King James Reigns in Houston (2006 NBA All-Star Weekend)
Note: This article was originally published
on February 20, 2006 at HoopsHype.com but the link no longer works, so I
have reprinted the article in its entirety below.
I began the final day of All-Star Weekend by attending the NBA Legends Brunch, which brings together an impressive array of basketball talent representing several generations of excellence. The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) held the seventh edition of this event on Sunday morning at the Hilton-Americas hotel.
Emceed by TNT Studio host Ernie Johnson, this year's brunch recognized Cynthia Cooper, Marques Haynes, Calvin Murphy, Kenny Smith, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. There was a moment of silence in memory of the 14 NBRPA members who passed away in 2005 and the issuing of Commemorative Championship Awards to the 1993-94 and 1994-95 Houston Rockets teams.
NBA Commissioner David Stern began his remarks to the group by saying, "It's been a spectacular week" and he praised the retired players for demonstrating their "commitment to community" by their actions during the week, including hospital and school visits and charitable donations. Stern said, "Respect for the tradition of the game is so important" and concluded by noting, "If you forget where you came from you will never get where you are supposed to go."
When Cynthia Cooper received her award, she emphasized the perseverance that carried her from growing up in Watts to 10 years of playing pro basketball in Italy before winning four WNBA titles with the Houston Comets. Cooper told me that the brunch "is incredibly special. Just being one of the honorees and being a part of the NBRPA is incredible. I grew up watching a lot of the veteran talent in this room."
I asked her who in particular she admired as a kid and she enthusiastically replied, "Norm Nixon, Magic and Jamaal Wilkes--all of the Lakers. I was an L.A. girl and grew up as a Lakers fan. Oscar Robertson is so incredible. I feel incredibly honored to be part of such a talented group."
She is pleased to be on the same list with Murphy: "Calvin is a great guy. What happened is unfortunate but it's good to see him bounce back. It's so wonderful for the NBA and NBRPA to honor Calvin for his contributions to the sport of basketball--not men's or women's but basketball in general."
Some players struggle to adjust to retirement. Not Cooper. "The adjustment was easy for me because I have twins," Cooper said. "They keep me pretty busy. I have boy-girl twins and I've always put family first, so it wasn't hard for me to make the decision or the transition to go from being an active player to a retired player."
Haynes, who received the Humanitarian Award, paid tribute to the Rens, the Harlem Globetrotters and other pioneering black teams of the early 20th century. He reminded the audience that his 1948 Globetrotters defeated George Mikan and the world champion Minneapolis Lakers, debunking the idea that the Globetrotters were merely showmen. This achievement paved the way for the eventual desegregation of the NBA.
Haynes said that there must be a dialogue established with the NBA to create a pension program for Globetrotters players who were denied the opportunity to play in the NBA. Haynes' fascinating stories exceeded his allotted time, leading to an awkward moment when Ernie Johnson came back to the podium while Haynes was still talking.
I spoke with Haynes after the brunch and he told me, "I tried to say as much as I possibly could. They wanted me to keep it to five minutes."
But the pension issue is so important that Haynes had to bring it up in the hope that he could generate some movement on that front. "We've been around a long time. We call ourselves 'the survivors.' We were denied the opportunity to play pro ball for the same reason the Negro Leaguers were--the color of our skin. This is something that could be rectified by the NBA instituting a plan similar to if not identical to what Major League Baseball did for the Negro Leaguers."
During his acceptance speech, Kenny Smith described the feelings of anger and helplessness that swept over him when Hurricane Katrina cut its path of devastation through the Gulf Coast. He decided to do something immediate to help the storm's victims and within four days he organized a charity basketball game that was televised on TNT and raised significant funds to help the displaced people. Smith insisted that each NBA player who participated must donate at least $10,000 in goods, services or products and that the player must distribute those wares personally, not via his agents or handlers.
Calvin Murphy's remarks were tinged with great passion and emotion. He lost his job as a Rockets broadcaster in the wake of some allegations that proved to be baseless and Murphy noted how much he misses being on the air talking about basketball, a job he held for 13 years after his Hall of Fame playing career.
Before he went on stage, I asked Murphy what this award means to him. He replied, "With what I've just been through in my life, this is perfect timing--to be honored by your peers--people who believe in you and want you to know that they believe in you; this is the first day of the rest of my life."
