Photo from fanbase.com
Indeed, individual accolades were about the only glory associated with the SuperSonics during their first seven seasons, as the team finished with a winning record only once. Rule continued to be a scoring force, tallying 49 points on November 15, 1969, to set a then-team record for points in a game. He was named an All-Star for the 1969-1970 season.
Via “Seattle SuperSonics — Part 1″ by Dan Johnson
Years Active: 1968 – 1975
Career Stats: 17.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 46.1% FG, 68.6% FT
Accolades: All-Rookie 1st Team (1968), All-Star (1970)
He held the Sonics rookie-record for ppg until Kevin Durant showed up just a few seasons ago. He set a Sonics franchise record with 49 points in a single game in 1971. His 47 points in a game as a rookie is still the highest for a Sonics (or Thunder) rookie. He could knock down the mid-range jumper. He was methodical on the boards. A handful downlow on offense.
But I’ll be honest with you. I’ve only seen a grand total of maybe 10 minutes of Bob Rule on the basketball court all from this YouTube video of a 1967 Christmas Eve game between the San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics. Everything I know of him has been distilled from the written word. There’s no video of him easily accessible. The photograph leading this story was the lone one I could find that had Rule with a basketball in hand. Even the Seattle Sonics had trouble finding Rule’s whereabouts when they wanted him to participate in team functions after his retirement. It’s as if Rule never existed.
Slinking away into obscurity is certainly antithetical to Rule’s NBA entrance. In 1967, the expansion Seattle SuperSonics selected Bob 19th overall and he certainly did not disappoint. A burly 6’9″ C, he gave good meaning to his surname. In just 30 minutes of action, Rule delivered 18 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and was selected to the All-Rookie 1st Team.
For his next season, Rule unleashed a reign of destruction on his fellow centers. Averaging 24 points and 11.5 rebounds, Bob was beastly. He led all centers in scoring with Nate Thurmond coming in a distant 2nd with 21.5 points but in 45 minutes, 7 more than what Rule was averaging. The Evening Independent recalled Rule getting the best of Celtics legend Bill Russell in November 1968:
“Rule, who averaged 21 points in seven games against the Celtics last year, once again showed Russell little respect last night as he led Seattle to a 114-112 National Basketball Association victory over Boston. The 6-9 pro sophomore from Colorado State U. manhandled Russell as he scored 37 points, including 26 in the second half and 11 straight as Seattle was coming from behind in the final period.”
The Sonics struggled to make good on his stellar play nightly as they finished the season with just 30 wins, but Rule’s rise and the acquisition of Lenny Wilkins that year seemed to promise better days.
The 1969-70 season saw more of the same from Rule. 24.6 ppg and 10.3 rpg. And again he provided some 4th quarter heroics:
…the New Yorkers had to play Seattle without Walt Frazier, who suffered a groin injury, and for a time without Willis Reed after he fouled out in the final minutes. Despite young Mike Riordan’s best performance ever—27 points replacing Frazier—the SuperSonics, sparked by Bob Rule’s 14-point fourth quarter, won 112-105.
Rule was named to his 1st and only All-Star team that season. Seattle behind Rule, Wilkins and Bob Boozer continued their improvement with 36 wins, missing the playoffs by 3 games. The Sonics seemed poised for a breakout. The prodigal PF Spencer Haywood would arrive for the 1970-71 season but only after sitting out the first several months. A tandem of Haywood and Rule in the frontcourt with Wilkins in the back was a tantalizing prospect. But that’s all it ever would be.
Before the season opener in Detroit, Rule let it be known he wanted a trade out of Seattle. Perhaps to entice suitors, he dropped 37 points on the Pistons. Rule kept the tear a-rollin’ averaging 30 p0ints and 11.5 rebounds over the 1st four games. And there his stats for that season remained. Rule snapped his Achilles tendon in that 4th game of the season sidelining him for the year. Maybe his weight gain over the summer and the crash diet to shed the pounds created the tendon instability, but the effect was undeniable.
Rule was never the same afterwards nor did anyone pay much heed to him. Spencer Haywood arrived for the last 33 games of the ’71 campaign and the next year made Rule a forgotten man. in 1972, Spencer was the go-to scorer (26ppg) which relegated Rule to the bench. 16 games into the season, Bob was traded to Philadelphia. His 17 points and 8 rebounds there were respectable, but his explosiveness was gone. Soon afterwards he bounced to Cleveland for a spell and then to Milwaukee, where he declared: “I know I can become the kind of player I really am, the kind I was in Seattle.At other places, they expected me to be something else.”
Rule appeared in one game for the Bucks before being waived. It was the end of the line. And it’s a sad reminder of just how fleeting success can be. Rule was the finest offensive center in the NBA for back-to-back seasons was well on his way to a third year of domination and then it all vanished. Quick as a snap.
