Reflections on How Much the NBA Has Changed Since Kobe Bryant's 81 Point Game
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Kobe Bryant's 81 point game, which is still the highest single game scoring total in ABA/NBA history by anyone not named Wilt Chamberlain. Bryant led his L.A. Lakers to a 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors, capping a 10 game run during which Bryant averaged 45.5 ppg; he finished the season averaging a career-high 35.4 ppg--the NBA's highest single season scoring average since Michael Jordan scored 37.1 ppg in 1986-87--to capture the first of his two scoring titles.
Prior to Bryant's outburst versus the Raptors, there had been nine 70 point games in the NBA's 60 season history--six by Chamberlain (who still holds the single game record with 100 points), one by Elgin Baylor (71 in 1960, which was the NBA single game record before Chamberlain rewrote the record book), one by David Thompson (73 in 1978, the "non-Wilt" record for 28 years until Bryant scored 81), and one by David Robinson (71 in 1994). In the past nine years, five players have joined the 70 Point Club: Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid, and Luka Doncic. After Embiid's 70 point game, I wrote about the NBA's recent explosion of 60 point games and 70 point games:
The recent proliferation of 60 point games raises a question: Are we
blessed to be living in an era filled with more elite scorers than pro
basketball has ever seen, or do other factors explain why so many
players are having 60 point games? I would argue that rules changes and
style of play changes have increased scoring across the board, which
leads to more 60 point games: the game is placed at a faster pace now,
with less physicality, and with a vastly increased usage of the three point shot.
The (over)emphasis on three point shooting has not only resulted in
more scoring by three point bombers--including Curry, Harden, and
Lillard--but the near-abandonment of the paint defensively has made it
easier for players to drive to the hoop and score in the paint. Old
school players like Julius Erving and Michael Jordan who rarely shot
three pointers would put up huge scoring numbers in today's game because
(1) perimeter defenders would not be allowed to touch them and (2) most
teams do not focus on rim protection, which means that after Erving or
Jordan beat the first defender they would have an uncontested runway for
their aerial acrobatics.
Without taking anything away from the
talent level of today's top players, I would argue that the league's
overall talent level is
watered down by expansion and by the influx of players who played little
to no college basketball. This means that the best players are able to
feast on weak teams: Embiid dropped 70 on a terrible San Antonio team
that emerged from tanking with a young roster that has no idea how to
play winning NBA basketball. This also means that the best players are
able to exploit matchup advantages even against good teams because many
of the good teams lack depth: a star player who logs heavy minutes in
today's NBA is going to spend some of those minutes sharing the court
with vastly inferior bench players, but if you look back to the 1980s
the best teams often had Hall of Famers coming off of the bench (Kevin
McHale early in his career, Bobby Jones, Bob McAdoo, Bill Walton, etc.).
Scoring
60 or 70 points is a big accomplishment in any league, but there is
good reason to believe that it is easier than ever to score 60 or 70
points in the NBA.
How much has scoring and three point shooting increased in the 20 years since Bryant's 81 point game? In the 2005-06 season, NBA teams averaged 97.0 ppg. Only five teams averaged at least 100 ppg, with the "Seven Seconds or Less" Phoenix Suns leading the league with 108.4 ppg, nearly 6 ppg more than the second place Seattle SuperSonics. NBA teams averaged 16.0 three point field goal attempts per game while shooting .358 from beyond the arc. Just over 20% of the league's field goal attempts were three pointers.
Bryant scored 81 points in a game at a time when teams often failed to score 81 points in a game; in the 2005-06 season, the Lakers scored 81 points or less in six games, the Raptors scored 81 points or less in two games, and the league's lowest scoring team (Portland) averaged just 88.8 ppg while scoring 81 points or less in 22 games.
So far this season, NBA teams are averaging 116.0 ppg, with the lowest
scoring team (Brooklyn Nets) averaging 107.9 ppg. NBA teams are
averaging 37.0 three point field goal attempts per game while shooting
.359 from beyond the arc. More than 41% of the league's field goal
attempts are three pointers.
The rules changes and style of play changes from the past 20 years suggest that the NBA decided that fans have such short attention spans and so little appreciation for the nuances of the game that the only way to keep them interested is to transmogrify the sport from a game of ball movement and player movement featuring diverse offensive strategies into a one dimensional game during which teams jack up as many three pointers as possible; three point field goal percentages have not improved in the past 20 years, but the volume of three point shooting has more than doubled. "Stat gurus" may believe that high volume three point shooting is inherently efficient, but shooting twice as many treys at less than a .360 clip while eschewing midrange shots and shots in the paint does not add up to efficient basketball, nor does it create aesthetically pleasing basketball.
At its best, basketball is an all-around game featuring skillful offense balanced by shrewd, physical defense. The step back move as utilized by Adrian Dantley, Larry Bird, and Dell Curry was a thing a of beauty. I used to practice it in my driveway while being careful to not take an extra step. In contrast to that technical artistry, what is called a step back move today is a travel and/or an offensive foul if basketball's rules were enforced as written. Commentators and fans scoff that old school players "had no bag" (did not have a bag of fancy ball handling moves), but the reality is that what is called a "bag" today includes traveling, carrying, palming, and flopping and flailing to bait referees into calling fouls against defensive players. No player epitomizes the NBA's emphasis on elevating offense over defense more than James Harden, who literally "traveled" through the NBA's record book thanks to the generous whistle that he received during his prime years.
Bryant scored 81 points in a game and averaged 35.4 ppg at a time when most NBA teams struggled to score 100 points per game; it is easy to picture prime Bryant averaging at least 40 ppg in today's NBA, and the same should be said of Michael Jordan. Julius Erving's hands are so big that when he played he could catch a basketball with one hand and go up for a shot without touching the ball with his other hand; it is tantalizing to dream about the wonders that Erving would perform in today's game when defensive physicality on the perimeter has been eliminated while offensive players are permitted to do just about anything with the ball short of running from one end of the court to the other with no dribbles. Erving shot .343 from three point range in his final three ABA seasons, so it is easy to picture Erving becoming a successful, high volume three point shooter if that had been a point of emphasis during his career--and that would have made him impossible to guard in today's NBA, leaving defenders with the unenviable choice of watching him bury three pointers or watching him fly to the hoop to dunk without facing rim protectors.
