The NBA landed in the Pacific Northwest as the Seattle Supersonics joined the league as one of two new expansion teams. The Sonics picked up Tom Meschery, Walt Hazzard, Bob Weiss, and Rod Thorn while drafting Al Tucker with the sixth overall pick.

On October 13th, the Sonics coached by Al Bianchi lost their first game to the San Francisco Warriors on the road. A week later, the Sonics dropped their first home game to their expansion partner San Diego Rockets 121-114.

A day later, the Sonics would get revenge beating the Rockets for their first win 117-110 in San Diego. However, the Sonics would win just one game in their next 12 after that while finishing in fifth place with a typical expansion record of 23-59.