# 1968–69 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1968–69 Seattle SuperSonics season was the second season of the Seattle franchise in the NBA. The Sonics finished the regular season with a 30–52 record in 6th place on the Western Division. During the offseason, Seattle traded their top scorer Walt Hazzard to the Atlanta Hawks to bring three-time All-Star Lenny Wilkens, who would serve as head coach of the team the following year.

## Draft picks

Note: only draft picks who participated in at least one game in the NBA are listed.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 3 | Bob Kauffman | Center / forward | United States | Guilford College |
| 2 | 16 | Art Harris | Guard | United States | Stanford |
| 5 | 52 | Al Hairston | Guard | United States | Bowling Green State |
| 10 | 122 | Joe Kennedy | Forward | United States | Duke |
| 11 | 136 | Jim Marsh | Forward | United States | USC |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Los Angeles Lakers | 55 | 27 | .671 | – | 32–9 | 21–18 | 2–0 | 30–10 |
| x-Atlanta Hawks | 48 | 34 | .585 | 7 | 28–12 | 18–21 | 2–1 | 26–14 |
| x-San Francisco Warriors | 41 | 41 | .500 | 14 | 22–19 | 18–21 | 1–1 | 20–20 |
| x-San Diego Rockets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 18 | 25–16 | 8–25 | 4–4 | 20–20 |
| Chicago Bulls | 33 | 49 | .402 | 22 | 19–21 | 12–25 | 2–3 | 19–21 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 30 | 52 | .366 | 25 | 18–18 | 6–29 | 6–5 | 15–23 |
| Phoenix Suns | 16 | 66 | .195 | 39 | 11–26 | 4–28 | 1–12 | 8–30 |
    x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1968–69 NBA records :
| Team | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHI | CIN | DET | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | SDR | SFW | SEA |
| Atlanta | — | 2–4 | 3–3 | 6–1 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 6–0 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 4–2 |
| Baltimore | 4–2 | — | 5–2 | 6–0 | 4–3 | 7–0 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–2 |
| Boston | 3–3 | 2–5 | — | 4–2 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 1–6 | 5–2 | 6–0 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Chicago | 1–6 | 0–6 | 2–4 | — | 1–5 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 4–3 |
| Cincinnati | 2–4 | 3–4 | 2–5 | 5–1 | — | 3–4 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Detroit | 0–6 | 0–7 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 4–3 | — | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 |
| Los Angeles | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 5–1 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 6–0 | 7–0 | 4–3 | 5–1 |
| Milwaukee | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 1–5 | — | 0–6 | 0–6 | 6–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–5 |
| New York | 4–2 | 4–3 | 6–1 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 1–5 | 6–0 | — | 4–3 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 6–0 |
| Philadelphia | 5–1 | 4–2 | 2–5 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 4–3 | 5–1 | 6–0 | 3–4 | — | 5–1 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 6–0 |
| Phoenix | 0–6 | 0–6 | 0–6 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 2–6 | 1–5 | 1–5 | — | 1–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 |
| San Diego | 4–3 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 0–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–1 | — | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| San Francisco | 3–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 5–3 | 0–6 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–4 | — |

