The 1995-96 Seattle SuperSonics are a team that no fan of NBA basketball in the 90s will ever forget. From top to bottom, they were one of the most exciting teams in basketball that went on to win 64 games in the regular season. They ran the floor like a bunch of green and yellow blurs led by the incredibly exciting dup of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton. The duo led a team of battle-tested warriors with their pit bull-like mentality and never back down attitude. This led them all the way to the NBA Finals, where they met Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls who had won an NBA record 72 games in 1996. Things didn’t end the way the SuperSonics had hoped, but their appearance made Seattle basketball must-watch television once again, which was a beautiful thing for the fans and the NBA as a whole at the time.
- Steve Scheffler – Business Owner
- Sherell Ford – Unknown
- Eric Snow – Coach and Father
- David Wingate – Family Man
- Nate McMillan – NBA Coach
- Frank Brickowski – Board Member
- Ervin Johnson – NBA Ambassador/Instructor
- Vincent Askew – Coach
- Sam Perkins – NBA Ambassador
- Hersey Hawkins – Coach/Family Man
- Detlef Schrempf – Philanthropist
- Gary Payton – College Coach/NBA Ambassador
- Shawn Kemp – Business Owner
Payton and Kemp were not the only part of the SuperSonics that made the team fun to watch during the 1996 season. The team was led by outspoken and fiery coach George Karl who couldn’t have been more perfect for the position of Head Coach. There was also a bevy of iconic role players that contributed to the madness. Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins, and Nate McMillan also did their part to contribute to the best season of the 90s for Seattle basketball. So what are these NBA legends and icons up to today? We did our best to track their moves since that run to the NBA Finals and give the NBA fans a quick update.
This is what all of the members of the 1995-96 Seattle SuperSonics are up to in the year 2022.
Steve Scheffler – Business Owner
We kick off our update on the 1999 SuperSonics with their bench. Steve Scheffler was a 7-year veteran of the NBA and appeared in 174 games with just 8 starts at the power forward/center positions. With the 1995-96 Sonics, Scheffler appeared in 35 games and averaged 1.7 PPG and 0.9 RPG. During the playoffs, he appeared in just 8 games and didn’t record a single point with just 2.8 minutes played. He retired after the 1997 season at just 29 years old.
After basketball, Scheffler went off of the grid for a bit. Scheffler’s career saw him play for 4 teams in 7 seasons, but after basketball was over, he went a completely different route. Scheffler settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he is the President and founder of K S Specialties Inc. Scheffler’s company is used by businesses to develop viral promotion opportunities all over the internet and specifically Amazon.com.
Sherell Ford – Unknown
Sherell Ford is just one of many former NBA players bred on the streets of Chicago. He was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but played his college basketball with the University Of Illinois-Chicago. He graduated from the school with the most PPG in school history and was drafted 26th overall in the 1995 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Ford’s NBA career consisted of 28 games during the 1995-96 season where he averaged 3.2 PPG. He was not on the roster when they made their run to the NBA Finals and he never played in the NBA again.
It is unclear what it is exactly Ford is up to in 2022, but according to his social media pages, he is alive and well and married to his wife of just over one year. He is still very active in his alma mater, UIC’s on-campus activities, and recently attended a game with his high school teammate and for NBA player Michael Finley. Apparently, he can still play too as he took home an over 35 men’s league 3v3 tournament trophy this past March.
Eric Snow – Coach and Father
Eric Snow is probably best known for his days alongside Allen Iverson in Philadelphia and LeBron James in Cleveland. Snow actually got his start in Seattle with the SuperSonics after they drafted him 43rd overall in the 1995 NBA Draft. The 1995-96 season was Snow’s rookie campaign, which afforded him just 2.4 minutes of playing time in the playoffs. Snow would go on to join the Sixers in 1998, where he spent 5 seasons before going to the Cleveland Cavaliers and retiring early due to knee issues.
After his playing days were over, Snow decided to try his hand at coaching. First, he served as the Director Of Player Development at Southern Methodist University from 2012 through 2014. He then earned an assistant coaching job with Florida Atlantic University where he was for 3 seasons from 2014 through 2016. The following season, he landed a gig with the Texas Legends, a G-League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks where he served through 2021. Snow has 6 sons and is currently married to his second wife, Carrie.