Julius Erving said that Clyde Drexler had the complete package as a player and that Drexler was part of the showmanship lineage that began with Bob Davies and Bob Cousy and continued with Elgin Baylor and Connie Hawkins. Erving praised Drexler's "special flair and elegance." Erving played against Drexler for several years but they did not have a chance to interact much until Drexler invited Erving, who was by then retired, to a ceremony in Portland honoring Drexler. At that time Erving found out how much Drexler had always admired Erving and a big brother-little brother bond formed between them. Erving suggested that just as he played second fiddle to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Drexler was the second-best player in the game behind Michael Jordan and that there is no shame in that.
When Drexler spoke he dismissed the notion that Dr. J played second fiddle to anyone, observing that every kid wore Dr. J shoes and wanted to be like Dr. J.
Olajuwon was unable to attend the brunch, so Yao Ming accepted the award on his behalf, noting, "Houston has always had a tradition of great big men." Next, Shaquille O'Neal spoke about the achievements of George Mikan, who passed away in 2005, describing him as the first great NBA big man. O'Neal said that he paid for Mikan’s funeral because that is what a son should do for his father. Rudy Tomjanovich, who coached the Rockets to titles in 1993-94 and 1994-95, thanked the NBRPA for honoring those teams and called to the stage several members of those teams who came to the brunch: Carl Herrera, Kenny Smith, Mario Elie and Clyde Drexler.
The brunch concluded with a hysterical standup routine by Chris Tucker, who did impressions of O’Neal as a police officer, Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo and others.
Afterwards I spoke with more legends than I have space to quote here, but it is always special to hear from George Gervin.
The Iceman was happy to see Murphy honored: "Murphy looked good. He has always been a strong individual. We all knew he would bounce back. It's so unfortunate that he had to go through things but that's what life is about: life is about recovery and he's doing that."
With everything else that has gone on these past few days it is important to remember that All-Star Weekend does in fact culminate in the All-Star Game on Sunday night.
Some anticipated themes played out: the West players fed local hero Tracy McGrady the ball and for a while he was on pace to threaten Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star Game record 42-point outburst. As Fred Carter might say, when I was inquiring earlier in the week about the possibility of Kobe Bryant breaking that mark I was in the right church but the wrong pew; Bryant finished with eight points, although he did play a strong floor game with a team-high eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals. He also hit a spectacular fadeaway 20-foot jumper to tie the game at 120 with 32.3 seconds left.
East Coach Flip Saunders did put all four Pistons on the court at the same time on a couple occasions, with Paul Pierce in the role of "fifth Beatle." The West led by as many as 21 and McGrady seemed to have MVP honors sewn up, but the East, spearheaded by the Pistons/Pierce combination toward the end of the third quarter, made a spirited rally and eventually took the lead. Then, LeBron James took over, finishing with 29 points, defending McGrady's attempt to tie the game at the end and becoming the youngest All-Star Game MVP, surpassing Oscar Robertson.
In his postgame remarks to the media, James made a very candid statement about McGrady's shot: "On his way up, I got a piece of his arm and a piece of the ball, which made it short."
Reflecting on winning the MVP trophy, James said that individual accolades are not as important to him as being on a successful team.
Starting the day talking with the legendary Marques Haynes and finishing the day watching a potential legend in the making in LeBron James is the perfect way to conclude an intense and wonderful basketball weekend.
Labels: 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, Calvin Murphy, Clyde Drexler, Cynthia Cooper, George Gervin, Julius Erving, Kenny Smith, LeBron James, Marques Haynes, Tracy McGrady
posted by David Friedman @ 3:55 AM
Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes 10 New Members, Including Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen and Two U.S. Olympic Teams
The 2010 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class includes Jerry Buss, Cynthia Cooper, Bob Hurley, Sr., Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, the 1960 USA Men's Olympic team, the 1992 USA Basketball "Dream Team" plus three players who are being honored posthumously: Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson and international star Maciel "Ubiratan" Pereira. This is the largest Basketball Hall of Fame class since 1961--the third year of the institution's existence--when there were 17 honorees (16 individuals plus one team, the Buffalo Germans). The size of this year's Hall of Fame class reaffirms what Basketball Hall of Fame Chairman Jerry Colangelo
said at the Hall of Fame press conference during the 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend: contrary to popular belief, there is "no limit to the number of people who can be inducted" in a given year. Colangelo also pledged that under his watch the Hall of Fame will take steps to make sure that worthy candidates who have "slipped through the cracks" over the years will now receive the recognition that they deserve--and in that regard it is great that Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson are members of this year's class; two years ago I
chronicled Dennis Johnson's great career and four years ago I wrote about
Gus Johnson's legendary battles with Hall of Famer Dave DeBusschere. Gus Johnson also played a small yet vital role for the Indiana Pacers in their
great rivalry with the Kentucky Colonels. The Hall of Fame is enriched by the addition of both of these fine players but it is sad that neither one lived long enough to enjoy this great honor.
