Sonics, Like Hunter S. Thompson, Suffered Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas

Ever gone to Sin City and didn’t win? Then the Seattle Sonics of the 1980s can relate. They twice made trips to Las Vegas and came back losers.

The visits were rooted in the sad state at the time of the Utah Jazz. Four years after relocating from New Orleans, the Jazz still had never made the playoffs. The result was more and more empty seats at the Salt Palace. So Jazz ownership received permission to divert 11 1983-84 “home” games to the desert.

Contacted years later by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, former Jazz PR director Laura Herlovich assessed the Jazz’s split-schedule dalliance with Vegas. “It was very unique and very odd and very weird and it didn’t fit right in a lot of ways, but it certainly kicked off pro sports in Las Vegas.” From the Deseret News: “Jazz players would stay at the famous Dunes Hotel, now the Bellagio, on the Strip, which (former center Mark) Eaton says was ‘not the best for the health and well-being of the team.'”

Jan. 31, 1984: Jazz 98, Sonics 94 (OT)

The Sonics and 7,148 spectators showed up at the brand new Thomas and Mack Center, home of the college powerhouse UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. Incidentally, E. Parry Thomas and Jerome Mack were prominent Nevada bankers, who later went on to have a successful Las Vegas Strip show involving lions and tigers (or was that Siegfried and Roy?).

Seattle thought they held the winning hand, until referee Jack Madden saw a hand that wasn’t there. The Sonics were leading by one point with two seconds left, when Gus Johnson intercepted Rich Kelley’s bounce pass to seemingly seal the victory.

Sonics forward Reggie King was sure when he tried to bat Kelley’s pass away, he only swatted air. Coach Lenny Wilkens was sure of the same thing. Unfortunately, referee Madden was equally sure King had committed a reach-in foul. “If a guy reaches for the ball and doesn’t touch the ball, it’s not a foul,” claimed Wilkens. “I reached, but missed,” said King.

Kelley made one of two free throws, sending the game to overtime. In OT, the Sonics pulled all lemons. Utah dominated the extra session to win, 98-94. Jack Sikma’s 20 point-18 rebound effort went for naught.

End Of A 13-Game Era

By the following season, the Jazz had their first playoff appearance behind them, more people in Salt Lake City were purchasing tickets, fewer people in Las Vegas were, and ownership decided to scrap its two-city experiment. (A big reason Vegas locals weren’t, let’s say, “invested” in the Jazz: sports books weren’t allowed to field bets on the “hometown” team.)

“We didn’t really have a homecourt advantage. It was more like a neutral site,” said Adrian Dantley, the Jazz’s star forward. “At that time, UNLV was hot, more than any NBA team coming to play.”

Nov. 2, 1984: Jazz 107, Sonics 101

The Sonics would be one of only two teams in 1984-85 to face the Jazz in Nevada; and, as it turned out, the only opponent to play there more than once. In its final appearance, Seattle fell behind and caught up multiple times, eventually dropping a 107-101 decision.

The seeds for the defeat had been planted before opening tip-off. That morning’s P-I carried the happy headline, “Sonics Stun Lakers.” The hours following the emotional upset victory at the Kingdome weren’t as pleasant.

Coming off the adrenaline rush, players could only grab a couple of hours of sleep. Storms delayed the arrival of their early morning flight into Vegas. They eventually found their way to the arena, but fewer than four thousand fans joined them. “Our concentration at the beginning of the game wasn’t where it should have been,” lamented Sonics coach Lenny Wilkens. The coach conceded his team was “drained” by the physicality of the victory over L.A.

There was nothing wrong with Darrell Griffith’s concentration. The Jazz sharpshooter hit 17 of 28 shots, including a perfect four of four from beyond the arc, to finish with 41 points. Five Sonics scored in double figures in a losing cause, led by Tom Chambers’ 29 points and 19 from Al Wood.

One more reason to hope both Seattle and Las Vegas are granted expansion franchises. That way, Sonics 2.0 can achieve what their predecessors never could – a winning streak in Vegas.