The day the Sonics won the NBA title

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Sonics guard Gus Williams (Photos courtesy of King County Archives)

The recently concluded seven-game battle between the defending champion Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Western Conference finals gave many long-suffering fans of the former Seattle SuperSonics a chance to gloat: The Thunder, the team that USED to be in Seattle, blew a 3-1 series lead and failed to reach the finals. The pain felt in OKC was equaled by the sense of poetic justice felt by jilted Sonics fans still bitter over the sale of the team to Clay Bennett, who moved the franchise to Oklahoma in 2008, taking a part of Washington history and culture with him. Fans of the old Sonics have another reason to celebrate: June 1 is the sweet anniversary when the Sonics won their first and only NBA title, in 1979. It was on a Friday night when the Supes sent not only Seattle but nearly the entire state of Washington (Vancouver was more Blazers country back then) into bedlam when they beat the Washington Bullets 97-93 in Landover, Maryland, to capture the title in five games. Soon after the final horn sounded and Seattle guard Gus Williams threw the ball high into the air, Sonics fans went nuts, from Coupeville to Colfax, from Aberdeen to Zillah. What made it sweeter for Sonics fans was that the win avenged a painful Game 7 Finals loss to those same Bullets a year earlier.
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Dennis Johnson (24) tries to block a shot against Phoenix while the rest of the Sonics' starting lineup -- forward Lonnie Shelton (8), Williams, center Jack Sikma (43) and forward John Johnson (27) watch. Thanks to King County Archives for these great shots of the Sonics during that glorious 1979 season. The top photo features the lightning-quick Williams cruising in for a layin. The middle shot shows stud defensive guard Dennis Johnson trying to block a shot by Phoenix center Alvin Adams. The bottom shot shows a packed Kingdome (remember when the Sonics easily led the NBA in attendance back then?).
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A typical jam-packed crowd at the Kingdome (remember it?) watches a Sonics game.
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