Labels: David Robinson, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Wilt Chamberlain
posted by David Friedman @ 9:37 AM
Reflecting on Gregg Popovich's Remarkable NBA Coaching Career
Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke at the San Antonio Spurs' arena on November 2, 2024, and he did not return to coach the team last season, but he also did not formally step down; today, Popovich and the Spurs announced that he is retiring from coaching to become the team's President of Basketball Operations. Interim Coach Mitch Johnson will replace Popovich on a full-time basis; officially, Johnson's 32-45 record last season counts toward Popovich's career statistics, so Popovich finished with a 1422-869 regular season record* in addition to a 170-114 playoff record, which included five NBA titles (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014). Popovich earned the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2003, 2012, and 2014; the only other three-time winners are Pat Riley and Don Nelson, while Larry Brown received the award three times in the ABA plus one time in the NBA. Popovich ranks first in career regular season wins, third in career playoff wins, and tied for third (with John Kundla and Pat Riley) in championships won, trailing only Phil Jackson (11) and Red Auerbach (nine). Popovich
was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023
alongside (among others) his former players Tony Parker and Pau Gasol. Popovich's first two championship teams featured Hall of Fame big men David Robinson and Tim Duncan, while his next three championship teams included Hall of Famers Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. The NBA Finals MVP for Popovich's last championship, Kawhi Leonard, will be inducted in the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible.
Popovich played basketball for the Air Force Academy and later became Air Force's coach before coaching Pomona-Pitzer from 1979-88, taking one season off to be an assistant coach under Larry Brown at Kansas. The connection with Brown proved to be critical, because Brown later hired Popovich as his lead assistant with the San Antonio Spurs from 1988-92. After the Spurs fired the entire coaching staff, Popovich landed in Golden State as an assistant coach under Don Nelson. The Spurs changed ownership and then brought back Popovich as their general manager. Popovich replaced coach Bob Hill with himself after the Spurs started 3-15 without David Robinson in 1996. Popovich took over the day that Robinson returned to the lineup. The timing did not look great, but Popovich had so much subsequent success that the circumstances of him hiring himself are forgotten by most. Robinson suffered a season-ending injury just six games into Popovich's tenure as coach, and the Spurs finished with a 20-62 record; they used the number one overall selection in the NBA Draft to pick Tim Duncan, who became the franchise's cornerstone player, leading the team to five championships while winning three NBA Finals MVPs and two regular season MVPs.
During his prime, championship-winning years, Popovich deflected any praise directed toward him by declaring that he was just fortunate that Duncan let him coach him. That sounded like a funny, self-deprecating line, but like many jokes it contained more than a bit of truth: Duncan retired in 2016, and since that time the Spurs advanced past the first round just once; in the first post-Duncan season, Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs to a 61-21 record and a Western Conference Finals appearance. Two first round losses followed, and then the Spurs missed the playoffs each season from 2020-25. The last era of Popovich's coaching career was forgettable; the Spurs
tanked to try to get the draft rights to Victor Wembanyama, finishing 22-60 only to then go 22-60 the next season with Wembanyama in the fold. The Spurs have not won more than 34 games in a season since 2019.
Gregg Popovich's FIBA coaching career was up and down--he was an assistant coach on Team USA's disastrous 2002 and 2004 squads, and Team USA failed to medal under his direction in the 2019 FIBA World Cup--and at one point Team USA lost five games in an eight game stretch while he was at the helm, but he led Team USA to an Olympic gold medal in 2021 before his protege Steve Kerr took over the reins for Team USA.
Popovich's demeanor during press conferences and in-game interviews became a much-discussed topic. I sympathized with his impatience for ridiculous questions, but I would say that in recent years he behaved boorishly in response to legitimate questions about the poor performance of his team; he was past his prime, and probably sensitive about that.
I interviewed Popovich when the Spurs were in the midst of their most dominant years, and I did not find him as intimidating as some reporters did for the simple reason that I prepared for all of my interviews (not just my ones with Popovich); a prepared reporter is ready for any situation, and is also generally going to be treated with more respect than a reporter who spouts cliches while betraying a lack of even the most basic understanding of the topic at hand (this does not just apply to basketball); during one interview, I asked Popovich which statistic he values the most, and he told me that he focuses on defensive field goal percentage. Popovich also admitted that he coaches more by feel than by statistics: "I would depend more on what I see and feel than on overdosing on stats." In more recent years, Popovich's demeanor became more arrogant and condescending, and this was not just in response to stupid questions; like many NBA stars (and he became as big of a star as any player), he developed an unseemly sense of entitlement reflected not only in rude answers to legitimate questions but also by providing social and political commentary that has not been sought and is not grounded in deep research.
Overall, Popovich's legacy is tremendous and enduring; he won at an elite level for a long time, and he is highly respected by both his players and by his opponents. Hopefully, he will make a complete recovery from his stroke and be able to work in the front office as long as he would like to do so.
* 8/7/25 Note: The NBA subsequently determined that only the five games that Popovich actually coached in 2024-25 should stay on his record, and that the remaining games coached by Johnson should be attached to Johnson's record. Thus, Popovich's official career regular season record is 1390-824, and he still ranks first all-time.
Labels: David Robinson, Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Victor Wembanyama
posted by David Friedman @ 11:55 PM
Victor Wembanyama Joins 5x5 Club
The exclusive 5x5 Club includes players who had at least five points, at least five rebounds, at least five assists, at least five steals, and at least five blocked shots in the same game. I mentioned the 5x5 Club in my article about Pro Basketball's Greatest Ball Hawks, noting--based on the information available at that time (September 2007)--that Hakeem Olajuwon accomplished this feat six times, Andrei Kirilenko did it three times, and three other players did it once each (Vlade Divac, Jamaal Tinsley and Marcus Camby). It must be emphasized that the ABA officially began tracking steals and blocked shots in the 1972-73 season, and the NBA followed suit in 1973-74, so we do not know how many 5x5 games Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and other great players accumulated before steals and blocked shots became official statistics; also, even for the years during which steals and blocked shots were officially tracked the game by game data prior to the mid-1980s is not complete. After I wrote my article, I have uncovered more information about the 5x5 Club, and though this data is without question incomplete here is a list of known 5x5 games courtesy of Stathead via The Sporting News:
Read more »Labels: Andrei Kirilenko, David Robinson, George Gervin, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jamaal Tinsley, Julius Erving, Victor Wembanyama
posted by David Friedman @ 11:18 PM
Luka Doncic Posts Fourth Best Single-Game Scoring Performance in NBA History, Devin Booker Logs Second 60 Point Game of His Career
Just four days after Joel Embiid joined the 70 point club and Karl-Anthony Towns had the second 60 point game of his career, Luka Doncic scored 73 points as his Dallas Mavericks defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 148-143. Doncic tied Wilt Chamberlain and David Thompson for the fourth highest scoring game in ABA/NBA history, trailing only Chamberlain's 100 point game, Kobe Bryant's 81 point game, and Chamberlain's 78 point game. Doncic shot 25-33 from the field and 15-16 from the free throw line, but what is most striking is his 17-20 field goal shooting from inside the arc. Yes, Doncic shot .850 on his two point field goal attempts! A cardinal defensive principle in basketball is to not allow straight line drives to the hoop, but the Hawks offered little to no resistance as Doncic repeatedly drove straight to the basket. Michael Jordan would have scored 90 or 100 points against that type of defense; that may sound like hyperbole, but if you watched Jordan play then you know it is true. Jordan attacked the hoop relentlessly during an era when the game was much more physical.
