We wrote this before watching the end of last night’s Blazers vs. Rockets OT thriller, won on a Brandon Roy three with 0.8 seconds left. Last week another NBA season got underway, and for the first time since 1966 Seattle didn’t have a team in the fight. If you've forgotten why, The New York Times Magazine explains how Clay Bennett, the misunderstood visionary, rescued the Sonics from an un-caring elitist city. We dislike David Stern,......

Last time we checked in on Shawn Kemp, Jr., he was a 6-7 wingman considered a fairly decent prospect in Georgia. Now, Kemp is considered one of the top prospects in the nation, and, according to Glenn LaFollette of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a recruiting target of Lorenzo Romar. As you might expect, Kemp is a pretty good basketball player--a 6-9 dunk machine who Rivals rates as the #9 center in the class of '09. (Yes,......

In June of 1996, Shawn Kemp had just outplayed Michael Jordan, and even the most pessimistic Sonics fan agreed that the Supes had been a healthy Nate McMillan away from taking the crown. The awful aftertaste of the Denver upset was gone. With a 28-year-old Gary Payton and a 27-year-old Shawn Kemp--two sure hall-of-famers--in their primes, and a solid surrounding cast, the Sonics were ready to dominate the NBA for a few years. Our window......

--Oregon teen busted screwing horses by barn cam. --Sonic Youth is doing a CD for Starbucks. You know what? Fuck everything. --The Buffy musical episode is going to play at the Egyptian at the end of the month. Nerd. (See you there.) --The guys at Neumos will handle the booking for Chop Suey now that the Chop Suey guy left to do the booking at Nectar. Follow? --Sure, I'll join your cult. --Sure, I'll......

--Much to our surprise, the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby is not Shawn Kemp. --Adam Morrison gets a fine handed to him, Warren Moon gets a breathalyser handed to him, and Jeff Weaver gets his ass handed to him. --Little Nemo in the dead letter office. --There was a bench-clearing altercation in today's otherwise-awful M's game. --Turns out the military doesn't always want to hear about toxic gas. M-4 tank crews of the......

The Seahawks and Bears have never met in the playoffs, however, Seattle teams have danced with the Windy City's finest in the postseason. Huskies beat Illinois in the Second Round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Although he is now spending more time on the bench, Justin Dentmon's four point play gave the Huskies a huge momentum boost when it looked like the Illini might turn away Brandon Roy's second half comeback. Mariners swept the White......

We just noticed that basketball-reference.com now has box scores for the 1988 season on. Good stuff. But what's better is the game logs for players. You can see a whole season of a player's performance, game-by-game. And so of course we immediately thought--Shawn Kemp, 1996. He averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds a game, but, being the inconsistent performer that he was (although less so in '96), these numbers don't reflect the sheer hurt he......

--Looking for that perfect holiday gift for your favorite barista? Something that says "You're the reason I drink twelve cups of decaf a day," without being really creepy and icky? Check out this thread at Starbucks Gossip. --Nordstrom is about to go all Starbucks on us. They'll soon be selling CDs, including two holiday collections, some jazz, and a Marvin Gaye retread. --Quick, someone resurrect Chris Penn and the career of Kevin Bacon and......

What did we learn at trivia last night? We learned that Mike Piazza's homosexuality-denial campaign has largely been successful. We learned that Shawn Kemp jokes are not only limitless, but very funny. And--from the names of two teams--about a scandal in Congress regarding some Foley fellow. (we just wonder if there's tension on film sets between the Foley editor and the best boy) The verbal questions are after the jump if you care to test......

The Oklahoma City Seattle Rootin' Tootin' Rim Rockin' Hombres Presented by Walmart Sonics open the season in less than a month--on November 1st, vs. our new favorite team Portland. Single game tickets for all 41 home games (and two preseason games) go on sale today at 10am. The Sonics have been advertising on TV, showing memorable moments from Sonics history, and reminding fans that this is the fortieth season of Sonics hoops in Seattle.......

The most electrifying athlete in Seattle history is trying to get back into basketball. Shawn Kemp's in the Denver Nuggets tryout camp, and he's there for a reason--coach George Karl. So reports the AP. "He challenged me a few years ago to become one of the best players in the league, and I accepted the challenge," Kemp said. "That's one of the reasons why I wanted to come here. I knew he [Karl] wouldn't take......

ESPN's Page Two calls the Sonics' 1987 pick of Scottie Pippen #34 on their list of the 100 worst draft picks of all-time...sort of. 34. Scottie Pippen, Seattle Sonics (No. 5, 1987) Wait ... Scottie Pippen was a great choice! ... except the Sonics (who had acquired the pick from the Knicks for Gerald Henderson) had a deal with the Bulls for the No. 8 pick: They would draft Pippen and trade him to......

"Even though I did not intend to do anything illegal," says former Sonics star Shawn Kemp, "I want to take responsibility for my actions." The actions he's referring to are getting caught smoking weed last month at a Brown Bear Car Wash on Aurora. Luckily for him, responsibility does not include going to jail, after King County prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge in exchange for a guilty plea. Kemp, who maintains that the 40......

Five-time All-Star and former Sonics great Shawn Kemp and a friend got tagged for keeping things a little too Seattle this morning. He was arrested for marijuana and cocaine posession after a cop smelled the chronic that Seattlest imagines was pouring from their pickup's windows Cheech and Chong style. The officer approached Kemp and his friend while they were standing around next to the truck in a Shoreliine parking lot. According to some reports Kemp......