SEATTLE – The Seattle SuperSonics hired Bob Weiss as coach yesterday, promoting the 11-year assistant who worked under former coaches George Karl, Paul Westphal, and Nate McMillan.

This will be the fourth NBA head coaching job for the 63-year-old Weiss, who agreed to a three-year deal. He coached the San Antonio Spurs from 1986-88 (going (59-105), the Atlanta Hawks from 1990-93 (124-122), and the Los Angeles Clippers in 1993-94 (27-55).

“It was a simple decision,” Sonics chairman Howard Schultz said. “What Bob demonstrated to us privately was absolute unbridled enthusiasm.”

After 19 years in the Sonics organization as a player, assistant, and head coach, McMillan left earlier this month to coach the Portland Trail Blazers. Another top assistant, Dwane Casey, became Minnesota’s head coach in June.

Weiss said he turned down McMillan’s offer to continue working together in Portland, hoping to become the 13th head coach in Seattle.

“I’ve said this before: Being an assistant is like being a spectator,” Weiss said. “You can contribute some, but when you’re the head coach, it’s almost like being in the game.”

Seattle is coming off a 52-win season that ended with a dramatic six-game series loss to the eventual champion Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

Weiss was the 21st pick in the 1965 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He played 12 NBA seasons before starting his coaching career as an assistant with the San Diego Clippers in 1977.

While some of McMillan’s influence will carry over from last season, Weiss said he hopes to install an even more high-powered offense than the one that averaged 96.6 points per game during the regular season.

On defense, Weiss plans to simplify, saying he’ll probably borrow from some of the systems used when Karl coached the Sonics from 1992-98 – a span that included Seattle’s last appearance in the NBA Finals.