Doncic stole the headlines from Devin Booker, who scored 62 points as his Phoenix Suns lost to the Indiana Pacers, 133-131. Booker now has two 60 point games during his career. Until 1988, pro basketball's 60 Point Club had only two members who had logged more than one 60 point game: Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. Jordan finished his career with four 60 point games (plus his 63 point playoff game, which is still the record for the postseason). After Jordan, the next player who had more than one 60 point game is Bryant, whose six such games trail only Chamberlain's 32(!) on the all-time list.
Baylor, Chamberlain, Jordan, and Bryant are Pantheon-level players. Here are the players who have had at least two 60 point games post-Bryant: Damian Lillard (five), James Harden (four), Karl-Anthony Towns (two), Luka Doncic (two), and Devin Booker (two). With all due respect to that quintet, those players are not close to the level--as scorers, let alone as all-around players--of Baylor, Chamberlain, Jordan, and Bryant.
The 70 Point Club has experienced a similar significant expansion. After Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points in a game last season,
I wrote, "Not counting Chamberlain--whose name dominates the NBA record
book--the
NBA has seen less than one 70 point game per decade, so even in this era when it is easier to score than ever it may take 10 years before anyone
matches what Mitchell did last night." Instead of taking a decade for someone to match Mitchell's feat, Damian Lillard scored 71 points in a
game less than two months later, and now Doncic has topped both players with his 73 point explosion.
Lillard and Mitchell are both very good players, and Doncic is a great player, but the 70 Point Club used to be reserved for the all-time greats, not the "very good" and not the "great." Elgin Baylor founded the 70 Point Club on November 15, 1960 when he scored 71 points versus the New York Knicks. Baylor's record did not stand for long, as Chamberlain had six 70 point games from 1961-63, five of which topped Baylor's 71 point game. The only 70 point games from 1964-2006 were authored by David Thompson, David Robinson, and Kobe Bryant. No one scored 70 points in a game from 2007-2016, but from 2017-2024 Booker, Mitchell, Lillard, Embiid, and Doncic have done it.
Baylor, Chamberlain, and Bryant are in the Pantheon. Thompson arguably had Pantheon-level talent, and he still had a Hall of Fame career despite battling drug addiction. Robinson is no worse than top 30-35 all-time. Would any informed NBA observer make the argument that Booker, Mitchell, Lillard, Embiid, and Doncic belong in such a group? Maybe Embiid or Doncic have a chance to elevate themselves to such lofty heights, but they are not there yet.
Regular season NBA games are starting to resemble the NBA All-Star Game in terms of lack of defense/lack of competitive effort, and last year's NBA All-Star Game may have been the worst basketball game ever. Prior to Monday, there had been one day in ABA/NBA history during which two players had 60 point games--and now that has happened twice in five days. Pointing out such facts is not "hating." The NBA powers that be have drastically altered the game, and not for the better: instead of featuring the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level, the NBA has degenerated into a glorified skills exhibition. I have attended dozens if not hundreds of NBA games in person as a credentialed media member or as a fan, and I have seen firsthand that even "non shooters" in the NBA can shoot an absurd percentage on uncontested warmup shots; this helped me to understand how great NBA defense is (or was). With all due respect to Doncic, in his 73 point game he shot .850 from the field on shots that were not much more difficult than warmup shots.
The modern NBA has lowered the bar competitively, which devalues each game and cheapens the record book.
Labels: Damian Lillard, David Robinson, David Thompson, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Elgin Baylor, Joel Embiid, Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Wilt Chamberlain
posted by David Friedman @ 4:16 PM
Chris Paul and Gregg Popovich Embody Unwarranted Sense of Entitlement That Has Become Too Common in NBA
Listen to interviews by retired NBA players such as Julius Erving and David Robinson, and you will note that they speak of the responsibility that goes hand in hand with being wealthy, famous, and admired; they do not speak or act as if they are entitled to anything, but rather that they understand that they owe a debt to their devoted fans and that they are privileged to be able to provide their time, voice, and money to help worthy causes. Both on and off the court Erving and Robinson exhibit humility and grace, knowing that those traits did not in any way limit their ability to help their teams win championships: Erving won three championships, while Robinson won two championships.
I know that there are current NBA players who also understand the responsibility that comes along with their privileged lives, but there are too many NBA players who act like they are entitled to a lot but responsible for very little--and the same is true of too many coaches who have become obnoxious and self-absorbed as their salaries soared thanks to their salaries not being subject to salary cap restrictions.
Two Wednesday night incidents are not the most egregious examples of this problem, but they are worth noting as part of a larger trend.
Gregg Popovich has coached the San Antonio Spurs to a 3-12 record this season. The Spurs have not posted a winning record since 2019 and they have not won a playoff series since 2017. Based on that record, Spurs' fans have had a lot to boo about recently, but instead they show up, cheer the home team and--as is their right--boo the opposing team. However, Popovich believes that he has the right to tell paying customers--the same paying customers who pay his $16 million per year salary--when to boo and when not to boo. During the Spurs' 109-102 loss to the L.A. Clippers, Popovich grabbed the house microphone and criticized the San Antonio crowd for booing the opposing team, apparently upset that Spurs' fans were expressing their displeasure with Kawhi Leonard, the former Spur who asked out and then led Toronto to the 2019 NBA title before joining the Clippers. Quite correctly, the crowd responded by booing even louder than they had been booing before. The Spurs shot .385 from the field in that game, and scored just 14 first quarter points while trailing wire to wire.
