Uninterrupted- The Real Stories of Basketball Episode 1
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00:00The 1996 NBA season marked the pinnacle of a pair of the most dominant teammates in NBA
00:11history.
00:12They were a cultural phenomenon.
00:14From a standpoint of how basketball was being played at that time, at that moment, we were
00:21definitely a championship basketball team.
00:24The Peyton and Kemp dynamic, that was just, you couldn't top that.
00:29Led by the Rain Man and the Glove.
00:32I throw it this way, I throw it this way, and he'll go get it.
00:37To Gary!
00:38Oh!
00:39Oh, the Tomahawk jab from the Rain Man!
00:41Me and Gary realized that we wanted to win so bad, when I thought he was messing up,
00:46I'd get on him.
00:47When he thought I was messing up, people would be in my face.
00:50And it just started the chemistry, and then we started being that dynamic duo.
00:56You know, that's how you achieve everything that you want to achieve.
01:01You go into the championship.
01:03Gary Peyton and Sean Kemp.
01:07Don't get dunked on by Sean Kemp, and don't listen to Gary Peyton talking to R.C.
01:14I can only imagine what they would have been in today's game with social media.
01:18That is a brilliant basketball play.
01:21That is professional basketball at its best.
01:23When you think of the Sonics, you think of Gary Peyton and Sean Kemp for sure.
01:26This is the story of how Hall of Famer Gary Peyton and six-time all-star Sean Kemp
01:31created a lasting brotherhood in the Pacific Northwest
01:35and became one of the most popular dynamic duos of the 90s.
01:39Sean Kemp, Gary Peyton, tag team champions of the world!
01:44Full on.
01:45In my eyes, nobody could compete with that duo.
01:48Legendary players, iconic teams, and epic moments in hoops history
01:54that changed the culture forever.
01:56Journey into the heart and soul of the game, both on and off the court.
02:00This is Uninterrupted, the real stories of basketball.
02:05In 1989, the NBA broadcast its draft for the very first time.
02:10And many Seattle fans watching at home are stunned
02:13when their beloved Supersonics use their first-round pick
02:16to select a 19-year-old community college freshman named Sean Kemp.
02:21When I heard about Sean Kemp coming to the Sonics, my first reaction was, who?
02:26And I'm thinking, man, I don't know.
02:30Is this guy, like, going to pan out?
02:32Once I got drafted, I realized I had to go to work pretty fast.
02:37I'm Sean Kemp.
02:41I'm Sean Kemp.
02:43Got drafted, 17th pick, 1989.
02:46Coming from high school and you're going to the NBA,
02:49it's a pretty big deal.
02:50No one had done that in a number of years since Moses Malone, I believe.
02:55Here's Kemp.
02:58Kemp is joining a Supersonics team whose glory years are in the distant past.
03:03First joining the NBA as a franchise team in 1967.
03:08The Sonics were the first pro team to come to Seattle.
03:12And therefore, it was like, we're getting to the big time.
03:17Slowly but surely, we're getting to the big time.
03:20I'm Steve Kelly. I'm a sports journalist.
03:22And I covered the Sonics up here.
03:25After a slow start, the team eventually wins their first NBA championship in 1979
03:31under coach Lenny Wilkins
03:33and the guard duo of Dennis Johnson and Gus Williams.
03:38The Supersonics spend the next decade trying to reclaim their glory.
03:42In the early 80s and then onward for quite a while,
03:46the Sonics were in a downturn.
03:48Now, the pressure was on a 6'10 teenager
03:51who never played a minute of college basketball to turn it all around.
03:55Kemp comes off the bench as a rookie, averaging almost 14 minutes a game in 1989.
04:01You got to realize, you're facing these guys at 27, 30 years old.
04:05These guys are not really ready to give up these contracts and these jobs.
04:09It's not that easy.
04:10But fans and players can already see his future
04:14as both a starter and a huge impact player for the Supersonics.
04:18Once he got on the court, he just took over.
04:22First time I saw the man dunk, I was sold.
04:27Each and every game, he was going to put on a show.
04:30My name is Isaiah Thomas, born and raised from Tacoma, Washington.
04:3511-year NBA vet, two-time NBA All-Star.
04:39He was going to have the charisma, the energy,
04:42the stuff that I guess coaches and people in the basketball world say don't do
04:46after you make a big play.
04:48He was always celebrating, putting a little swag on anything that he's done.
04:55So I've seen a lot of the ability of Sean,
04:58and I said, he's just a freak of nature, and I wanted to play with him.
05:03And when the Sonics ask Sean to check out a talkative guard
05:07playing for the Oregon State Beavers named Gary Payton,
05:10the desire to play together becomes mutual.
05:13Sean watches as Gary cuts up the opposing team,
05:17scoring at will with a cocky attitude that invigorates the crowd.
05:21I think Gary scored 50 points.
05:23And I see this guy, he's out there yelling at the whole crowd.
05:26He talked crap to every member on their team, the coaching staff, and everything.
