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Seattle SuperSonics: 9 stars you forgot played for the Sonics

By Luke Duffy

Seattle SuperSonics' Patrick Ewing (L) battles with former teammate Larry Johnson (R) for a rebound in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden in New York 27 February 2001. Ewing, who was traded from the Knicks to Seattle in the off-season, was making his first visit to New York since the trade. AFP PHOTO Henny Ray ABRAMS (Photo by HENNY RAY ABRAMS / AFP) (Photo credit should read HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
Seattle SuperSonics' Patrick Ewing (L) battles with former teammate Larry Johnson (R) for a rebound in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden in New York 27 February 2001. Ewing, who was traded from the Knicks to Seattle in the off-season, was making his first visit to New York since the trade. AFP PHOTO Henny Ray ABRAMS (Photo by HENNY RAY ABRAMS / AFP) (Photo credit should read HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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(Photo credit should read DAN LEVINE/AFP via Getty Images) /

9. Vin Baker

We begin with a player who, depending on your age, you may be well aware spent some of his career in Seattle. Not only that, but Vin Baker was an All-Star in 1998 while a member of the SuperSonics. His time there gets overlooked for two key reasons, the first of which is that he was drafted with, and did extremely well, with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Baker was a three-time All-Star in four seasons there, only missing out on selection in his rookie season. While there he averaged 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds and really was the kind of center/power forward that could have excelled in the league today. The outside scoring may not have been evident back then, but with some practice in that area, he could have been lethal.

He landed in Seattle in the same deal that sent fan favorite Kemp to the Cleveland Cavaliers, part of the reason some people forget he played for the SuperSonics in the first place. After five years there he was then moved to the Boston Celtics, which is the second reason you may have forgotten about that stop in Seattle. The talk of substance abuse grew noticeably loud.

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These problems would dog him throughout the rest of his career, and a 2015 piece about him losing all his money and now working in Starbucks brought his name and game to a whole generation of younger people. Between the early success and dark turns his life took outside of basketball, his time with the SuperSonics naturally faded into the background.

But Baker spent much of his prime there and was part of a team that won 61 games in 1998 before getting bounced 4-1 by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. During the rest of his time there the franchise either missed the playoffs or was knocked out in the first round, as the glory days of the 90s faded into memory. Thankfully Baker’s story is in a much better place today, as he is an assistant coach with the Bucks.