SEATTLE – Early Wednesday morning, the Seattle SuperSonics were preparing to head for the practice court to work out the bitter aftertaste of a 93-70 loss to the New Jersey Nets the night before.
By mid-morning, basketball no longer seemed so important.
Shortly after most of the players arrived at the team’s Seattle Center practice facility, they learned that forward Rashard Lewis’ brother had died, evidently at his home in the Houston area. The name of the brother, along with the circumstances of his death and other information, was not being made available by either the Sonics or the Lewis family.
Lewis got the news on his cell phone either while driving to practice or as he was suiting up in the locker room. Minutes later, teammate Reggie Evans was in coach Nate McMillan’s office “and he told me that Rashard needed to talk,” McMillan said.
When Lewis came into the office, McMillan went on, “he was very emotional. … He was devastated. It was shocking to him. Evidently they were close.”
Later, Sonics owner Howard Schultz and general manager Rick Sund spoke with Lewis, trying to get a sense of what he wants to do and how the organization can help.
In a statement released later in the day, Sund said the Sonics “sympathize with Rashard and his family and will support them during this difficult time. He will join his family in Houston (today). A timetable for his return has not been set.”
Though Lewis had the option of accompanying the team to Utah for Friday night’s game against the Jazz, “I think the best thing for him would be to go back to Houston,” McMillan said. “He’s really bothered by this. Having looked at him, it’d be hard for him to think about basketball right now.”
Minutes later, McMillan was addressing the other Sonics and discussing the possibility of being without Lewis for a period of time.
“They all understand that it’s a situation where there’s a death in the family and basketball is secondary to something like that,” he said. “How long he’ll be gone, we don’t know.”
The Sonics ended up having a light workout on Wednesday, which had actually been the original plan. After the New Jersey loss, McMillan had decided to make Wednesday an easy day of shooting and weight training, with a more vigorous workout scheduled for today. The team will practice this morning, return to their homes for Thanksgiving meals, then fly out of Seattle later in the afternoon.
Without Lewis, the Sonics are expected to start Ansu Sesay at small forward, or perhaps bring Evans in as the starting power forward and move Vlade Radmanovic to Lewis’ small forward position. Either way, Seattle could be decidedly outmanned against the Jazz without Lewis and guard Ray Allen (on the injured list after ankle surgery), the team’s two leading scorers from a year ago.
“Whether we have Rashard and Ray or not, the Sonics will go down (to Utah) and play,” McMillan said. “The guys that are on the court will have to get it done. That’s part of sports. Tragedies and injuries are a part of the game. The Jazz need a win as well as we do, and we have to get ready to play.”
NEXT GAME
Opponent: Utah Jazz
When: 6 p.m. Friday
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
TV: KONG (Ch. 6/16)
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
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