### Game log

1968–69 game log Total: 30–52 (Home: 18–18; Road: 6–29; Neutral: 6–5) :
October
: 2–6 (home: 2–4; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
October 17
@ San Diego
L 110–128
Bob Rule (31)
San Diego Sports Arena 5,332
0–1
2
October 18
@ Phoenix
L 107–116
Bob Rule (34)
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,112
0–2
3
October 19
San Francisco Warriors
L 95–107
Bob Rule (25)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,311
0–3
4
October 21
Baltimore
L 104–111
Tom Meschery (30)
Vancouver, BC 2,387
0–4
5
October 23
San Diego
W 118–117
Bob Rule, Lenny Wilkens (20)
Seattle Center Coliseum 3,064
1–4
6
October 25
Atlanta
W 123–112
Tom Meschery (24)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,689
2–4
7
October 27
Baltimore
L 114–126
Tom Meschery (22)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,882
2–5
8
October 30
Phoenix
L 108–115
Bob Rule (22)
Seattle Center Coliseum 2,657
2–6 :
November
: 8–11 (home: 7–3; road: 1–8)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
9
November 2
Chicago
W 101–95
Bob Rule (24)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,330
3–6
10
November 3
New York
L 108–122
Lenny Wilkens (24)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,807
3–7
11
November 6
@ Detroit
L 118–127
Rod Thorn (21)
Cobo Arena 3,462
3–8
12
November 7
@ Chicago
L 105–120
Bob Rule (23)
Chicago Stadium 891
3–9
13
November 8
@ Boston
W 114–112
Bob Rule (37)
Boston Garden 7,606
4–9
14
November 9
@ Philadelphia
L 94–114
Lenny Wilkens (26)
The Spectrum 6,756
4–10
15
November 11
Philadelphia
L 117–127
Bob Rule (29)
Boston, MA
4–11
16
November 12
@ Milwaukee
L 114–127
Bob Rule (28)
Milwaukee Arena 4,455
4–12
17
November 13
Atlanta
L 113–142
Lenny Wilkens (27)
Seattle Center Coliseum 3,102
4–13
18
November 15
Phoenix
W 128–124 (2OT)
Lenny Wilkens (30)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,368
5–13
19
November 16
Detroit
W 123–119
Bob Rule (42)
Seattle Center Coliseum 5,446
6–13
20
November 17
@ Los Angeles
L 94–105
Lenny Wilkens (16)
The Forum 8,399
6–14
21
November 20
Boston
L 92–139
Art Harris (16)
Seattle Center Coliseum 7,021
6–15
22
November 22
@ San Diego
L 111–126
Bob Rule (24)
San Diego Sports Arena 5,247
6–16
23
November 23
@ San Francisco Warriors
L 119–132
Lenny Wilkens (25)
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 5,922
6–17
24
November 24
Milwaukee
W 141–120
Tom Meschery, Lenny Wilkens (21)
Seattle Center Coliseum 3,485
7–17
25
November 25
Milwaukee
W 123–113
Lenny Wilkens (29)
Vancouver, BC 2,879
8–17
26
November 26
Chicago
W 99–98
Bob Rule (28)
Seattle Center Coliseum 2,895
9–17
27
November 28
Milwaukee
W 115–103
Bob Rule (27)
Seattle Center Coliseum 5,210
10–17 :
December
: 4–11 (home: 2–5; road: 2–6)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
28
December 2
@ Phoenix
W 118–108
Lenny Wilkens (33)
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 2,171
11–17
29
December 3
@ San Francisco Warriors
L 122 127
Lenny Wilkens (31)
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 2,116
11–18
30
December 6
San Francisco Warriors
W 109–100 (OT)
Tom Meschery (29)
Seattle Center Coliseum 5,941
12–18
31
December 7
@ San Francisco Warriors
W 115–107
Bob Rule (31)
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 3,754
13–18
32
December 12
Atlanta
L 91–93
Lenny Wilkens (25)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,361
13–19
33
December 14
Los Angeles
L 120–136
Tom Meschery, Bob Rule (27)
Seattle Center Coliseum 12,186
13–20
34
December 15
@ Los Angeles
L 114–115
Bob Rule (37)
The Forum 6,878
13–21
35
December 18
Philadelphia
L 111–115
Bob Rule (36)
Seattle Center Coliseum 3,389
13–22
36
December 20
@ Milwaukee
L 92–100
Lenny Wilkens (21)
Milwaukee Arena 5,303
13–23
37
December 21
@ New York
L 105–131
Bob Rule (19)
Madison Square Garden 13,998
13–24
38
December 25
@ Baltimore
L 112–118
Bob Rule, Lenny Wilkens (27)
Baltimore Civic Center 5,261
13–25
39
December 26
@ Atlanta
L 96–126
Al Tucker (18)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 3,697
13–26