05:31We played against each other a few times.
05:35I am Detlef Schrumpf. I played for the Sonics 93 through 99.
05:39Gary Payton was all over the court.
05:42I handled the ball a lot, so he came over and always talked.
05:45So we had our exchanges.
05:48You go in there talking a lot of trash, a lot of smack talk,
05:52you would have to back it up. And that's what I had to do.
05:55I had to fight my way out of playing basketball.
05:57And when I did that, people gained respect for me.
06:03Well, my name is Gary Payton. I played for the Seattle Supersonics for 13 years.
06:08I really fell in love with his game, his attitude and everything.
06:12But I didn't know if we were going to really have a shot to draft him.
06:14So when things fell in place, when they finally called me and said,
06:17we got the number two pick, I was ecstatic.
06:20With the second pick in the 1990 NBA draft,
06:23the Seattle Supersonics select Gary Payton from Argonne State.
06:30There is Gary Payton. He is 6'4". He is an excellent guard.
06:36First thing I made was a call to John.
06:38I said, look here, we could be two great basketball players.
06:43We can make each other better. He said, as soon as you get here, we're going to do it.
06:48Once Gary joined the ranks, it was, I mean, teams didn't know what to do.
06:55Their chemistry was so good. You could tell they didn't rehearse anything.
06:58Like, Gary would just throw the ball up.
07:00And Sean would come out of thin air and bring it home with a thunder.
07:06My name is Jamal Crawford. I was born in Seattle, Washington.
07:09I played 20 years as a point guard.
07:13We're at the South Center Mall in Seattle.
07:15Myself, Dave, and my friend Will Conroy.
07:19And Gary's with all his friends.
07:21And us three, we walk up to him, I'm like, wow, that's Gary Payton.
07:24And he goes down the line of us three.
07:27And he tells Dave, I already beat you at my camp.
07:31He moves him to the side, he goes to Will.
07:34You're trash, I already beat you at my camp.
07:36Then I'm last, of course.
07:38And he looks at me and he lights me up.
07:41And he said, and you, you come see me.
07:44Because I'm hearing about all these moves you're doing, all these tricks you're doing.
07:47You can do this and that. We're going to play one-on-one.
07:50And if you beat me, I'll give you a million dollars.
07:53But if I beat you, you got to walk around your neighborhood naked.
07:57And I'm going to drive around in one of my trucks.
08:00And that was my introduction to GP.
08:03And then him being a big brother and being respectful.
08:06He actually came and saw me play a high school game.
08:09Gary was establishing himself as one of the toughest guards in the league.
08:14I learned the hard way when I talked a little trash to him when Dallas was playing Seattle.
08:22I told him to get that out of here.
08:24I blocked his shot and he looked back.
08:26And I thought, oh man, I woke up the monster.
08:29And he proceeds to go on like a 15-0 run.
08:32And I apologized to my teammates after the game that we lost that game because I said something to Gary.
08:37When you wake up the monster, man, there's no stopping him.
08:42Every guard that grew up here wanted to emulate Gary Payton.
08:45Wanted to emulate the trash talking.
08:47Wanted to emulate just his presence overall on the basketball floor.
08:51He didn't back down from anybody.
08:53And especially me. My whole thing growing up.
08:55I'm not going to back down from anybody.
08:57I'm the smallest guy on the floor. I'm going to talk the most junk.
09:00It was like I wanted to be Gary Payton knowing I wouldn't be 6'4".
09:04But knowing I can play with the energy and effort he played with.
09:07And most importantly, I got my trash talking game from Gary Payton.
09:11I can do anything I want out of here, boy.
09:15Anything, boy.
09:16Gary Payton was a good teammate.
09:18We had a lot of interesting discussions.
09:21Gary didn't really want to practice that much.
09:24So every practice was a heated discussion about him stepping on the court to join practice.
09:30Because he was sitting on the sideline commentating and talking trash.
09:34We usually got him out about halfway through when he ended up practicing.
09:37But it was literally every day.
09:39And thinking back, it was kind of crazy. But it was a lot of fun.
09:44You had these two guys that were just so in sync.
09:47I think they were the best tandem throughout that era.
09:50I told him, look, every time you know that I'm going after a ball, sprint.
09:56Just take off. Don't wait for nothing. Don't look.
09:59You know I'm going to get you the ball.
10:02Man, it was peanut butter and jelly time every time.
10:05I mean, it's just poetry in motion.
10:08Seattle fans are witnessing an exciting evolution of pro basketball.
10:11A frenetic style where players fly towards the basket and attack the ball.
10:16Especially against players like three-time All-Star Kevin Johnson.
10:20Earning Payton the nickname, The Glove.
10:24And I said, why are they calling me The Glove?
10:26They said, because you got Kevin Johnson.
10:28You smothering him just like a glove.
10:31And next you know, I got one of the best nicknames ever in basketball.
10:35And the athleticism of Kemp's dunks has fans calling him...
10:39The Rain Man.
10:42Well, The Rain Man came on. We were doing a poster.
