1994–95 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1994–95 NBA season was the 27th season for the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association. The SuperSonics acquired the eleventh overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft from the Charlotte Hornets, and selected power forward Carlos Rogers out of Tennessee State University, but then traded him to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Byron Houston, and signed free agent Bill Cartwright during the off-season; Cartwright won three championships with the Chicago Bulls in the early 1990s.

For the duration of the regular season, the SuperSonics switched venues and played their home games at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington, while their original stadium, the Seattle Center Coliseum, was being rebuilt to keep pace with NBA standards.

The SuperSonics struggled with a 3–4 start to the regular season, but then won 13 of their next 16 games, then posted a 10-game winning streak in January, which led them to a successful 33–12 start at the All-Star break, despite a few team troubles along the way, and with Cartwright only playing just 29 games due to a groin injury. The team finished in second place in the Pacific Division with a 57–25 record, and earned the #4 seed in the Western Conference.

Gary Payton averaged 20.6 points, 7.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game, while Shawn Kemp averaged 18.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and Detlef Schrempf provided the team with 19.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game; Payton and Kemp were both named to the All-NBA Second Team, while Schrempf was selected to the All-NBA Third Team, and Payton was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Kendall Gill contributed 13.7 points and 1.6 steals per game, and Sam Perkins provided with 12.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and led the SuperSonics with 136 three-point field goals. Off the bench, Vincent Askew contributed 9.9 points per game, while Marčiulionis contributed 9.3 points per game, and defensive guard Nate McMillan averaged 5.2 points, 5.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.

Payton, Kemp and Schrempf were all selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, Arizona. Payton also finished in ninth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while McMillan finished in fourth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and both players finished tied in sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

However, after a shocking first round exit in the 1994 NBA playoffs against the 8th-seeded Denver Nuggets, the SuperSonics would once again exit early in the 1995 NBA playoffs; after winning Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round, at home over the 5th-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, 96–71, the SuperSonics lost the next three games to the Lakers, thus losing the series in four games.

During the regular season, Gill and head coach George Karl both feuded with each other in public, as Gill dealt with depression. Following the season, Gill was traded back to his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, while Marčiulionis and Houston were both dealt to the Sacramento Kings, and Cartwright retired.