Would Popovich prefer that the home fans boo him and his sorry team that seems to be heading for the Draft Lottery on accident after tanking their way into the Draft Lottery on purpose to increase their odds of acquiring Victor Wembanyama? Would Popovich prefer that the home fans stop showing up until he puts a winning product on the court? Would Popovich prefer that media members--who ask him softball questions either out of too much fear or too much respect--point out the large difference between his winning percentage coaching Tim Duncan versus his winning percentage sans Duncan? It is said that people in living in glass houses would be wise to not throw stones, and it should also be said that highly paid coaches who have not won anything of consequence for a long time should not draw the spotlight on themselves.
Fans do not have the right to throw things on the court or interject themselves into the action in any way, nor should fans spew profanities or hate speech--but fans pay for the right to cheer or boo, and it is the height of delusional arrogance for any coach, let alone the coach of a losing team, to have the nerve to lecture fans the way that Popovich did. It would have served him right if all of the fans left their seats, demanded refunds for poor performance, and went home so that the Spurs played in front of no fans.
I don't mean to suggest that Popovich is a bad coach or a bad person. He has been a very successful coach, and I don't know him personally so I can't say what kind of person he is. However, Popovich's arrogant press conference demeanor over the years, and his growing penchant for providing social and political commentary that has not been sought and is not grounded in deep research indicate that his outburst directed toward Spurs' fans is not an aberration but part of an unwarranted sense of entitlement: "I'm Gregg Popovich and you're not" is the unspoken justification for Popovich's behavior. He is being paid a lot of money to win games, not to provide commentary about society or lectures on etiquette.
The other Wednesday incident involved Chris Paul, also known as "The best leader in the NBA" (who has never won a championship during his 19 season career). Paul's new team, the Golden State Warriors, fell to 7-9 after losing 108-104 to his previous team, the 9-6 Phoenix Suns. Paul was ejected from the game with 23.2 seconds remaining in the first half and his squad losing, 59-47. During a stoppage of play, Paul complained to referee Scott Foster about a previous foul call. Foster and Paul talked briefly, and then Paul said something to which Foster took offense, resulting in Foster calling a technical foul on Paul. Then, Foster did what referees are instructed to do after calling a technical foul: he walked away from Paul to deescalate--and when Paul continued to talk, Foster put up his hand in the universal "stop" gesture, indicating that he had heard enough. Paul kept yapping, and Foster hit Paul with a second technical foul, leading to automatic ejection. No microphones captured the earlier part of the conversation, but after the ejection Paul attempted to confront Foster before being restrained, and Paul clearly called Foster a "bitch." I wish Paul's teammates had not held him back so that we could find out if Paul lacks the wisdom and self control to avoid hitting a referee; he knew that if he charged at Foster then that boosts his "street cred" and he also knew that as soon as he did that he would be held back, so it would have been fascinating to see what he would have done if he had not been held back. The NBA is full of "hold me back" guys who act like they want to fight because they know that a fight is not going to happen.
After the game, Paul told media members that Foster has had a beef with him dating back to Paul's time with the L.A. Clippers several years ago, mentioning that the league office organized a meeting with Paul, Paul's father, Foster, then Clippers Coach Doc Rivers and then head of NBA officials Bob Delaney. Paul declined to explain what was discussed other than saying that the matter had something to do with his son and Foster. NBA officials are only allowed to speak to reporters in a very limited fashion, so Foster's only explanation of the ejection was that Paul received the first technical foul for "unsportsmanlike conduct" and that Paul received the second technical foul for continuing to "complain" in a way that was also deemed to be "unsportsmanlike conduct."
Paul acts like he feels entitled to say whatever he wants to say and act however he wants to act without facing any consequences. He refuses to take responsibility for his actions, and instead casts aspersions on Foster.
Foster is the easy target here. As the saying goes, the fans don't buy tickets to see the referees but to see star players. However, based on what we saw and heard there was nothing unusual about the ejection. If Paul truly believes that Foster is biased against him, then why did Paul keep talking after getting a technical foul? It must be emphasized that Foster walked away after issuing the first technical foul; this is not Jake O'Donnell versus Clyde Drexler or Hue Hollins versus Scottie Pippen/the Chicago Bulls, instances when officiating bias was an obvious pattern. O'Donnell's grudges against multiple players led to him losing his job despite grading out highly, while Hollins' bias was so obvious that his name was the first one that came to many people's minds when the story first broke about an unnamed referee (who later turned out to be Tim Donaghy) intentionally making wrong calls.
Paul has publicly created a narrative that Foster has a grudge against him without providing any proof, knowing full well that he is immune from consequences because Foster will not be permitted by the NBA to publicly respond. Why should media members or fans believe Paul? Paul has proven to be both a cheap shot artist and a whiner throughout his career, and there are many players around the league who have feuded with him, including both teammates and opponents. I am not aware of a single other player accusing Foster of bias, and Foster consistently grades out as a top referee. I watch a lot of NBA games, and while my focus is much more on the players and the coaches than the referees I have never felt that Foster is incompetent or biased.
It has become popular to suggest that the NBA should never assign Foster to officiate a game involving Paul's team. That is nonsense. If Foster grades out well enough to officiate the NBA Finals and Paul is fortunate enough to be carried to the NBA Finals by Stephen Curry then how can the league take that assignment away from Foster? No, the answer here is simple: if there is objective evidence that Foster is nursing a grudge that prevents him from officiating Paul in an unbiased manner then the NBA should fire Foster--and if there is no evidence of that, then the NBA should fine Paul for his comments, and make it clear that if he makes additional comments questioning the integrity of the officiating then he will be suspended. That is how former Commissioner David Stern would have quashed this nonsense that current Commissioner Adam Silver has allowed to fester for several years. If Paul is correct that the NBA organized a meeting with Paul, Foster, and others then the outcome of that meeting should have been an understanding that Paul's job is to play, Foster's job is to officiate objectively, and that if this ever becomes a public issue again then the person at fault is going to be disciplined by the league. Instead, Silver is letting one of these guys--and my strong suspicion is that the culprit is Paul--make a mockery of the league.