David Wingate – Family Man
David Wingate was a second-round pick in the 1986 NBA Draft to the Philadelphia 76ers. Wingate was a 15-year veteran of the NBA who played for 6 different teams. He had 2 separate stints in Seattle, the first of which was from the 1995-96 season until the end of the 1997-98 season. Wingate appeared in 60 games for the 1996 SuperSonics, averaging 3.7 PPG in 9.9 minutes of play. He saw less than minimal action on the Finals run with the team, although he logged 13 appearances in the playoffs.
Wingate is currently 58 years old and resides in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. He is currently seeking employment somewhere within the world of basketball, advertising himself on sites such as LinkedIn and other job search engines. Wingate has 5 children, Cynthia, Brandi, Davion, Ashley, and Ameerah.
Nate McMillan – NBA Coach
Nate McMillan was drafted 30th overall in 1986 by the SuperSonics and it is where he would spend the entirety of his 12-year NBA career. McMillan was a defensive mastermind who made 2 All-Defensive Teams in his career and led the NBA in steals in 1994 with 3.0 SPG. By the time the 1996 season came around, McMillan was a specialist off of the bench for Seattle, used mostly for his defensive presence and providing little offensive production. He appeared in 20 playoff games for the team and logged 20.0 minutes off of the bench on the Finals run.
After his playing career, McMillan jumped immediately into a career in coaching. He was an assistant coach in Seattle from 2000 through 2001 and took over the head coaching gig partway through the 2001 season. He stayed there as head coach for 5 seasons, where he amassed a record of 395-212. McMillan has held coaching jobs with the Pacers as well in both an assistant and head coaching role. McMillan is currently the coach of the Atlanta Hawks and led the team to an Eastern Conference Finals berth in 2021. So far in Atlanta, McMillan has a record of 120-70 headed into his 3rd season as head coach.
Frank Brickowski – Board Member
Frank Brickowski was drafted 57th overall in the 1981 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. After playing 3 years overseas in Europe, Brickowski was signed by Seattle From 1984 through 1986. He would then bounce around from team to team until he landed with the SuperSonics again for the 1995-96 season. He would appear in 63 games for Seattle and averaged 5.4 PPG and 2.4 RPG in the regular season. He would play in all 21 playoff contests but logged just 2.0 PPG over that time.
After retirement, Brickowski stepped out of the spotlight for a bit. He is currently married and has no children. He is now serving on the board of the NBA Retired Players Association, where he works alongside Spencer Haywood to establish better benefits and fiscal opportunities for retired players who were paid peanuts compared to what players make today. Frank is 63 years old and lives in California with his wife, Meaghan.
Ervin Johnson – NBA Ambassador/Instructor
Ervin Johnson, not to be confused with Magic, was drafted 23rd overall in the 1993 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. In the 1995-96 season, his last in Seattle, Johnson averaged 5.5 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 81 contests. He played 18 games in the playoffs but mostly served as someone to give guys like Shawn Kemp a rest. Johnson would go on to play for the Bucks, Nuggets, and Timberwolves before retiring in 2006.
Johnson has been a busy man since retirement. He has been hired by the Denver Nuggets as a community ambassador. His job is to bridge the gap between the team and the community. With his job being in Colorado, that is where he currently resides and hosts basketball clinics for youth in the area.
Vincent Askew – Coach
Vincent Askew is the first player seen on our list here today that made an impact on the 1995-96 Super Sonics. Seattle wasn’t his first stop as he was drafted in 1987 and bounced between the Sixers, Warriors, and Kings before arriving in Seattle. In the 96’ season, Askew averaged 8.4 PPG off of the bench for the Sonics and saw 19 games of action in the playoffs. He would be traded in the middle of the 1997 season and then bounced around from the Nets to the Pacers to the Nuggets and finally to the Trail Blazers before calling it quits in 1998.
After the NBA, Askew ventured into playing overseas and did some more bouncing around before leaving his playing days behind him for good. He completed his degree in marketing in retirement and also did some scouting for John Calipari while he was at the University Of Memphis. He has coached several high school teams and even won a Class A State Championship in Tennessee with Rossville Christian Academy.
Sam Perkins – NBA Ambassador
Sam Perkins is probably best known for his days with the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. He was a top prospect at the University Of North Carolina alongside teammate Michael Jordan and was drafted 4th overall in the 1984 NBA Draft. Perkins would play 17 NBA seasons with 4 different teams. When the 1995-96 season came around, Perkins was still a double-digit scorer and decent rebounder and was mainly a bench player for the SuperSonics during the regular season. He came in off of the bench for Seattle in every game of the 1996 Finals run and logged 12.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG.