10:46And a guy just came out there and said, we're going to call you The Rain Man.
10:51Yes, because you rain out of the sky with dunks.
10:54So all you do is dunk it.
10:57And at first I was like, no, I really didn't like it.
11:02But I was actually, I fell asleep that night and I woke up like in the middle of the night.
11:05And I was like, no, Rain Man, Rain Man.
11:08And then it really hit me.
11:10And then I said, you know what, I'm going to take it on.
11:13And he was like, man, I like that.
11:16So I kept The Rain Man.
11:18The game that we played in was so physical.
11:22Me and Gary had the force, the power.
11:25He would know if I'm pressuring somebody and I'm making him put the ball up and they're going to throw it, he can get a steal.
11:32And that's how it started to become a chemistry between us two.
11:36They were so much fun to watch.
11:39He and Gary Payton brought this team back.
11:42Those 90s years were, it was a blast.
11:47Fans just kept coming.
11:49In 1991, the Sonics had the fans.
11:51They had The Rain Man and The Glove.
11:54They were yet to achieve success.
11:56So the owners gave the duo an open door and Kemp and Payton walked through.
12:01The owner decided to pull me and Sean in and ask us, what did we want?
12:06Never happened with young players like that.
12:10But in 1992, it did.
12:12The coach that we had at the time at KC Jones was not our type of coach.
12:17So we needed a change.
12:19At the start of the 1991-92 season, fans in Seattle believe their newly revamped Supersonics will take them to basketball nirvana.
12:28But after a mediocre 18-18 start, the team looks for new coaching leadership.
12:34My name is George Matthew Carl.
12:38I played two years in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs.
12:42The past eight years, I've been coaching the Sonics.
12:44I played two years in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs.
12:47The pesky George Carl.
12:49And I've coached now 1,999 games in the NBA.
12:55George Carl's journey has brought him to Spain, where he is coaching Real Madrid and the La Liga ACB Spanish Basketball League.
13:03I get a phone call from my agent, Warren Lagare.
13:07And he says, Seattle wants you to come back and be an assistant coach.
13:12For KC Jones.
13:14And he told me the money.
13:16And would I be interested?
13:18Well, the money was one half of what I was making in Madrid.
13:22And the Madrid money was tax-free.
13:24And so I had to take a major pay cut.
13:26But my family and I talked about it.
13:28And I said, I will do it if KC Jones will call me and say he wants me.
13:35KC Jones didn't want me.
13:37I don't hold that against KC.
13:39I don't know KC.
13:40I don't hold that against KC.
13:42I don't know KC very well.
13:44And I thought it was OK.
13:46That's just the destiny of basketball.
13:49They were losing a lot.
13:51They go on to fire KC.
13:54And about a week later, they call, would you want to be their coach?
13:59And he offered me the job.
14:02I still was taking a pay cut to come back as their coach.
14:07For Carl, it's a homecoming.
14:08Back to the USA and the NBA.
14:11I leave Spain with my family.
14:15I'm going back to Seattle.
14:17I'm thinking I'm going to have to sign a contract.
14:19I don't know when I'm going to coach.
14:21My flight gets delayed in Dallas.
14:23I get into Seattle like midnight.
14:26And Woodson leaves me a message that, hey, we'll meet for breakfast at 7 o'clock next morning.
14:33I go to breakfast.
14:35We sit and talk.
14:36And he said, well, are you ready to go to practice?
14:39And I said, I'm coaching tonight?
14:44He said, yep.
14:46We got to shoot around here in about a half hour.
14:48I didn't even think that was a possibility, to be honest with you.
14:52I thought, well, I'll take a day or two to figure this all out.
14:55Well, you know, when I'm in Spain, I was yelling things from the bench in Spanish.
15:03A lot.
15:04Well, in these games, I'm going, rojo, rojo, which is red, which is the defense that we were in.
15:11Or cambio, cambio.
15:13So I'm using Spanish throughout my words.
15:17And I'm going, oh, God, this guy must think I'm crazy.
15:20But, you know, very quickly, I realized that they were underachieving.
15:26They weren't playing as well as they should have played.
15:29George Carl was a blessing to Seattle.
15:31He brought this team together, put the pieces in place, and it was so much fun to watch.
15:40Just a great guy, a competitor, and will say anything to light you up during the course of battle.
15:47You have to be willing to accept these things to make yourself better and allow yourself to be coached by him.
15:54Made me a better person and absolutely a better player.
15:57Sean Kemp, I remember benching him very early in my time there.
16:02Didn't like coming on time.
16:04And Sean and I had a lot of good conversations about that later on.
16:08He was one of the more special athletes of all time.
16:12Of all my guys I've ever coached, Sean is the most athletic guy.
16:17He's fast as hell.
16:19And he can jump out of the building.
16:21Gary was a little different.
16:23Rebellious.
16:25Rough and rude at times.
16:27There was a lot of anger between Gary and I that my coaching staff was worried about.