Stern always came to press conferences armed with facts and data, and he would challenge reporters who asked questions without doing their homework. Consequently, many media members have touted Silver as a kinder, gentler Commissioner because they like Silver more than they liked Stern, but I would argue that Silver is a weaker and less effective leader than Stern was. The Commissioner's job is to lead, not become popular with media members. The NBA's record on many issues--from the Paul/Foster nonsense to Draymond Green's unchecked violence, to the league's silence about Chinese tyranny because the NBA makes billions of dollars doing business with China--leaves much to be desired during Silver's reign.
Speaking of China, I would be much more impressed by Popovich if he grabbed a microphone and spoke out about Chinese oppression--which he has never done despite providing a lot of impromptu and unsought political/social commentary--instead of chastising his team's fans. Of course, speaking out about Chinese oppression could lead to a backlash against him, the Spurs, and the league, so Popovich--and other NBA coaches who often voice their opinions on selected issues--will never do that.
There is a big difference between being a loud voice and being a courageous voice. NBA and WNBA players and coaches are very selective about when their voices are loud and when their voices are silent. NBA and WNBA players and coaches made a lot of public comments demanding that Russia set free WNBA player Britney Griner, who had violated that country's drug laws, but I have yet to hear a single NBA or WNBA player or coach say anything about Hamas' October 7 massacre in Israel or about Hamas holding hundreds of civilian hostages, including American citizens. If the NBA and WNBA stand firmly against what they perceived to be the wrongful detention of one American basketball player in Russia then why are the NBA and the WNBA silent about the war crime of holding hundreds of civilians hostage? If the NBA and the WNBA stand firmly against violence against minorities and women then why are the NBA and the WNBA silent about Hamas' crimes against humanity, including rape, torture, and mutilation of women? Over 100 universities have publicly united against terrorism, and over 1500 lawyers from some of the world's biggest law firms issued a public statement condemning Hamas' terrorism, demonstrating the difference between being a loud voice and being a courageous voice; condemning evil even when "woke" self-proclaimed "progressives" will be upset is courageous, while telling fans not to boo or whining about a referee is just being loud and self-entitled.
Labels: Adam Silver, Chris Paul, David Robinson, Gregg Popovich, Julius Erving
posted by David Friedman @ 2:11 AM
Donovan Mitchell Joins the Elite 70 Point Game Club
Last night, Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points as his Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Chicago Bulls 145-134 in overtime. Mitchell shot 22-34 from the field, including 7-15 from three point
range, and he shot 20-25 from the free throw line. He also had 11
assists, becoming the first player to post double digit assists in a 70
point game. Mitchell scored 13 of Cleveland's 15 overtime points. Gilbert Arenas holds the regular season overtime period scoring record
(16 points), while Stephen Curry holds the playoff overtime period
scoring record (17 points).
Mitchell's career-high and franchise best performance is just the second 70 point game that required at least one
overtime period; on December 6, 1961, Chamberlain scored 78 points for
the Philadelphia Warriors in a 151-147 triple overtime loss to the L.A.
Lakers. The only players who scored more than 78 points in an NBA game
are Chamberlain--whose record 100 point game will probably never be matched--and Kobe Bryant, who scored 81 points as his L.A. Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006.
Mitchell is just the seventh player in pro basketball history to score at least 70 points in a game. Chamberlain, who had six 70 point games, is the only player with multiple 70 point games. Elgin Baylor scored a then-record 71 points on November 15, 1960 as his L.A. Lakers defeated the New York Knicks 123-108. Chamberlain's 78 point game broke Baylor's record, and then a few months later Chamberlain had his legendary 100 point game.
The third player to have a 70 point game is David Thompson, who scored
73 points in the final game of the 1977-78 season but still lost the
closest scoring title race ever after George Gervin answered with a 63
point outburst. The next 70 point game took place 16 years later, when David Robinson poured in 71 points to win the scoring title over Shaquille O'Neal. Bryant joined the 70 Point Club 12 years later, and then 11 years passed before Devin Booker scored 70 points in a 10 point loss after his Phoenix Suns repeatedly committed fouls at the end of the game so that Booker could get more shot attempts.
Mitchell's performance was sensational, and much more legitimate than Booker's not just because Mitchell's team won but also because Mitchell's scoring was essential for the win. That being said, Booker and Mitchell are without question the least accomplished members of the 70 Point Club, as Baylor, Chamberlain, and Bryant are Pantheon members while Robinson is one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players and Thompson is a Hall of Famer who was an MVP caliber player in the mid to late 1970s before drug abuse derailed his career.
Not counting Chamberlain--whose name dominates the NBA record book--the NBA has seen less than one 70 point game per decade, so even in this era when it is easier to score than ever it may take 10 years before anyone matches what Mitchell did last night.
Labels: David Robinson, David Thompson, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain
posted by David Friedman @ 10:26 PM
What Should We Make of Devin Booker's 70 Point Game?
Wilt Chamberlain. Kobe Bryant. David Thompson. Elgin Baylor. David Robinson.
Devin Booker.
I am sorry but I just cannot do it--I cannot put Booker's name in the same paragraph with Chamberlain, Bryant, Thompson, Baylor and Robinson, even if Booker recently joined those all-time greats as the only players in pro basketball history to score at least 70 points in a game.
Chamberlain, Bryant and Baylor are
Pantheon players. Robinson is a Hall of Famer and was selected in 1996 as one of the
NBA's 50 Greatest Players. Hall of Famer Thompson was blessed with comparable talent but his career short-circuited due to drug abuse and injuries.
Booker is a second year pro who had never even scored 40 points in an NBA game
prior to Friday. He is averaging 21.6 ppg, 3.2 apg and 3.2 rpg this
season while shooting .423 from the field (including .364 from three
point range) and .838 from the free throw line. Booker's
Suns are "battling" with the L.A. Lakers to post the worst record in
the Western Conference. TNT's Kenny Smith often calls high scoring
players for losing teams "looters in a riot," because it is relatively easy
to put up numbers in garbage time for bad squads.
Booker dropped 70 points on the Boston Celtics last Friday night, shooting 21-40 from the field (including 4-11 from three point range) and 24-26 from the free throw line. Booker's Suns lost 130-120 and the game was not even as close as that score suggests. The Suns repeatedly committed fouls down the stretch in order to create extra possessions for Booker.
Is Booker a future All-Star/All-NBA player or is he just a very good
scorer for a very bad team who put up a lot of points in a loss?
