mcdaniels remained with seattle for the next two full seasons. however, he struggled to maintain the same level of production he had achieved in the aba, and by the 1973–74 nba season, mcdaniels was averaging just 5.5 points per game. during that time, mcdaniels was dogged by off-court troubles as the cougars questioned the legality of his jump to the nba. he later admitted in an interview, "i should have stayed in the aba for a couple of years. i was just young and things started going bad for me there and i didn't know how to handle them." supersonics coach and general manager bill russell ultimately released mcdaniels in fall 1974.