All of this year's Hall of Famers are worthy--though I must confess that I did not know much about Pereira prior to when he became a Hall of Fame Finalist--so I do not want to take any shine away from any of them but it is disappointing that Triangle Offense guru Tex Winter did not receive the nod and it is an outrage that
Artis Gilmore was not even a Finalist this year; Gilmore is, without question, the greatest eligible player who has not been inducted in the Hall of Fame.
Some people think that the Hall of Fame is too political and restrictive, while others believe that it has lowered its standards and become too watered down; the reality is that basketball has been played for more than 100 years and the Hall of Fame has inducted a total of 303 coaches, players, referees, contributors and teams (including this year's 10 honorees). Considering the literally millions of people who have been involved with basketball at some level worldwide, it is a very special honor to be one of just 303 Hall of Fame members; I disagree with the idea that only the 10 or 15 greatest players should be inducted--how could such a determination even be made and does anyone seriously support kicking out older honorees in favor of newer ones? A writer actually did once suggest that the Baseball Hall of Fame should be limited to just 25 players and that no one should be added without removing someone; perhaps there is some limited appeal to restricting Hall of Fame membership to "elite" candidates but I think that the idea of inducting someone into the Hall of Fame and then later kicking him out is just asinine. Hopefully, the overdue inductions of Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson are a sign that Colangelo will succeed in taking some of the politics and pettiness out of the voting so that in the next few years Gilmore,
Roger Brown and other
unsung ABA heroes like Mel Daniels will finally be welcomed with open arms by the Hall of Fame.
Scottie Pippen Completes Journey from Hamburg, Arkansas to Springfield, Massachusetts
Even though Scottie Pippen has been recognized as one of the
NBA's 50 Greatest Players and is now a first ballot Hall of Famer I still think that he is
underrated; fans--and even some media members--sometimes incorrectly assert that Pippen merely "rode Michael Jordan's coattails" but anyone who understands basketball realizes how idiotic that sentiment is. The vast majority of championship teams had at least two Hall of Fame players leading the charge (two notable exceptions are
the Julius Erving-led New York Nets and the Rick Barry-led Golden State Warriors). Jordan won exactly one playoff game--not one playoff series,
one playoff game--in his first three NBA seasons; the rise of the Chicago Bulls coincided exactly with Scottie Pippen's arrival and Pippen's quick emergence as a multi-dimensional player; the addition of other good players to the Chicago mix also helped but it is no coincidence that the three common denominators for the six Chicago championship teams were Jordan, Pippen and Coach Phil Jackson: the rebounding, spot shooting and other roles could be capably filled by various players but the two great players and one great coach were indispensable.
It could be argued that when Pippen was at his peak he was at least equal to Jordan in every major skill set area--defense, rebounding, passing, ballhandling--other than shooting. Jordan's special, unique gift was the ability to score against any defense in any kind of situation but a big part of Coach Jackson's brilliance is that he put Jordan in position to dominate games late by lessening the burden on Jordan early--and a major aspect of that process involved Pippen, who became the team's point forward, defensive stopper and second best rebounder. Pippen's ability to push the ball up the court enabled Jordan to sprint ahead of the action and get into prime scoring position because Jordan could be confident that Pippen would deliver the ball on time and on target.
Pippen also often played with four bench players as an anchor, enabling Jordan to rest and thus be fresh for the stretch run; the quintessential example of this is game six of the 1992 NBA Finals, when the Bulls seemed to be dead in the water (down 75-58 to Portland late in the third quarter) before Pippen and four reserves led a rally to put the Bulls right back in contention: a rested Jordan then reentered the fray and teamed with Pippen to finish the job and deliver the second of three consecutive NBA titles (Jordan finished that game with 33 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Pippen had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists).