16:34I remember sitting in a meeting, yelling and screaming about, I can't stand what Gary is doing.
16:40Why can't we get him to do this or that?
16:43And one of my assistants mumbles,
16:47And one of my assistants mumbles,
16:50You know, he's a lot like you, coach.
16:53I said, what?
16:55And I realized if you think about it deep down inside, he was right.
17:00What makes us go is very similar.
17:04But they didn't have a lot of offensive flow, a lot of offensive rhythm to them.
17:09And I think that's probably what I helped them with as much as anything.
17:13Allowing them more freedom to be who they want to be.
17:18They didn't really come together until we made the two trades that turned us around.
17:23George Call brought in Sam Perkins, Deadlift Shrimp.
17:28And when that happened, we started playing like the Seattle Supersonics that we needed to.
17:34Well, when I got traded to Seattle, it was a surprise.
17:39It was quite shocking.
17:40I got there a day before the season started.
17:43In 93.
17:45And they had some success the year before.
17:48I lost in the playoffs, I think fairly early.
17:51And they wanted some veteran leadership.
17:53So I came into a fairly young team.
17:55Started the next day.
17:57Didn't know most of the plays.
17:59And had a great season with some turmoil.
18:02But we had a pretty different approach to how we played than most of the league.
18:07The attitude that we played with was very entertaining for people to see.
18:11We were a very physical team.
18:13And we practiced extremely hard.
18:16Sometimes our practices were harder than the games.
18:19Fans, always the sixth man in Seattle, began packing into the Center Coliseum.
18:25And Kemp and Payton's jerseys become two of the league's best sellers.
18:30It's a new and improved brand of Supersonics basketball.
18:33We did a lot of switching.
18:35And fronting the post.
18:37And double teaming and rotating.
18:39They've gotten away with a wall.
18:41Yes, he did.
18:43Look at that block by Kent.
18:45You know, at that time it was such a physical league.
18:47We was definitely one of those teams that will fight you.
18:49I mean, big time volleyball right there.
18:51Chaos.
18:53We created chaos.
18:55Mismatches.
18:57We scrambled a lot and scared people.
18:59We sometimes were up 20 points in the first quarter on teams.
19:01And it was just a cakewalk.
19:04We won a lot of games.
19:06I think we're very aggressive.
19:08And we always go at them and try to cause problems.
19:11Because we didn't want other teams to get comfortable.
19:14And we didn't want the best players to have control over the ball.
19:18Other coaches would say that we fouled them a lot.
19:21But I thought we played some pretty good defense.
19:24After Carl takes over, the Sonics finish out the season 27-15.
19:29Then losing the semifinals to a team that would become their perennial rival.
19:34The Utah Jazz.
19:36Led by Carl the Mailman Malone and John Stockton.
19:44At this time, you got to remember, there was a lot of rivals.
19:48But it was only one king rival.
19:50We wasn't fearful of much.
19:52But we always knew that the Utah team was going to be a tough one to beat.
19:56For me personally, I just knew that going through Carl Malone, it was going to be a tough challenge for me.
20:02It was so much things I had to work on.
20:04We owe Carl Malone and John Stockton a lot.
20:07They took us to school.
20:09John Stockton, he's their glue.
20:11Like I was our glue.
20:13I looked up to him and changed my whole game to him.
20:17He doesn't do nothing flashy.
20:19He doesn't go through his legs.
20:21He doesn't do all of that.
20:23He knows the smart play.
20:24When he sees somebody turn their head, he'll go and make a steal.
20:32Tons of pick and rolls.
20:34Tons of screens.
20:36Tons of cross screens, back screens.
20:38A very disciplined team on offense and defense.
20:44They schooled us for so many years.
20:46Broke us down.
20:48Made us go into the gym and really look at ourselves.
20:51Physically, it gets stronger.
20:52Mentally, tougher.
20:57I hired a strength and conditioning coach because I thought we got beat up.
21:01And I don't want to get beat up.
21:03I want to be the aggressor.
21:05People don't know this, but one of the years coming up,
21:07George actually made us go in the summer and stay in Utah.
21:12Just to play in the summer league.
21:14Just to embrace playing against these guys.
21:18That's when I grew.
21:20I grew to be Gary Payton.
21:22Gary Payton was the one I had to be.
21:26Not the glove.
21:28Not the trash talker.
21:30Because I couldn't beat him because he always would outsmart me.
21:32He would take charges.
21:34Get me out the game.
21:36Let me only have 14 points.
21:38Only play like 20 minutes because I was in foul trouble.
21:40People don't get this.
21:42They never give him his due.
21:44I idolize him to the day.
21:46People know I let him introduce me in the Hall of Fame.
21:50All of that.
21:52People don't understand.
21:54He didn't have a lot of points.
21:56He had probably about 14-15,000 points.
21:58But he only averaged 12-12.
22:02And became a Hall of Famer.
22:04That's a basketball player to me.
22:07They told us the true definition of the NBA game,
22:11which is that you have to be mentally prepared
22:14just as well as you are physically prepared.