Fouling to get the ball back so a player can reach a statistical milestone is not unheard of but it is not usually quite as blatant or sustained as it was in Booker's game. There is no footage of Chamberlain's record-setting 100 point game but
reports suggest that only after the opposing Knicks started fouling
Chamberlain's teammates to prevent Chamberlain from scoring did
Chamberlain's teammates start fouling to get the ball back for
Chamberlain. Chamberlain's Philadelphia Warriors won, 169-147. Chamberlain had already scored at least 70 points in a game twice and he would go on to post three more 70 point games; his point total was well into the 80s before the fouling shenanigans took place.
Bryant is the only player other than Chamberlain to break the 80 point barrier, scoring
81 points to lead his L.A. Lakers back from a 71-53 deficit to a 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors. There were no fouling shenanigans during Bryant's performance--nor were there any fouling shenanigans when Bryant
outscored the Dallas Mavericks 62-61 in three quarters before sitting out the fourth quarter or when he hit Memphis with 56 points in three quarters before sitting out the fourth quarter; there is no doubt that Bryant could have scored 70 or 80 points in both of those games, even without fouling shenanigans, if he had elected to play in those fourth quarters.
Robinson and Thompson posted their 70 point games in the last game of the season while chasing the scoring title in 1994 and 1978 respectively; Robinson edged Shaquille O'Neal but Thompson lost out to George Gervin, who played later that same day and scored 63 points, five more than he needed to take the scoring crown from Thompson. I am not aware of any fouling shenanigans in Thompson's 73 point game. Robinson's Spurs were up by a large margin late in the game when his Coach John Lucas instructed his player to intentionally foul to create more possessions for Robinson; those shenanigans added seven points to Robinson's total, enabling him to finish with 71. Brian Hill, who coached O'Neal's Orlando Magic at that time, called Lucas' stunt "a mockery of the game."
Perhaps the most blatant--and least talked about--fouling shenanigans took place in Larry Bird's career-high 60 point game; Bird was determined to break Kevin McHale's franchise single game record of 56 points (set just a few days earlier), so the Celtics repeatedly committed fouls in the waning moments of a blowout win against the Atlanta Hawks to enable Bird to boost his total from low 50s to 60 on the dot.
Booker is without question less heralded at the time of his 70 point game than any other player; the other five 70 point scorers were clearly on their way to Hall of Fame careers when they scored at least 70 points in a game, while it is not clear that Booker will even have another 40 or 50 point game.
In the aftermath of his big outing, Booker has said that Bryant inspired him to set no limits on his game and on what he can achieve. Bryant has praised Booker and has spoken about how last season Booker eagerly soaked up tips from him the way that Bryant once did from Michael Jordan.
I don't know what to make of Booker's performance or how to place it in proper context--and I have never been a fan of fouling shenanigans just to help a player reach a certain point total--but I am glad that Booker appears to be an earnest student of the game who respects and appreciates Bryant's work ethic and skill set.
Labels: Boston Celtics, David Robinson, David Thompson, Devin Booker, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Phoenix Suns, Wilt Chamberlain
posted by David Friedman @ 11:18 PM
Tim Duncan's Legacy is Defined by Consistency, Durability and Grace Under Pressure
Tim Duncan entered the NBA with as little fanfare as is possible for a number one overall draft pick and after a brilliant 19 year NBA career he has departed the NBA with even less fanfare. There will be no farewell tour--just a press release and Duncan will ride off into the sunset.
A few phrases jump to mind when trying to summarize what makes Duncan so special.
Quiet dominance. Even-keeled personality. Grace under pressure. Durability. Unselfishness.
Duncan rarely posted gaudy statistics and he did not set many records but his resume is nonetheless quite full: five NBA championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), two regular season MVPs (2002, 2003), three Finals MVPs (1999, 2003, 2005), 1998 Rookie of the Year, 2000 All-Star Game MVP, 10 All-NBA First Team selections, eight All-Defensive First Team selections. He ranked in the top eight in regular season MVP voting in each of his first 11 seasons, including five times when he finished in the top three. Duncan only averaged more than 25 ppg once but he ranks 14th on the NBA's career scoring list (and 17th on the ABA-NBA list) with 26,496 points. Duncan's 15,091 career rebounds rank sixth in NBA history and seventh on the ABA-NBA leaderboard and his 3020 blocked shots rank fifth on the NBA list (and sixth when ABA numbers are included; blocked shots became an official statistic in 1972-73 in the ABA and in 1973-74 in the NBA). Duncan averaged at least 20 ppg and at least 10 rpg in each of his first eight seasons and he averaged a double double in each of his first 13 seasons.
As Hubie Brown would say, the numbers are there but then you also have to look at the impact. Duncan's arrival in San Antonio heralded the elevation of the Spurs to championship contender status and they remained championship contenders throughout his career. His minutes were limited in recent seasons, which led to a corresponding decline in his other statistics, but Duncan always had a major effect on the game both as the anchor of the defense and as a key offensive player who could do all of the fundamental things well: shoot, pass, handle the ball and--perhaps most underrated--set good, solid screens to free up his teammates.
As a San Antonio assistant coach, Hank Egan saw Tim Duncan's development first hand. An exchange during my first
interview with Coach Egan illuminates many of the subtleties of Duncan's game that a casual fan might ignore. While Duncan rightly earned the nickname "Big Fundamental" from Shaquille O'Neal, Egan recalls that even a player as sound as Duncan still had to make some adjustments after entering the NBA:
Egan: "He had a couple years of a learning curve and then, bam. He's a
great player. I think that he is the best player in the NBA right now
and he has been for several years. He had the luxury while he was
breaking in of having David Robinson right there, cleaning up a lot."
Friedman: "The personality that Robinson has, to accept the transition (to a lesser role)."
Egan: "Grace."
Friedman: "It's hard to think of another player of his status who could
do something like that. I think a little bit of Julius Erving with Moses
Malone coming in and them winning a championship together with Julius
stepping back somewhat. But David Robinson did it year after year."
Egan: "After Tim's first year, someone asked him if it bothered him that
we were going more to Tim on offense and he said, 'Tim is better
offensively than I am.' That's exactly what he said. He didn't say that
he was getting older or anything like that. He just said that Tim was
better."
Friedman: "They had different offensive games. Robinson's game, particularly after some of the injuries, was a face-up game."
Egan: "Yeah. He was always better faced up because he was a narrow-based
player. He was straight up and down. He couldn't go to the post where
other players would hunker down and use their width. So he played
straight up and down."