40
December 28
New York
L 108–111
Lenny Wilkens (19)
Seattle Center Coliseum 7,602
13–27
41
December 29
New York
L 112–120
Art Harris (21)
Vancouver, BC 2,894
13–28
42
December 30
Phoenix
W 120–118
Art Harris, Rule (24)
Seattle Center Coliseum 3,920
14–28 :
January
: 5–9 (home: 1–1; road: 4–8)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
43
January 4
@ San Diego
L 105–122
Lenny Wilkens (28)
San Diego Sports Arena 4,878
14–29
44
January 6
Boston
L 97–121
Bob Rule (36)
Seattle Center Coliseum 6,636
14–30
45
January 7
@ Phoenix
L 112–116
Three players (23)
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 2,875
14–31
46
January 9
Cincinnati
W 119–110
Bob Rule (32)
Cleveland, OH 2,017
15–31
47
January 10
@ Milwaukee
L 104–115
Bob Rule, Al Tucker (17)
Milwaukee Arena 4,150
15–32
48
January 11
@ Chicago
L 86–119
Lenny Wilkens (21)
Chicago Stadium 3,870
15–33
49
January 17
New York
L 94–114
Bob Rule (16)
Philadelphia, PA
15–34
50
January 18
@ Boston
L 97–111
Bob Rule (29)
Boston Garden 9,320
15–35
51
January 21
@ New York
L 106–113
Lenny Wilkens (31)
Madison Square Garden 11,227
15–36
52
January 22
@ Baltimore
W 98–94
Lenny Wilkens (22)
Baltimore Civic Center 3,619
16–36
53
January 27
Milwaukee
W 128–107
Bob Rule (31)
Tacoma, WA 4,150
17–36
54
January 29
Boston
W 124–122 (OT)
Bob Rule (26)
Philadelphia, PA
18–36
55
January 30
Detroit
L 118–144
Bob Rule (26)
Baltimore, MD
18–37
56
January 31
@ Atlanta
W 119–112
Bob Rule (32)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 3,550
19–37 :
February
: 6–8 (home: 5–6; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
57
February 1
@ Cincinnati
L 96–111
Bob Rule (20)
Cincinnati Gardens 6,114
19–38
58
February 3
Los Angeles
W 114–107
Bob Rule (38)
Seattle Center Coliseum 7,721
20–38
59
February 4
@ San Francisco Warriors
W 116–111
Lenny Wilkens (28)
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 2,145
21–38
60
February 5
Philadelphia
L 115–119
Art Harris, Rule (27)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,956
21–39
61
February 7
Cincinnati
W 102–97
Lenny Wilkens (32)
Seattle Center Coliseum 7,350
22–39
62
February 9
San Francisco Warriors
L 120–121
Bob Rule (31)
Seattle Center Coliseum 7,545
22–40
63
February 12
Los Angeles
L 92–109
Bob Rule (24)
Seattle Center Coliseum 11,218
22–41
64
February 16
Detroit
W 127–119
Bob Rule (36)
Seattle Center Coliseum 6,367
23–41
65
February 18
Chicago
W 114–113
Bob Rule (27)
Seattle Center Coliseum 5,002
24–41
66
February 19
Detroit
L 124–131
Bob Rule (32)
Seattle Center Coliseum 3,356
24–42
67
February 21
Philadelphia
L 109–115
Bob Rule (31)
Seattle Center Coliseum 8,638
24–43
68
February 23
Boston
W 118–116
Lenny Wilkens (35)
Seattle Center Coliseum 8,742
25–43
69
February 25
@ Los Angeles
L 111–114 (OT)
Lenny Wilkens (26)
The Forum 10,311
25–44
70
February 26
Chicago
L 122–124
Bob Rule (30)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,138
25–45 :
March
: 5–7 (home: 4–1; road: 1–6)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
71
March 1
Cincinnati
W 134–122
Bob Rule (47)
Seattle Center Coliseum 9,477
26–45
72
March 3
Cincinnati
L 107–113
Bob Rule (32)
Seattle Center Coliseum 4,028
26–46
73
March 4
San Diego
W 130–116
Lenny Wilkens (33)
Seattle Center Coliseum 5,010
27–46
74
March 8
Baltimore
W 138–117
Lenny Wilkens (32)
Seattle Center Coliseum 12,382
28–46
75
March 12
San Diego
W 125–112
Lenny Wilkens (36)
Vancouver, BC 5,998
29–46
76
March 13
Milwaukee
W 141–118
Tom Meschery (21)
Green Bay, WI 3,461
30–46
77
March 15
@ Chicago
L 83–101
Lenny Wilkens (26)
Chicago Stadium 5,254
30–47
78
March 16
@ Atlanta
L 127–131 (OT)
Art Harris (31)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 7,190
30–48
79
March 18
@ Baltimore
L 120–130
Lenny Wilkens (26)
Baltimore Civic Center 8,020
30–49
80
March 19
@ Philadelphia
L 115–136
Bob Rule, Rod Thorn (16)
The Spectrum 11,474
30–50
81
March 21
@ Detroit
L 104–110
Erwin Mueller (15)
Cobo Arena 4,669
30–51
82
March 22
@ Cincinnati
L 127–134
Lenny Wilkens (25)
Cincinnati Gardens 2,534
30–52 :
1968–69 season schedule :