22:16A lot of years were him and John just beating me and Gary up.
22:19Sackton Malone, to us, was the king of the NBA
22:23playing the two-man game.
22:25And that's what we wanted to become.
22:27This physical, sometimes ragged,
22:30always dangerous Supersonics team
22:32has been maturing and grabbing attention
22:34of basketball fans across the country
22:36who now know Seattle is a basketball town.
22:39We started a dynasty.
22:41A lot of us started making an all-star team.
22:43We started winning 50 games.
22:45But the team continues to struggle in the playoffs.
22:47In 1994, they entered the postseason
22:50as the best in the West,
22:52with a great opportunity to win it all.
22:54But the Sonics become the first number one seed
22:56in NBA history to lose in the first round.
22:59We were up 3-0.
23:01Got a little bit relaxed.
23:03Didn't share the basketball as much as we should.
23:05And once you stop doing one or two
23:07of those main things that got you there,
23:09it's really easy to lose.
23:11All my memories at that point
23:13was just Tommo laying on the ground celebrating.
23:15The Sonics endured their second straight
23:17first round playoff exit in 1995
23:20when they lost to the Lakers.
23:22Just the one.
23:24Let him shoot, let him shoot, let him shoot.
23:26It's over.
23:28The Lakers win, ladies and gentlemen.
23:30Panamonium at the Great Western Forum.
23:32Listen.
23:34I thought I was going to get fired.
23:36I mean, I thought my career was over in Seattle.
23:39And I was shocked when Wally Walker kept me.
23:42And over that summer, I think, we got angry.
23:47We realized that we've thrown away our opportunity.
23:52We knew that we were up there
23:54with the top of the teams.
23:56You can prove it in that regular season,
23:58but when the pressure time comes,
24:00you really got to be able to perform.
24:02But early in that training camp,
24:04I realized there was a different attitude,
24:06a more serious attitude.
24:08We started to be who we supposed to be.
24:10And then that's when Seattle took off.
24:13On fire.
24:16The team reaches exit velocity
24:18in the 1995-96 season,
24:20burning through the regular season
24:22with a 64-18 record
24:24and is the number one seed
24:26in the Western Conference.
24:28Fans are convinced it's finally their time.
24:32The 1995-96 season
24:34has the same feeling
24:36in the hearts of Seattle fans
24:38than the championship season.
24:40And the championships did.
24:42It was a younger crowd,
24:44people with their first taste
24:46of basketball success in this city.
24:48We made it through the playoffs,
24:51struggled a bit early on in Sacramento,
24:53but then swept Houston for nothing
24:56and ended up playing Utah
24:58in the Western Conference Finals.
25:00We're always having problems with the Utah Jazz.
25:03We could never get past them.
25:05So, look what happens.
25:07We get to play them
25:08in the Western Conference Finals
25:10to go see who plays the Chicago Bulls.
25:14With the best record in the NBA,
25:16the Bulls sweep through
25:18the Eastern Conference Finals
25:20and sit waiting for the winner
25:22of another Sonic Jazz battle
25:24to decide who will play
25:26for the NBA championship.
25:28Played really well the first four games.
25:30I think we were up 3-1.
25:32And Utah did what Utah does.
25:34They got into a slugfest.
25:36We're battling.
25:38Everybody's hurt.
25:40I'm hurt.
25:42The Sonics lead the series early,
25:443-1.
25:46But the Jazz fight back,
25:48winning the next two straight
25:50with the series reaching a decisive Game 7
25:52at home in Seattle.
25:561996 playoffs,
25:58the Western Conference Championship Game,
26:00Game 7,
26:02against the Utah Jazz.
26:03Oh boy, the rivalry.
26:05The arena's at Seattle Center
26:07and the fountains are going
26:09and it's warm.
26:11Oh man, it was special.
26:13It was big for us.
26:15The key arena was smaller
26:17than most arenas,
26:19but it was just so intimate,
26:21it was so loud.
26:24We had to step up to do it.
26:26Get to the end of the game.
26:28It's only about
26:30two minutes left
26:31and it's tick for tack.
26:33Tick for tack.
26:35Going back and forth, people doing it.
26:37Next thing you know, we get a break.
26:42It's a battle between two competitive rivals
26:45coming down to late in the fourth quarter
26:47with Kemp hitting four straight free throws,
26:49keeping the Sonics' small lead alive.
26:54With 8.2 seconds left,
26:56Malone makes his way to the free throw line.
26:58His first free throw
26:59misses off the back rim.
27:01We'd count,
27:03one, two, three,
27:05all the way up to ten, nine, eight,
27:07and Karl Malone was flipping the ball
27:09and looking around.
27:11I never understood why we did that,
27:13but it always messed with his head.
27:15All of a sudden,
27:17he started rushing some free throws.
27:19The place would go crazy.
27:22He missed them both.
27:24It was one of those white noise type games.
27:26You couldn't talk to the guy next to you
27:27and I just kind of sat back
27:29and took it all in.
