Even as Sam Presti prepares to select the fourth overall pick in tonight's NBA Draft, the battle wages on to determine whether the SuperSonics will be moving to Oklahoma City or staying put in Seattle. Anything can happen, but I personally think the Sonics are going to be seeing a lot less rain very shortly.

So I'd like to take a few minutes and harken back to everything the Seattle SuperSonics have given us over the years: Those back-to-back finals appearances, the 1979 league championship, that improbable run to the '87 Western Conference Finals, the most epic first round failure of all time (until the Mavericks trumped them last year), the follow-up failure, that NBA Finals appearance against the Bulls, the Shawn Kemp of elevator operators, and an unforgettable cast of characters: Dale Ellis, Dennis Johnson, Detlef Schrempf, Gary Payton, Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, Lenny Wilkens, Nate McMillan, Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen, Sam Perkins, Shawn Kemp, Spencer Haywood, Xavier McDaniel, and...

...Predrag Drobnjak?!

Yes, Predrag "the other Peja" Drobnjak. He was a Sonic for two largely forgettable seasons (2001-02 and 2002-03). And while his averages (about 8 PPG and 3 RPG) were nothing to write back to Montenegro about, he did make one lasting contribution to the franchise that may even surpass the extreme awesomeness of that '79 title: A series of commercials promoting the "Super Sonic Seat Sale."

Prepare for space bears, a cat named Jinkies, third-degree burns, a Brent Barry talking bobblehead, lines like "Don't probe my body," and the acting skillz of Jerome James. Originally posted at Fan IQ and With Leather (and maybe some other places I don't know about).



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15 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
If those commercials were women, we would all want to have sex with them. True story.

Blogger Pulp said...
You mean to tell me the Knicks have been wasting an acting talent like Jerome James by making him "play basketball" this whole time? Just more proof James Dolan is the worst owner in sports.

Blogger Drake said...
I remember a few years ago I had Peja on my fantasy team for a short while (I think he was on a hot streak during that time). He was on the Clippers then, which sort of explains why I even thought of claiming him off waivers.

So sometime later, I'm thumbing around on online and I came across something funny on a Sonics website featuring none other than Peja himself. Think about it: he was on the Clippers, he's never really done anything significant in his career, yet he still had his own funny little page on the Sonics site. Weird.

From what I remember, you clicked on a picture of him and he said some gems, such as "Brick!!!" (which he pronounced "Breeek!!"), and "Hey fancy man! The dance hall is that way!". Everything was pronounced in his classic Serbian accent.

Blogger Unknown said...
Hilarious...and not even in an unintentional way. These are that far out there. I feel like I need to go to Seattle if this type of commercial resonates in there. Thanks for sharing.

Also, are we getting an Evil Ted live blogging encore during the draft tonight?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
But... was that really his cat?

If you put a foil hat on my cat, you'd get bitchslapped upside the head with all claws out.

I really thought space bears had to be a joke. Little did I know... I am now supremely jealous that the real Peja is not lending his Serbian talents to ads such as these in New Orleans. We only have Mo Pete throwing a ball over his left shoulder only to have it fall in the net from the other direction. And Chris Paul selling furniture. Sad.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I want to make love to those commercials.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
I've long thought there should be some kind of test for basketball fans to see if they know the full names of some of these international players. Knowing that Peja is short for Predrag is easy, but what about knowing Hedo is short for Hidayet or that Sasha is short for Aleksander?

Blogger Tonewise said...
well, that was a large pile of incredible...

Blogger Raptor said...
The best part of that campaign was the website. It had Drobnsmack and Drobnjack reading DeNiro Lines.

"Tonight, your uniform will be wet with tears of sadness!"

So sad when they took it down.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
DON'T PROBE MY BODY

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Man, Seattle has gone through some tough times. Kurt's death, the implosion of the Mariner's MLB record winning season in the playoffs, The Sonics implosion, Jimi's death, the crap known as Queensryche and now this. They honestly need a hug, and to kick both twatbags Stern and Bennett in the ballsack.

...And this is coming from a Blazers fan and fellow NW resident. Save our Sonics dammit. *cries*

Anonymous Anonymous said...
You forgot to mention Vin Baker and his flask in your list of Sonics.

Blogger Shiv said...
@ Rainbow Bright

I was digging your comment, until the disparagement of Queensryche. You could have gone with Layne Staley, or Andrew Wood or Kim Thayill's unexplained disappearance, but noooo....

But anyhoo...anybody remember Drobnjak's Manjaks (pronounced Drob-nee-yak-s Maniacs)? Anybody?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Don't forget the dissolution of Shawn Kemp. They brilliantly dumped him before he became pickled by alcohol, and then brought in another alcoholic (Vin Baker)? Nice job!

I lived in Seattle for 7.5 years (89-97). Freakin awesome city. Best place I ever lived.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
So after watching those commercials i'm pretty sure that after the Sonics finish their Seattle trial they'll try to make back some of their lost money by suing the "Tim and Eric Awesome Show".