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Tickets at Ticket Master
Jack Sikma knew for more than a decade that something like this would happen, that he'd get into coaching, find his way to an NBA bench near you and start molding centers in need of some seven-time All-Star expertise.
It came down to a question of where and when. And both questions were formally
answered yesterday.
Where: Seattle.
When: October.
"The stars needed to align, the timing needed to be right," Sikma
said yesterday, sitting on a couch at the Sonics' practice facility. "I'm
looking forward to getting back into the game. It's just a very dynamic, ticketmaster
going-for-it-all scenario. I'm glad to have an opportunity to take part in that."
The Sonics hired Sikma as a special-assignments coach. Sikma will scout and
put prospective players through workouts. But his main responsibility will be
working with the team's centers.
Which makes sense, considering everything Sikma did at that position in Seattle
after the Sonics took him with the eighth pick in the 1977 NBA draft.
Sikma played on the Sonics' 1979 NBA championship team, became only the third
player in team history to snag 1,000 rebounds in a season and left the Sonics
for Milwaukee in 1986 with more rebounds (7,729), blocked shots (705) and free-throws
made (3,044) than anyone else in team history.
He still has the team's career records for rebounding and free-throws made.
And his jersey hangs from the rafters of KeyArena.
Contrast that with the Sonics current center crop — an often-injured lot
that includes Jerome James, Calvin Booth, Vitaly Potapenko and current free-agent
Predrag Drobnjak.
"I see some talent, some relatively young players who many feel haven't
reached their potential yet," Sikma said. "There's more there to be
given. They've had some issues with health that you've got no control over.
Everyone believes it would be a great benefit for the team if we could get better
and more consistent play from those positions. I think I can help there."
Due to timing and his family situation, Sikma never before coached in the NBA.
He rarely watched the game after retiring in ticketmaster 1991 until about five
years ago when the competitive itch started to return.
Sikma settled in Bellevue with his wife, Shawn. He coached his sons —
Jacob, 17; Lucas, 14; and Nathan, 10 — on youth teams. Last spring, with
his family's blessing, Sikma decided he wanted to get into coaching. So he called
Sonics president Wally Walker and invited him to lunch. It culminated in yesterday's
announcement.
"I've had the opportunity to spend time with my family and build good relationships
with my children," Sikma said of his time away from basketball. "They
told me to go for this."
Sikma said he will draw on his playing experience as a coach next season and
"steal as many ideas as I can" from the renowned coaches he played
for. That list includes Lenny Wilkens, Bernie Bickerstaff and Don Nelson.
"I look forward to working with Jack," Sonics coach Nate McMillan
said in a statement. "His presence and experience will be extremely valuable
to all the Sonics players, especially our big men."
For Sikma, the where and when have been answered. Now he's working on the how.
"First of all, it needs to be fun," he said. "Two, you can't
readily accept failure. You have to keep trying. And three, there's ticketmaster
communication. We're going to need lots of that.
"I can't wait to get going."