## Player statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Art Harris | 80 | – | 32.0 | .395 | – | .641 | 3.8 | 3.2 | – | – | 12.4 |
| Al Hairston | 39 | – | 7.0 | .333 | – | .571 | .9 | 1.0 | – | – | 2.2 |
| Bob Kauffman | 82 | – | 20.2 | .442 | – | .702 | 5.9 | 1.0 | – | – | 7.8 |
| Joe Kennedy | 72 | – | 17.2 | .395 | – | .790 | 3.3 | .8 | – | – | 6.2 |
| Tommy Kron | 76 | – | 14.8 | .392 | – | .701 | 2.8 | 2.5 | – | – | 5.1 |
| Plummer Lott | 23 | – | 7.0 | .258 | – | .400 | 1.3 | 0.3 | – | – | 1.6 |
| Tom Meschery | 82 | – | 32.6 | .453 | – | .736 | 10.0 | 2.4 | – | – | 14.0 |
| Erwin Mueller | 26 | – | 18.6 | .431 | – | .597 | 4.0 | 2.4 | – | – | 7.0 |
| Dorie Murrey | 38 | – | 12.2 | .387 | – | .639 | 3.9 | .6 | – | – | 5.6 |
| Bob Rule | 82 | – | 37.9 | .469 | – | .682 | 11.5 | 1.7 | – | – | 24.0 |
| Rod Thorn | 29 | – | 19.6 | .463 | – | .732 | 2.9 | 2.8 | – | – | 11.5 |
| John Tresvant | 26 | – | 30.8 | .488 | – | .673 | 10.3 | 2.4 | – | – | 13.6 |
| Al Tucker | 56 | – | 22.5 | .432 | – | .637 | 5.7 | 1.0 | – | – | 10.3 |
| Lenny Wilkens | 82 | – | 42.2 | .440 | | .770 | 6.2 | 8.2 | – | – | 22.4 |
* $^a$ Statistics with the Seattle SuperSonics.

## Awards and records

* Art Harris was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
* Lenny Wilkens made his sixth All-Star appearance for the West in the 1969 NBA All-Star Game held in Baltimore, Maryland.

## Transactions
### Overview

| Players Added Via draft Al Hairston Art Harris Bob Kauffman Joe Kennedy Via trade Erwin Mueller Dick Smith John Tresvant Lenny Wilkens | Players Lost Via draft (1968 NBA Expansion Draft) Bud Olsen (To Milwaukee) Bob Weiss (To Milwaukee) George Wilson (To Phoenix) Via trade Walt Hazzard |

### Trades

| October 12, 1968 | To Seattle SuperSonics Lenny Wilkens | To Atlanta Hawks Walt Hazzard |
| November 15, 1968 | To Seattle SuperSonics Dick Smith | To Atlanta Hawks Rights to Richie Guerin |
| January 31, 1969 | To Seattle SuperSonics Erwin Mueller | To Chicago Bulls 1970 fourth round pick Cash considerations |
| January 31, 1969 | To Seattle SuperSonics John Tresvant | To Cincinnati Royals Al Tucker |