Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM
Danny Fortson's Sonics career began with little fanfare. Fortson was acquired by the Sonics from Dallas in a July 26 trade for
Calvin Booth that was viewed as two teams swapping parts that didn't quite fit.
"It's probably one of those trades that makes sense for both teams," said Sonics GM Rick Sund. "Dallas has been looking to add somebody that can shoot the ball from the center position, and we said at the end of the season last year we were going to try and strengthen our interior defense and rebounding."
The Sonics main off-season acquisition, Fortson endured speculation about his conditioning early in training camp. After Nate McMillan's practices got Fortson into shape, he was slowed by a back strain that forced him to miss the Sonics season opener. So suffice it to say it was something of a surprise when Fortson quickly proved to be precisely what the Sonics needed.
Fortson made his impact felt almost immediately. In the Sonics third game of the season against the highly-favored San Antonio Spurs, Fortson had 15 points and 13 rebounds, shot 9-for-10 from the field and played tough defense on Tim Duncan as the Sonics earned a 113-94 victory. In the Sonics next home game, Fortson had 16 points and 13 rebounds and made 10 free throws as the Sonics crushed the Sacramento Kings, and the love affair between Fortson and KeyArena was officially on.
Fortson brought the Sonics a physical style of play they had lacked since bruiser Frank Brickowski came off the bench during the 1995-96 season (which ended with a trip to the NBA Finals). Sonics fans embraced Fortson's attitude, giving him the loudest applause of any Sonics reserve when he checked into a game throughout the season and lustily booing the referees who whistled Fortson for a whopping 12.1 fouls per 48 minutes.
After seeing his time in Golden State and Dallas come to not entirely happy endings, the love between Fortson and the fans was mutual. He responded by reminding fans why he had twice averaged a double-double in his career. Foul problems and the Sonics depth up front meant Fortson would not get enough minutes to post those kind of point and rebound averages, but on any given night he stood the chance of being the deciding factor in the game, as he was with his six double-doubles.
Fortson was at his best during the first two months of the season. He scored a season-high 20 points, making six of seven field-goal attempts and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line, on Nov. 26 vs. New Jersey. In the rematch in San Antonio on Dec. 8, Fortson shot 10-for-10 from the charity stripe and had 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out to help the Sonics thwart a Spurs comeback and come away with the win. In a losing effort on Dec. 11 against Boston, Fortson had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Listed at just 6-8 and possibly even smaller than that, Fortson stood tall against the NBA's biggest players while primarily manning the center position. He shined against Miami All-Star Shaquille O'Neal, who castigated him by saying of Sonics defenders, "All they do is flop ... that's not basketball." Fortson had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the Sonics Jan. 3 win in Miami and topped that with 18 points and 10 boards when the Heat lost in Seattle later in the week.
Fortson's season was interrupted during the month of February. Frustrated with the officiating in a Feb. 10 game against Sacramento, Fortson flipped a chair while leaving the court and drew a two-game suspension from the NBA. He missed the Sonics next four games to attend to his ailing grandmother. In March, Fortson was bothered by a sprained left ankle and missed eight games. Injuries continued to plague Fortson in April, when he missed three games because of a shoulder strain.
During the postseason, referees did not allow Fortson to play his game. He was whistled for 42 fouls in 105 minutes, limiting the time he could be on the court. Fortson stayed focused through the whistles and gave the Sonics a big effort in Game 5 against San Antonio, scoring five points, grabbing nine rebounds and doing a fine job on Duncan in 18 minutes of action.
2004-05 Highlights:
Recorded six double-doubles.
Scored season-high 20 points vs. New Jersey on Jan. 26.
Grabbed season-high 13 rebounds twice.
Led NBA in True Shooting Percentage (.682).
Shot career-best 88.0% from free-throw line to rank 10th in NBA.
SUPERSONICS.COM Player of the Week:
Nov. 3-7
Dec. 6-12 (with Reggie Evans)
Jan. 3-9