Friedman: "Duncan has a different kind of body to get in the post."
Egan: "Absolutely. Absolutely."
Friedman: "That's another thing that I guess is a natural gift in a
sense. Robinson is certainly strong and muscular in his arms but he has
that tiny waist."
Egan: "Tiny waist, a little knock kneed. Tim Duncan is built like Olajuwon."
Friedman: "Yeah. Your game gets constructed around your body type in a certain sense."
Egan: "Absolutely. Yeah. People would say, 'You have to get this guy to
play down low.' He can't play low; he's a straight up and down guy. You
have to figure out how to use what God gave him."
Friedman: "That's a big part of coaching, right? You have to see what
you are working with. You can't just say, 'My system is best and in my
system the 5 does this.' If you have a 5 who can't do that, then you
have to find other ways to use his skills."
Egan: "Absolutely. Absolutely."
Friedman: "Robinson was amazing, particularly before he got hurt—his
quickness, the way he could run the floor and steal the ball from
guards. He was a very unusual player with what he could do."
Egan: "Yes."
The "grace" that Egan correctly attributes to Robinson has been displayed by Duncan as well during the latter portion of Duncan's career. Very few elite players have so seamlessly adjusted to each phase of their careers; Duncan blended well with elder statesman Robinson, Duncan dominated during his prime years (winning back to back regular season MVPs while leading the Spurs to four titles in nine years), Duncan ceded shot attempts and limelight to Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili as those players emerged and then Duncan made room for Kawhi Leonard's ascension as well. Last season, Duncan played the reduced elder statesman David Robinson role as LaMarcus Aldridge became the team's primary low post offensive weapon.
The only plausible reason for not labeling Duncan the greatest power forward of all-time is that it could be argued that he was a de facto center during a significant portion of his career. Was Duncan the greatest player of his era? There are only a few legitimate candidates for that title: Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal was the most physically dominant of that quartet but his inattention to conditioning affected his durability and left him trailing both Bryant and Duncan in terms of championships. James would be the choice of the "stat gurus" because he fills up every category in the box score. Bryant was the one man wrecking crew, the scoring machine/defensive fiend who could carry a team with Smush and Kwame to the playoffs and who was an integral part of two back to back championship dynasties nearly a decade apart (something that none of the other three players accomplished).
There is no definitive right or wrong answer. My personal feeling is I would be reluctant to take O'Neal unless I have a Phil Jackson or Pat Riley to keep him motivated. James is a wunderkind but I will always be baffled by his disappearing act in several key playoff series, most notably the 2011 NBA Finals and the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals; I don't trust him the way that I trust Bryant and Duncan. The problem with comparing Bryant and Duncan is that they need two completely different kinds of supporting casts around them to win, because one is a perimeter player and the other is a post player. The general rule in basketball is that size matters, which would favor Duncan. Bryant asserted his dominance in a more obvious fashion, by scoring 40 or 50 points in a game or by averaging 30 ppg in a series; Duncan's dominance was more understated--sliding over to deter an opponent from driving, setting a screen that freed up someone else to score. Picking one will inevitably be viewed as disrespecting the other, so in the year that both Bryant and Duncan retired from the NBA let's just say that Bryant was the best perimeter player of the post-Jordan era and Duncan was the best big man of the post-Jordan era.
Labels: David Robinson, Gregg Popovich, Hank Egan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, San Antonio Spurs, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan
posted by David Friedman @ 3:08 PM
The 100-100 Club Revisited
It takes exceptional defensive versatility to accumulate at least 100 steals and at least 100 blocked shots in the same season. The ABA officially tracked steals and blocked shots from 1972-73 until 1975-76 (after which the ABA merged with the NBA), while the NBA has officially recorded steals and blocked shots since 1973-74. I first wrote about pro basketball's 100-100 Club in the
April 2002 issue of Basketball Digest and then I revisited the subject
for NBCSports.com in November 2006. The version of the latter article that I posted at 20 Second Timeout was updated to include the 2006-07 season; in the past eight years, there have been nine 100-100 seasons recorded by a total of seven players. Six players joined the 100-100 Club since the 2006-07 season: Dwyane
Wade (2009), Dwight Howard (2011), Kevin Durant (2013), Andre Drummond
(2014), Anthony Davis (2015) and Nerlens Noel (2015). Josh Smith logged
his first 100-100 season in 2006-07 and has added three more such
seasons to his total (2008, 2010, 2014) to move into a tie with Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, Terry Tyler and Andrei Kirilenko for 11th-14th place on the
all-time list. Smith is the only player who has had more than one 100-100 season since 2006-07.
Only 58 players have had a 100-100 season and 32 of those players have accomplished the feat just once. Julius Erving not only founded the 100-100 Club in 1972-73 with 181 steals and 127 blocked shots for the ABA's Virginia Squires (ranking third and seventh in the league respectively in those categories) but he remains the 100-100 Club king with a record 12 such seasons, a mark tied by Hakeem Olajuwon. Kevin Garnett had eight 100-100 seasons before turning 30 but injuries and the aging process stalled his attempt to match Erving and Olajuwon.
The all-time top 10 is rounded out by Sam Lacey (seven 100-100 seasons), David Robinson (seven), Ben Wallace (seven), Bobby Jones (six), George Gervin (five), Vlade Divac (five) and Shawn Marion (five).
The even more exclusive 200-100 Club still has just four members: Michael Jordan (twice), Julius Erving, Hakeem Olajuwon and Scottie Pippen.
The 100-200 Club has expanded to 14 members, welcoming Anthony Davis last season as he tallied exactly 100 steals and exactly 200 blocked shots. Josh Smith had 123 steals and 227 blocked shots in 2007-08, becoming the eighth player with at least two such seasons. Olajuwon had 11 100-200 seasons, followed by David Robinson (seven), Abdul-Jabbar (three) and Ben Wallace (three).
In 2014-15, Nerlens Noel became the ninth member of the Top Ten Club by ranking seventh in blocked shots per game (1.9) and 10th in steals per game (1.8). Erving had six seasons during which he ranked in the top 10 in both steals per game and blocked shots per game. Olajuwon did this four times, while Bobby Jones and Ben Wallace accomplished this two times each. No one else has done it more than twice. Josh Smith very narrowly missed the cut in 2009-10, ranking third in blocked shots per game and 11th in steals per game, just .0247 steals per game behind Stephen Jackson.
