The Seattle Supersonics fans had a blast on Sunday night when two of their best players ever reunited. Of course, it would have been better to see them in Seattle, doing something related to the old team, but this time, they had to see other squads clash in the NBA Finals.
Ahead of Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals, Gary Payton and Detlef Schrempf met and took a picture. These two, alongside Shawn Kemp and the best generation of players in Seattle, took the Supersonics to the NBA Finals in 1996. They had a good chance to win the NBA championship until Michael Jordan told them otherwise.
They were very close to winning it all, but the GOAT had different plans. Still, that doesn’t mean they don’t have good memories of the time they spent together playing for the Sonics.
Super then, super now 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SKEbRP45Fq
— Seattle Supersonics (@SeattleSonics) June 6, 2022
Many fans from the Sonics reacted to the picture, expressing their admiration for The Glove and Schrempf while remembering the times they lived cheering for Seattle.
1994!?!? Most painful sports memory in my life of 48 years. Just say pic is 95, probably Detlefs best year. Albeit another brutal playoff loss. Dominate game 1 lose 3 to Van Exel and Ceballos.
— Ryan Grote (@RyanGrote3) June 6, 2022
My boys!
— Slasher Trash (@SlasherTrash) June 6, 2022
Detlef was one of the first international players to do well in the NBA, along with other greats like Sabonis, Dirk, Vlade, and so on. They played the game the right way, many good memories
— Richard Alvidrez (@RichardAlvidre2) June 6, 2022
We need the team back now
— Chris gossler (@gossler_chris) June 6, 2022
The best of the 206!
— Seattle SuperSonics (@BringBackSonics) June 6, 2022
https://twitter.com/heaven10feetup/status/1533927980992299008
Why would the NBA allow Seattle to go without a team for so long? We had the 10th largest fan base when they were here. You’d think they would do something for the great NW.
— Sammy Forsythe (@sammyforsythe72) June 6, 2022
One of my favorite teams of all time. Really fun to watch back in the day
— OldMan🅿️ete (@pamechi3000) June 6, 2022
That’s my 🐐
— Detlef’s Burner 🔊 (@11Detlaf) June 7, 2022
What an incredible team…
— Jerome Hartzog (@WordCertified) June 7, 2022
I got Detlef’s autograph once outside of a convenient store. Dude was holding like 3 30 racks of beer and didn’t even need to put one down in order to sign an autograph for me.
— Kyle (@kylejkeener) June 7, 2022
Goats of Seattle sports!
— Mike (@Mikedubb1989) June 7, 2022
What a throwback, The Glove & Detlef Schrempf!!!
— Jay Falcon (@jayfalcon07) June 7, 2022
What a great team!!
— menico (@Db32C) June 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/SonicsONTap/status/1534002595051646976https://twitter.com/rrancourt/status/1534023759480311808
Even Schrempf joked with the pic, saying they went from being babies to becoming grandpas.
From babies to grandpas 😁 https://t.co/Z1O4CdFBkU
— Detlef Schrempf (@Dschrempf) June 6, 2022
Payton is especially interested in the 2022 NBA Finals, as his son Gary Payton II is defending the Golden State Warriors colors in the series. He couldn’t win a title in Seattle but was successful in Miami. Now his son can win it all in San Francisco and Gary will be there to watch him give his everything on the court.
It’s been a complex offseason for GP2, but he’s ready to bounce back and demonstrate why the Warriors are so high on him. As for the Supersonics, they’ve been linked with a return to the NBA in a few years, but nothing is certain right now.