27:32You know, nut house time.
27:35That building was loud for two and a half hours.
27:38My ears were ringing
27:40and hurting
27:42because the noise was so loud.
27:44The crowd was not going to let us lose that game.
27:47When the smoke clears,
27:49it's the Supersonics still standing.
27:53We beat them.
27:55We go crazy.
27:57We finally get over
27:59the hump.
28:01We get over Karl Malone.
28:03I get over John Stockton.
28:05And Seattle
28:07is heading back to the finals for the first time
28:09since 1979.
28:11You're going to the championship,
28:13but then you look,
28:15you realize
28:17who you got to go against.
28:21So that celebration has halted a little bit, man,
28:24because you don't want to get too excited
28:25because you know that you really got a
28:27tall order of work ahead of you
28:29playing against the Bulls.
28:31When I got in my locker room
28:33and we had the Western Conference Championship trophy,
28:36and I just had to
28:38shed a tear
28:40because I finally did it.
28:43And I cried for a long time.
28:45And me and Sean sat in the shower
28:47for a long period of time.
28:49We drank probably almost
28:51a case of beer
28:53and I just sat there
28:55and I said,
28:57look, I done it.
28:59I'm finally moving on
29:01to some other level.
29:03For three years,
29:05we've been trying to get to the finals.
29:07I think Chicago was sitting at home
29:09after having swept somebody.
29:11And we were bloody
29:13and a little worn out.
29:15We had to get on the plane
29:17the next morning,
29:19fly to Chicago,
29:21and play a day after.
29:23That's how it was back then.
29:26The NBA Finals start in Chicago.
29:29The Sonics drop the first two games
29:31to a reinvigorated Bulls.
29:35We went to Chicago
29:37for the first two games
29:39and neither team played that well.
29:41I think we played tired.
29:43They played rusty.
29:45Ended up being a four or five point game
29:47until literally both games
29:49the last few seconds,
29:51the last minute,
29:53where they ended up winning by 10.
29:55That was the winner of the Utah Series.
29:57They head home to Seattle
29:59facing a must-win Game 3.
30:01Awaiting Peyton and his teammates
30:03in Seattle
30:05is their sixth man,
30:07the fans,
30:09including the biggest one of them all.
30:11Had this big, giant,
30:13stuffed red bull.
30:15So I wrote in big white letters on it,
30:17Beat the Bulls.
30:19My name is Loren Bigelow Sandretsky.
30:21I've never really known
30:23how to answer the question,
30:25because I'm not a sports fan,
30:27but six foot eight
30:29and 300 plus pounds,
30:31I guess that's part of the reason.
30:33We were pretty excited.
30:35Our fans were excited
30:37and we literally get destroyed.
30:39We were playing not to lose,
30:41but not to win.
30:43Back in those days,
30:45we had three games at home,
30:47which is hard to win
30:49three games at home.
30:51Time has run out.
30:53The Bulls winning Game 3.
30:55Back to the home crowd.
30:57The stage is set
30:59for one of the greatest matchups
31:01in NBA history.
31:03We're going to show these dudes
31:05what we were supposed to.
31:07We beat them in a regular season.
31:09That was one of the 10 losses
31:11that they had.
31:13So we did like this.
31:15I said, look here, man.
31:17We just going to have to play.
31:19Gary Peyton gets the green light
31:21to go after the Bulls
31:23as the Sonics and their rabid fans
31:25we let them down in Game 3.
31:27We came back in Game 4 and 5
31:29and blew them out.
31:31Came out and won the next
31:33two games convincingly.
31:35Had a chance down 3-2
31:37going back to Chicago.
31:44But the championship series
31:46started to take its toll
31:48on Seattle's beloved Supersonics.
31:50I think Nate McMillan was hurt.
31:52I think Gary had some health issues.
31:53But you know, you really can't
31:55complain in a championship series.
31:57I was so tired
31:59in the inside.
32:01I was hurt.
32:03I had a torn calf muscle
32:05that I didn't know about.
32:07But I was playing through it
32:09through adrenaline and emotions.
32:11I thought they had a chance
32:13going in for sure.
32:15And they had all the momentum
32:17I thought.
32:19But Chicago was really good.
32:23They played a random basketball
32:25that was very difficult to beat.
32:28We couldn't run.
32:30We were out of gas.
32:32Chicago had our number.
32:34And we just couldn't score
32:36enough points.
32:38You really just gotta be there
32:40to perform.
32:42And I think we were close.
32:44But you know, not close enough.
32:46Losing in Game 6 in the finals
32:48felt really bad.
32:50Because you're there.
32:51And it's closing.
32:58But when we got back in the morning
33:00what made it feel better
33:02is we had thousands of fans
33:04waiting for us at the airport.
33:06As soon as we landed and walked off
33:08it was like we won a championship.
33:10And that was the best feeling.
33:12They took the Mighty Bulls
33:14to six games.
33:16And for us, that was a win.
33:18It felt like we won.