Pippen is one of the greatest defensive players in pro basketball history, an eight-time member of the All-Defensive First Team who could check point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and even some centers (Pippen would sometimes nominally guard a power forward or center while serving primarily as a roving help defender but in that role he still had to be able to box out his assigned man, who often was much taller and heavier). Pippen's defense against Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA Finals played a major role in Chicago's first championship; later, Pippen completely disrupted Indiana's offense in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals by harassing point guard Mark Jackson from baseline to baseline and during other playoff runs Pippen at times guarded players ranging in size and skill set from quick guards Mark Price and John Stockton to top flight scoring small forwards Mark Aguirre, Glen Rice and Dominique Wilkins. Pippen thrived as both a lock down one on one defender and as a help defender. Pippen, Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd are the only three players I have ever seen who could dominate a game without scoring a point or even taking a shot.
Although Pippen was not a pure shooter, he developed into a very capable scorer, averaging at least 20 ppg in four different regular seasons, topping the 19 ppg mark two other times and finishing his career with a 16.1 ppg average--a figure deflated by his final, injury-marred seasons. Pippen averaged at least 17.8 ppg every season from 1990-91 through 1997-98. Pippen is also one of the few players who increased his scoring during the playoffs; he averaged 17.5 ppg during his playoff career and he scored at least 16.8 ppg in each playoff season from 1989-90 through 1998-99, including six postseasons in which he averaged at least 19.2 ppg. Pippen had a knack for delivering clutch three point shots in the postseason: he hit key long range daggers late in playoff games versus the Cavs and Knicks early in his career, he still shares the NBA Finals single game record for most three pointers made (seven), he ranks fifth in NBA Finals history for three pointers made and he is fifth in NBA playoff history for three pointers made.
Pippen's accomplishments during Jordan's first retirement have never been fully recognized. Jordan did not announce his retirement until right before the 1993-94 season started, so the Bulls had no opportunity to even try to trade for or draft a top level shooting guard. Pete Myers, formerly a practice player for the team, became the starting shooting guard and yet Pippen led the Bulls to a 55-27 record, just two wins fewer than they had during their 1992-93 championship season. After Jordan's sudden departure, many people made two incorrect assumptions: they thought that Pippen would try to fill Jordan's shoes by averaging 30 ppg and that the Bulls would miss the playoffs. Pippen understood that he did not possess Jordan's shooting/scoring skills, so even with Jordan out of the mix Pippen only increased his shot attempts by 1.4 per game--but he used his playmaking, leadership and defensive skills to help his teammates at both ends of the court, enabling Horace Grant and B.J. Armstrong to earn their first (and only) All-Star selections. Pippen led the Bulls in scoring (22.0 ppg), assists (5.6 apg) and steals (2.9 spg) while ranking second in rebounds (8.7 rpg) and blocked shots (.8 bpg). He finished third in MVP voting and fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting but I think that he deserved to win both honors; during that season, no one in the NBA displayed a more complete all-around game or was more disruptive as both a lock down defender and as a help defender than Pippen was. Pippen carried the Bulls from being an afterthought to being serious championship contenders and they may very well have won the title without Jordan if not for one of the worst calls by a referee in NBA playoff history, the infamous foul whistled by Hue Hollins against Pippen at the end of game five of the Eastern Conference semifinals; I generally do not focus on officiating when I write about the NBA but that call was so egregiously bad that Darell Garretson--who worked that game with Hollins and later became the league's officiating supervisor--publicly said that it was a "horrible" mistake by Hollins, a powerful statement considering that league employees rarely make public comments about such matters (Garretson defended Hollins right after the game but just a few months later he admitted that the call was wrong).
