Wallyworld Should Be Closed For Repairs

After attending the Sonics/Spurs game last Sunday, (that Ray Allen won with a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left) and staring at all of the empty seats in the Key, I started to reminisce about the glory days of Sonics basketball. I should say, that the 'glory days' for me were the early to mid 90's since I was barely walking when the Sonics won the only major sports championship that the city of Seattle has ever seen. I was raised with the Sonics. My grandmother taught me to love the Sonics....she was (and still is) a HUGE Sonics fan. I used to live and breath Sonics basketball. I watched as they came so close to the prize, only to fall to the winningest team in NBA history.....and from there? Downward spiral defined. Why you ask? ....well, arguments could be made that there are several reasons. My interpretation? Former 1976 ACC tournament MVP, and former Sonic player, Mr. Walter Frederick Walker.

"I'm not sure of his exact height and weight. All I know is that the man was a saint with children and a genius with food additives..."

Here is a guy that has taken something golden and put his stamp all over it for a full decade now, and the result isn't even a finely polished turd. Sure, the Sonics were one Ray Allen trey away from a game 7 against the Spurs last season....but I choose to give Nate all the credit for the miraculous run last year. But now, the city of Seattle is on the brink of losing the team.....if the Sonics would have asked the Washington voters for $$ in 1995 or 1996, they would have received it. Seattle was all Sonics, all the time. Wally's poor decisions are so numerous that it would be practically impossible to try and outline them all. We could 'highlight' Wally's GM/CEO career by examining the 'lowlights' of the last decade of Sonics basketball.

Walker joined the Sonics as GM in 1994, taking over for 'Trader Bob'. At that point, Whitsitt had helped establish the Sonics as a leading contender in the Western Conference. All Walker had to do was maintain things and make minor adjustments from year to year. After the loss to the Bulls in the 1996 NBA Finals, Walker couldn't resist the desire to begin exercising his newly found power and he began tinkering with the roster. He didn't renew George Karl's contract, and he has moved on to successful playoff appearance since his departure. He also refused to re-negotiate Shawn Kemp's contract after one of the worst signings in Sonic history. There are two roster moves that stand out the most for me, the infamous $35 million contract for Jim McIlvaine and trading lottery pick Corey Maggette for Horace Grant. During his first 4 years as GM, the Sonics continued to succeed....but with trader Bob's players. Once the roster consisted of Wallyworld acquisitions, the cheese really started to stink.....and the results were consistent 4th & 5th place finishes over the next 5 seasons.

"Ain't never seen anyone so shit-all stupid as you driving off that road. You musta got manure for your brains."

Jimmy Mac....does everyone remember this guy? Since leaving the game, he has now grown out his 'business in the front, party in the back' and relocated to enumclaw where he lives in a modified quadruple-wide manufactured home and slowly sips his lifetime supply of Rainier beer that he has stocked in a shed on his property. His idea of a good investment of his 35 mil...."Enumclaw's gonna take off dude, you just wait". His career high of 12 points in a game is overshadowed by his inability to do anything in the post. At one point, the Sonics actually printed a new jersey for Jimmy Mac that resembled a 'welcome' mat on the front since opposing power players walked right over him on their way to the hoop. Already knowing that this issue may come up, the 'no welcome mat jersey' clause was actually inserted into his $35 million contract before it was signed. The aftershock of this deal can be traced up to recent events. Shawn Kemp got pissed at the amount of money that they paid this idiot, so he started to get whiny and was traded for Vin Baker. Vin Baker comes to the Sonics and has one good year, gets the friggin' maximum contract from Wally (something like $87 million for 7 years) after which he gets fat and out of shape and completely forgets how to play basketball. This gets Gary Payton all pissed off.....so he gets even more surly than usual causing him to be traded for Ray Allen......and we arrive at the present.

Trading the rights to lottery pick Corey Maggette and a few other players to Orlando for an over-the-hill Horace Grant? I was stunned by this one. At the time, just like everyone else in Seattle, I tried to put a positive spin on things by saying "Saweeet! Now we have that championship experience!" I don't like this deal even if Ho-G is in his prime. Sure the guy could rebound....but I've never seen a guy miss that many layups in my life.....just painful to watch. And by the time he was a Sonic....he had been on the statistical downside of his career for a full year, and that only continued to get worse. For the record, it should be noted that during that season, Corey Maggette averaged more points that Ho-G and had a higher field goal % in almost 20 fewer minutes per game than Ho-G.....and that was Maggette's lowest averages in his short career......he has averaged about 20 points per game the last two seasons.

I can note ONE good thing about Wallyworld....he did negotiate the trade that sent Hersey Hawkins to Chicago in exchange for Brent Barry....that was a good one, because Brent gave Seattle some quality years and Hawkins basically dropped off the map.

In 2001, when Howie Starbucks bought the team...he moved Mr. Walker upstairs to become part-owner-CEO-President of the "Basketball Club of Seattle LLC", which includes the Seattle Storm......and Wallyworld was officially born. Immediately following this promotion, it was almost as if Howie realized his mistake...and he quickly brought in Rick Sund to be GM. Wow, follow up a poor decision with another one. Rick Sund comes into town and sells his 5 year plan to everyone....and they buy it. Rick Sund...fresh out of jobs with the Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks. Hmm....what have the Pistons done recently? Oh, just a couple NBA Finals appearances...winning one...and continuing to be one of the most dominant defensive teams in the game. This is the result of Rick Sund's 5 year plan in action! Wrong. This is the result of the Pistons realizing that the 5 year plan was a sham....and completely abandoning it in favor of an opposite, more defensive approach. The Wallyworld 5 year plan is heavy on marketing and light on providing an actual, quality product. I feel like we have been sold something that we didn't ask for....and it is killing me.

"Now, I owe it to myself to tell you, Mr. Griswold, that if you are thinking of taking the tribe cross country, this is your automobile. The Wagon Queen Family Truckster. You think you hate it now, but wait till you drive it."

The 5 year plan has turned the Sonics into one of the worst defensive teams in NBA history. The young disciplinarian, well paid head coach was not part of the 5 year plan.....the plan calls for a cheaper, yes-man head coach. (Wallyworld seems to believe that the Sonics can be successful without leadership, talent or passion) Once the 'showtime' approach and Bob Weiss got the team nowhere in a hurry, they made the change to Bob Hill. Now, I like what Hill has done. Swift and Petro wouldn't see anything besides the end of the bench on Weiss' Sonics....but Bob Hill comes in and puts those guys in the game. The result, two young players gaining confidence and showing the promise that was the vision all along. I think Hill deserves a full season with a well built basketball team before we can throw him out....whether or not that happens remains to be seen.

"We're ten hours from the f*cking fun park and you want to bail out. Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun."

I do believe that the Sonics have drafted a little better and made a few good moves since Sund was named GM.....so I can can give some credit for that. Unfortunately, this has only glossed over the citywide negativity towards Wallyworld....and now, Wally comes out and says that they may have to move the team. Is he the next Ken Behring? Is he going to drive the moving truck? The funny thing here is that Wallyword has stepped up and taken full responsibility for the state of the team. This is a perfect illustration of how disillusioned this guy is....he can step up and say that he is responsible...but he won't hold himself accountable, because he knows what that might mean. He knows that he is not well liked....and he doesn't seem to care. Wally needs to wake up and smell the garbage.....he needs to be a man and walk away. Unfortunately, I think Rick Sund needs to pack up his stuff as well. The time has come to clean out the executive offices. 10 years should be enough time to make something happen. We need to shut this thing down for repairs boys.....in an effort to make Wallyworld a safer, funner, happier place for everyone.