After retirement, things moved slowly for the former Top 5 draft pick. In June of 2008, Perkins was named the Vice President of Player Relations for the Indiana Pacers, with whom Perkins ended his career in the year 2001. Perkins no longer works for the Pacers but stays connected with the NBA through the NBA Cares program. With his youth basketball camp that he hosts in North Carolina, Perkins works closely with the Special Olympics as an ambassador, instructor, and coach.
Hersey Hawkins – Coach/Family Man
Hersey Hawkins is easily one of the more underrated players of the 1990s. Hawkins was an explosive scorer early on in his career and was named an All-Star in 1991 for averaging 22.1 PPG for the Philadelphia 76ers. Hawkins would spend 5 seasons in Philly and 2 more in Charlotte before arriving with the SuperSonics for the 1995-96 season. In his first season with the team, Hawkins averaged 15.6 PPG on 47.3% shooting. In the playoffs, he averaged 12.3 PPG and started every game for the team as they went to the NBA Finals.
Hersey Hawkins has been a busy man since his retirement. He has served as an assistant coach for Estrella Foothills High School in Arizona and as the Director Of Player Development for the Portland Trail Blazers. He has also enjoyed coaching his 3 sons. His son Corey owns the Arizona state high school scoring record and his son Brandon played at both Portland State and the University of the Pacific. Hawkins has currently stepped away from coaching and front office work to focus on time with his wife.
Detlef Schrempf – Philanthropist
Detlef Schrempf’s name is synonymous with Seattle basketball as he still makes it well-known today. Schrempf came over to Seattle after spending time with both the Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers. He won 2 Sixth Man of the Year awards in Indiana and was named an All-Star once there. The 1995-96 season was Schrempf’s 3rd with the team and a season between 2 All-Star selections with the SuperSonics. In 1996, he was the 3rd leading scorer on the team with 17. 1 PPG in the regular season and 16.0 PPG in the playoffs. Without Schrempf’s help that season, Seattle does not make it to the NBA Finals.
Detlef Schrempf remains in Seattle to this day where he is involved with various philanthropic causes. He has the “Erase The Hate” initiative with Jamal Crossover and others which races money to go to different movements that support racial equality. He also recently launched the Sonics Legends Fund. This fund supports former legends in SuperSonics history who have fallen upon rough times financially. Schrempf has vowed to match every dollar donated to the cause.
Gary Payton – College Coach/NBA Ambassador
Gary Payton is the greatest defensive point guard of all time. He began his NBA career in 1990 with the Seattle SuperSonics, where he would spend the next 14 seasons as one of the best point guards in basketball. He became the first point guard to win the Defensive Player of the Year award in 1996 and a 9x All-Star during his NBA career. His offensive contributions always take a back seat to his defensive abilities, but the year he led them to the NBA Finals, Payton averaged 19.3 PPG, 7.5 APG, and 2.9 SPG. He was their emotional leader and a spark of energy when they needed it most, which is why the team was so easy to rally around him.
In late 2020, it was announced that Gary Payton would become the first basketball coach in Lincoln University’s 101-year history. He has also been a coach in Ice Cube’s BIG3 league where NBA veterans and younger players trying to make their way collide. Aside from that, Payton has been a huge advocate for NBA basketball to return to Seattle, even joining the Oak View Group to begin the process with the NBA. Payton is also the proud father of Gary Payton II who won a championship with the Warriors in 2022. The win made the Payton’s just the 3rd father-son duo in NBA history to win an NBA championship.
Shawn Kemp – Business Owner
Shawn Kemp was one of the most athletically gifted players of the entire 90s decade in the NBA. At his peak, he was the most fierce big man in basketball, putting opposing players on posters or leaving them bruised with his fast and physical play. He was a 6-time All-Star and 3x All-NBA player with the SuperSonics with whom he spent his first 8 professional seasons. The 1995=96 season marked his highest-scoring season with Seattle and it can be argued that he would have been the Finals MVP in 96’ if his team was able to defeat Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
It is no secret that Kemp struggled with addiction issues toward the peak of his career. The addiction robbed him of his athleticism and caused him to put on a ton of unwanted weight. Since retiring and after attempting a comeback or two, Kemp has gotten clean and sober, exercising the demons that once haunted him. In 2020, Kemp launched “Shawn Kemp’s Cannabis Company” which is reportedly doing very well over the past 2 seasons. Just this past week, Kemp, Gary Payton, Detlef Schrempf, and Sam Perkins were all honored at an NBA preseason game held in Seattle.