Even people who acknowledge just how well Pippen played in 1993-94 sometimes say that Pippen "failed" to match that performance the next season but this is not true; in 1994-95, Pippen led the Bulls in scoring (21.4 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg), assists (5.2 apg), steals (a league-high 2.9 spg) and blocked shots (1.1 bpg); the only other players to
lead their teams in all five of those categories are Julius Erving (1976 Nets), Dave Cowens (1978 Celtics), Tracy McGrady (2003 Magic) and Kevin Garnett (2003 Timberwolves). Horace Grant's departure and injuries to several players (including Toni Kukoc and starting center Luc Longley) left the Bulls shorthanded but with Pippen leading the way the Bulls stayed competitive and late in the season once they got healthy they began to make a run, winning three games in a row, six of their previous seven and eight out of 10 prior to Jordan's celebrated return (a game that the Bulls lost in overtime as a rusty Jordan shot just 7-28 from the field while Pippen had a game-high 31 points on 11-20 shooting). Pippen finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting but slipped to seventh in MVP voting. The Bulls did not advance any further in the 1995 playoffs with Jordan but sans Grant than they did in the 1994 playoffs with Grant but without Jordan; it was clear that the Bulls needed to add a legit power forward to the roster, a void that they promptly filled by signing Dennis Rodman. The rest is history: Jordan and Pippen powered the Bulls to a record-setting 72-10 regular season record in 1995-96 and the first of three straight titles. That season, Pippen finished fifth in MVP voting while making both the All-NBA First Team and the All-Defensive First Team. He again placed second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
During the 1998 NBA Finals, Pippen seemed to be on course to win his first ever Finals MVP before he ruptured two disks in his back. Although he played in game six of the NBA Finals despite excruciating pain, he needed offseason surgery to repair the damage. Pippen's career lasted for six more seasons but he left a lot of his explosiveness on the operating table and that is why it is so unfair for people to compare the Pippen of 1999-2004 to Jordan, the younger Pippen or any other superstar in his prime. A 33-38 year old Pippen with a surgically repaired back was no longer an MVP level player but he still was a deft playmaker, tenacious defender and valuable all-around contributor. Pippen helped to lead the 1999-2000 Portland Trailblazers to the brink of the Western Conference title before ultimately bowing to a Shaquille-O'Neal-Kobe Bryant Lakers team that was about to win the first of three straight championships. During Pippen's final seasons he was still a very good player but the true measure of his greatness is what he achieved during his prime years, including his MVP-caliber play during Jordan's first retirement.
I suspect that most casual fans do not realize that Pippen made a significant impact statistically in addition to his "intangible" contributions as a defender and ballhandler. Pippen has more regular season assists (6135) than any non-guard in pro basketball history and he ranks 26th on the overall list. Pippen ranks sixth all-time in regular season steals (2307). Pippen is one of just nine ABA/NBA players to post at least three seasons with 200 or more steals. Pippen, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon are the only players who ever had at least 200 steals and 100 blocked shots in the same season. Pippen ranks among the all-time ABA/NBA playoff leaders in steals (first), assists (fourth), scoring (13th) and rebounds (15th).
When I asked Magic Johnson--who surely would make any list of the 10 greatest basketball players ever--if Scottie Pippen is underrated, Johnson
enthusiastically began to reply almost before I could even utter the question:
"Oh, of course, of course. Of course he's underrated. When you have a super, super, super star like Michael (Jordan) that overshadows you, you are going to be underrated." Then Johnson chuckled, looked right at me and concluded, "But us basketball players, we know how great Scottie Pippen was and how great he played every single night."
Pippen's life and career are truly remarkable; the youngest of 12 kids, he honed his ballhandling skills as a skinny high school point guard and he began his collegiate career as a walk on at Central Arkansas. A late growth spurt turned him into a 6-8 forward who possessed guard-like skills and his tireless work ethic enabled him to continue to fine tune his game until he became an all-time great.
I interviewed Pippen near the end of his career and
this is what he told me when I asked him how he would like to be remembered:
A gym rat. A guy who worked very hard to make sure that his game was complete in every area and wanted to be looked at as one of the best players in the league. Even though I probably never was (the best player), because I played with a great player, but that was my approach to basketball as a whole, being a guy who came from a small college. I wanted to be the best player in the game. Even though I played with the best player in the game, it was always in my mind that if I did a little bit more, if I became a little bit more complete, people would look at me as one of the best players in the game and not just look at the fact that I did not have the offensive skills that Michael had.Labels: 1960 U.S. Olympic Team, 1992 Dream Team, Bob Hurley Sr., Cynthia Cooper, Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson, Jerry Buss, Jerry Colangelo, Karl Malone, Maciel Pereira, Scottie Pippen
posted by David Friedman @ 8:18 PM
