first round (3-1) and after sweeping the Houston Rockets four games to none. Their toughest test came agains the Jazz, who Seattle would be forced to finish off in seven grueling games to meet the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.
What went wrong: Bad luck played a part as to why Seattle didn’t walk away with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. They faced a revamped Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls team what lost only 10 games en route to a 72 win season and one of the greatest statistical seasons in NBA history. Seattle was within striking distance in both Game 1 and 2 of the Finals, even holding a 27-23 lead at the end of the first quarter in Game 2 but allowed the Bulls to take both contestants. The Sonics then went on to lose by 22 points in Game 3 and eventually would lose the series in 6 games to Chicago 4-2.
The moment of no return: After the 1996 Finals things began to rain down on the Sonics title window like a Seattle thunderstorm. Shawn Kemp wanted his deal that he signed in 1994 re-structured. Seattle instead opted to sign Free Agent Center Jim Mcilvane to a lucrative seven-year $33.6 million contract. This in turn angered Kemp as he held out of training camp for the first 22 days. At the end of the 1997 season the Sonics dealt Kemp to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Vin Baker of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Aftermath: The Sonics once again would go on to win the Pacific Division in both 1997 and 1998, but would be bounced in the second round of the playoffs in both seasons. George Karl would eventually be shown the door and the title window that once looked so promising was effectively closed by the end of the 90’s.