33:19What fans and players don't know
33:21there's a lot more on the line
33:23in the 1996 NBA Finals
33:25than just a trophy, rings,
33:27and a banner.
33:29In professional sports it's about winning.
33:31Winning is what sets
33:33everything up for you.
33:36When I look back on that
33:3895-96 season
33:40it was the first time that Sean Kemp
33:42was in the spotlight.
33:44And all of the good and all of the bad
33:46that comes from that.
33:47Seattle management
33:49hoping to elevate the good
33:51by getting Kemp some help underneath
33:53ends up fueling the bad
33:55when they sign a 7'1 center
33:57named Jim McIlvain
33:59to a $35 million contract.
34:01It reminds me of a line
34:03Sonics needed a center in the worst case
34:05and Jim McIlvain was the center
34:07in the worst case.
34:09It was terrible.
34:11And he got more money than Sean.
34:13And that affected Sean greatly.
34:15I remember Sean was
34:17to be a free agent
34:19and he was not making the big money yet.
34:22The new backup center
34:24who averages two points
34:26and three rebounds per game in 96
34:28will earn approximately $2 million more
34:30than the four-time All-Star
34:32who just led the Sonics
34:34in scoring and rebounding.
34:36Kemp does his best to shrug it off.
34:38If you're an All-Star
34:40you want to be compensated as an All-Star.
34:42And you want to play beside All-Stars.
34:43I told him we need to wait.
34:45Just wait.
34:47It's just right now
34:49we can't do it in a budget.
34:51But we can't break this up.
34:53If we're going to try
34:55to make a dynasty
34:57and do what Chicago Bulls are doing
34:59and give us a chance
35:01we have to keep our pieces together.
35:03Anytime that you have a guy
35:05that takes a team to a championship
35:07and then you start bringing guys in
35:09where you pay them more
35:11the team is sending a message.
35:13So Kemp sends a message of his own.
35:15Sean missed a few days
35:17of training camp.
35:19Did not hold out
35:21but make a point.
35:23Well, yeah, the wheels came off in 1997
35:25when a key player gets unhappy
35:28and we start fighting
35:31with the upper management.
35:33It's never a good thing.
35:36And Sean wasn't happy.
35:39Sean's not a combative guy.
35:41He's a human being
35:43and he was treated with more frustration.
35:45All season long
35:47there was always an article about
35:49why did we sign this guy for this amount
35:51and why is Sean Kemp not getting paid?
35:53I can't hate on the guy
35:56for getting his money
35:58but I can hate on
36:00the organization
36:02for not respecting
36:04a person who did so much for you
36:06for the last seven years.
36:08I think bringing Jim McElvain in
36:10really started the downward spiral.
36:11Including reports in the press
36:13that Kemp is abusing drugs
36:15and alcohol.
36:17This week Sean Kemp
36:19publicly addressed the issue
36:21of his chronic lateness
36:23and irresponsibility.
36:25He denied speculation
36:27that he had a drinking problem.
36:29He said instead
36:31that he has been merely frustrated
36:33by his own play.
36:35I don't think drinking
36:37and substance abuse was a problem.
36:39I believe that
36:41that's something
36:43that I had to identify with.
36:45He put on weight,
36:47he didn't work out
36:49and then he just was late
36:51for everything.
36:53I think I actually called him
36:55the late Sean Kemp one time.
36:57You hated to see it
36:59because you knew what was there.
37:01People ask me this question man
37:03because it's important for people to know
37:05I came into the league
37:07at such a young age.
37:09I know a lot of guys
37:11obviously I've went in
37:13and got some help with some certain things
37:15make the right changes
37:17and I think that's what you do in life.
37:19Before the end of the 97 season
37:21Kemp asked to be traded.
37:23So our doom day came
37:25when they traded him
37:27because we gave away a piece
37:29to our dynasty
37:31which was the glove and the rain man.
37:34Sean Kemp
37:36who carried the hopes and dreams
37:38of the Seattle Supersonics faithful
37:39in the 2010 frame
37:41is traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers
37:43in a $100 million deal.
37:46Did I stand up for him?
37:48Of course I did.
37:50He wanted to be paid what he was worth
37:52and at that time
37:54that's where the salaries were growing
37:56and going big time
37:58and he just felt he wasn't being appreciated.
38:01My heart was took away
38:04when that happened.
38:06We went and got Vin Baker
38:07who was a basketball player
38:09but it wasn't like the rain man.
38:11It was sad.
38:13We had a core group
38:15we all got along well
38:17played hard
38:19and we won a lot of games
38:21and that was no more.
38:23Leaving the city definitely hurt myself
38:25and it definitely hurt the team also
38:27but you want people to realize
38:29kind of what they lost
38:31and then I think that's what I was able to do.
38:33When we lost Sean
38:35it was just like
38:37I couldn't top that.
38:40With the departure of Sean Kemp
38:42the unwinding of the dynasty has begun
38:44and in 1997
38:46after a conference semifinal loss to Houston
38:48Coach George Karl is showing the door.
