Art Thiel column spot on about late Sonic great Shelton

Published 1:30 am Monday, July 16, 2018

Thanks for the spot-on-as-usual article by the great Art Thiel on former SuperSonic muscular mammoth forward Lonnie Shelton (“Shelton was genuine ‘presence’ for Sonics,” The Herald, July 12).

Lonnie Shelton was to the 1979 Sonics what Lonnie Smith was to the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals, i.e. maybe not the best player on his team but surely a key contributor on a World Champion squad that probably wouldn’t have won it all without them. I myself once wore the No. 8 on the select league basketball team I was on for years because I appreciated Shelton so much.

I loved Thiel’s Jack Sikma quote about how Shelton “did his job and asked no questions,” and I also really liked Thiel’s anecdote referencing Philadelphia 76ers enforcer Steve Mix! Finally, I’ve been super-thankful my whole life for that wonderful ‘79 title team the Seattle SuperSonics, who didn’t really possess one obvious superstar but had a bunch of single-minded, really talented players who all played with and for each other beautifully, including the super Lonnie Shelton.

Steve Goodman

Mountlake Terrace