38:51I was a part of building the team
38:53and it just seemed like the coaches
38:55were getting the short end of the stick
38:58and I think they just got tired of me being an ass.
39:03I'm proud that I went seven years in Seattle
39:05and I went six in Milwaukee
39:07and then eight and a half here in Denver.
39:10I don't know if any coach has ever done
39:12more than six years in three different spots.
39:15I'm a tough guy
39:17but you can get along with me
39:19if you like winning.
39:22In 1999
39:24Dent Left Shrimp found himself released from the Sonics
39:26and immediately signs to play
39:28with the Portland Trailblazers.
39:30I was very surprised
39:32because I thought I was going to end up
39:33because I thought I was going to
39:35finish my career in Seattle.
39:37My kids had entered school
39:39didn't want to move somewhere else
39:42so I decided to go down to Portland
39:44which I thought I can go back and forth
39:46more often and see the family.
39:48So I went to Portland for the next season.
39:52The Sonics continue to unwind until 2003
39:56when the team does not make a new deal
39:58with Gary Payton.
40:00The last connection to the 1996 Sonics Dream Team
40:03when you take me somewhere
40:05say yo I'm gonna pay you
40:07I'm gonna do all of that
40:09and then lie and say no I ain't giving you nothing.
40:11Yeah I'm gonna be mad.
40:13Eventually the salary negotiation grinds to a halt
40:16and the future Hall of Famer
40:18decides to leave Seattle.
40:20So what am I supposed to do
40:22just be loyal to you and say okay?
40:24That don't make sense to me.
40:26Whatever.
40:28I can hold out for my money.
40:30I deserve it.
40:32The team could not come up with the capital
40:35to meet Gary Payton's salary demands
40:37and on February 20th of 2003
40:39he's traded away from the Supersonics.
40:42Our city's team was not the same group of guys.
40:45Gary was gone.
40:47Gary went to Milwaukee.
40:49That was like the uppercut
40:51after the big old blow to the face
40:53with Sean Kim.
40:55All our components of the 90s team
40:57were heading out of town
40:58and so without the Sean and Gary show
41:01it just didn't seem like a show anymore.
41:03So a lot of fans you know
41:05they just jumped off.
41:07When I left Seattle
41:09I was in Cleveland
41:11me and Gary was really still talking on the telephone
41:13like we do normally now.
41:15It was the worst decision
41:17that me and him ever made in our lives
41:19because like a year and a half later
41:21now he's with Milwaukee and I'm in Cleveland.
41:23All of a sudden you was in a situation
41:25where you were winning 80% of these games
41:26and now you rolled the dice
41:28and now you're winning 30% of these games
41:31and you realize
41:33that
41:35everybody involved made the wrong decisions.
41:40The afterglow and continued cultural force
41:43of the iconic 1996 team
41:45inspired a talented crop
41:47of future Pacific Northwest players
41:49who would go on to play in the NBA.
41:51Native sons like Jamal Crawford
41:53Nate Robinson
41:54and Isaiah Thomas
41:56have carried the torch into the new millennium
41:58and created a new hotbed for future stars.
42:01We have a great
42:03youth basketball program
42:05where you see all the guys in the NBA
42:07that are from here.
42:09Jamal Crawford's program
42:11would bring NBA superstars to the city.
42:13That was super huge for the city.
42:15The current crossover league exists
42:17because of the ripple effect
42:19of Gary Payne's mentorship.
42:21What I learned from Gary was
42:22how
42:24that moment of giving to the next generation
42:26can change a life
42:28because it changed mine.
42:30Today, Seattle native and former NBA player
42:32Jamal Crawford
42:34supersized his usual pro-am
42:36netting some of the biggest names in the sport.
42:38LeBron
42:40shut down the city
42:42and literally shut down the whole city.
42:44The roar of the crowd for the crossover pro-am
42:46wasn't coming from the bleacher Saturday.
42:48Instead, it was coming from outside
42:50where more than 1,000 lined up for hours
42:52to watch the game.
42:54Current NBA ballers like DeJounte Murray
42:56and Paulo Banchero
42:58are making Washingtonians proud.
43:00This next generation of Hoopers
43:02are proof that the legacy
43:04of the Supersonics 1996 Dream Team
43:06lives on.
43:08Those guys in Seattle,
43:10to this day,
43:12you would think they just played last year.
43:14That's how popular
43:16Payton and Kemp are in Seattle.
43:18We were good, man.
43:20Not just an exciting team,
43:22but the best stuff to do in the NBA.
43:24From 1990
43:26to 97, 98,
43:28every time we stepped on the floor,
43:30a Seattle Supersonics team
43:32came at you
43:34and you couldn't win.
43:36You couldn't beat us.
43:38My feeling is it's a team
43:40that should have won a championship.
43:42And I say that honestly to the fans of Seattle.
43:44I wish we had gotten one.
43:46But it will go down
43:48to be one of the best teams
43:50never to win a championship.
43:52We're definitely
43:54a championship basketball team.