Labels: Anthony Davis, Ben Wallace, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Josh Smith, Julius Erving, Kevin Garnett, Sam Lacey
posted by David Friedman @ 1:38 PM
Basketball Reference Elo Ratings Reveal Extent of Fan Bias Against Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant
Ranking the greatest basketball players of all-time is a challenging and, to some extent, subjective exercise; there are so many factors and variables that it is difficult to make a completely objective evaluation, though it is possible to reasonably classify players into various broad categories such as top 10 or top 20--but even that cannot be done without controversy. My
Pantheon series examines the careers of 10 of the greatest retired basketball players of all-time, plus four active players who also deserve consideration for Pantheon status. I do not dispute that the placement of players within the Pantheon can be intelligently debated, nor do I deny that a good case can be made for some players who I did not include.
Physicist Arpad Elo, a chess master who won the Wisconsin State Chess championship eight times, developed a rating system that not only ranks players but can also be used to predict the probability of victory based on the rating differences between players. The
Elo rating system is most widely identified with chess, though it can and has been used for a variety of different games.
BasketballReference.com publishes so-called Elo player ratings for all NBA players who reached at least one of the following statistical levels: 10,000 points, 5000 rebounds, 2500 assists or 1000 steals plus blocked shots. BR.com assigned each qualifying player an initial rating of 1500 and then created fictional matchups between various players; visitors to BR.com can vote on who they think would win a given matchup. The matchups are generated randomly, so visitors cannot deliberately vote up (or vote down) any one particular player.
BR.com describes this project as "a community-based project with the goal of
rating the best players in NBA history." Presumably, the idea is that by collecting the votes of a large number of people, bias will be smoothed out and a reasonable consensus about pro basketball greatness will be reached.
The ratings fluctuate but certain trends are consistent. Michael Jordan is usually ranked first by a fairly sizable margin and he is the only player currently rated above 2400. Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, Karl Malone, John Stockton and David Robinson fill the next spots in various orders and players in that group have ratings clustered between 2300-2360. One could quibble with some of those choices--I would not put Malone or Robinson in the top 10--but Stockton is the only player who never came close to winning an MVP and who does not even belong in the top 30, let alone the top seven.
The BR.com ratings look objective superficially--each player has a four digit rating, just like chess players do!--but of course the ratings are not a product of actual competition; they are a product of fan voting, which is little more than a popularity contest. It is revealing to look at the list as a whole and see which players are so hated by the fans that the fans are unwilling or incapable of separating hate from reality.
For instance, an excellent case could be made that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest basketball player of all-time. He holds the career regular scoring record (38,387 points), he holds the record for most regular season MVPs (six), he won six championships and he was a dominant player for most of his 20 year career (winning the Finals MVP as a 23 year old and as a 37 year old). It would be very difficult to rationally argue that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not at least a top 10 player of all-time. However, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not very popular and thus in the BR.com rankings he barely cracks the top 50, trailing Ray Allen, Chris Mullin, Dikembe Mutombo and Reggie Miller, players who had a fraction of the impact that Abdul-Jabbar did.
However, by far the most ludicrous rating for an all-time great player belongs to Kobe Bryant. The last time I checked (ratings change continuously), Kobe Bryant ranked 326th out of 560 qualifying players, just behind Darrell Armstrong, David Wesley, Joe Smith and Caron Butler and just ahead of Michael Adams, Johnny Green, Kurt Thomas and Mo Williams. One can have an intelligent conversation about Kobe Bryant versus LeBron James or Kobe Bryant versus Michael Jordan; one cannot have an intelligent conversation that begins with the premise that Bryant is not just outside of the 50 Greatest Players list but that he misses the cut for the top 300! If you hate Bryant that much, then why vote? How does that vote contribute to the conversation or add value to BR.com's Elo ratings? Placing Bryant in the midst of players who were fringe All-Stars at best makes BR.com's Elo ratings look amateurish and silly.
Then there is Bill Russell; the greatest winner in the history of North American
professional team sports barely makes BR.com's top 40. I don't think that fans hate Russell the way that they apparently hate Abdul-Jabbar and Bryant but I do think that fans fail to understand the nature and extent of Russell's greatness. I am baffled that Russell's accomplishments are not more widely appreciated and that so
many fans denigrate his skill set, particularly as an offensive player;
he scored at least 16 ppg for six straight seasons en route to posting a
solid 15.1 ppg career average, he ranked in the top 10 in assists four
times and he ranked in the top four in field goal percentage four times.
No, Russell was not an offensive powerhouse but he was hardly a
liability at that end of the court and the things that he did well offensively--run
the floor, pass and rebound--would translate very well to the modern
era. Furthermore, the idea that a player of Russell's size could not play post
defense in today's game is belied by the success of players like Dennis
Rodman and Ben Wallace.
In theory, having fans vote about thousands of player simulations in order to rank the greatest players of all-time sounds like a fun idea that should produce a fair list, but in practice BR.com's Elo ratings simply reveal widespread ignorance and bias even among the subset of fans who are interested enough in analytics to visit BR.com.
Labels: Arpad Elo, Basketball Reference, Bill Russell, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan
posted by David Friedman @ 4:30 PM
Sam Smith's 2002 List of the 10 Greatest NBA Centers
Back in 2002 when Sam Smith wrote for the print edition of the
Chicago Tribune (instead of Bulls.com, his current employer) and before he
received the prestigious Curt Gowdy Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame, he wrote
a nice tribute in honor of the recently retired Patrick Ewing. At the end of that article, Smith offered his list of the 10 greatest NBA centers, with a brief comment about each player. Here is Smith's list, along with his comments:
1) Wilt Chamberlain: "Most dominant big man in NBA history."
2) Shaquille O'Neal: "May pass Wilt if he stays around."
3) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "Most productive player in NBA history."
4) Bill Russell: "Winningest but surrounded by best players ever."
5) George Mikan: "Dominated the premodern era."
6) Hakeem Olajuwon: "Graceful big man who played like a guard."
7) Moses Malone: "Moved around and made everyone better."
8) David Robinson: "Bill Russell without the teammates."
9) Bill Walton: "The Sandy Koufax of the NBA--five great years."
10) Patrick Ewing: "Or perhaps Nate Thurmond, Willis Reed, Bob Lanier, Artis Gilmore, Jack Sikma or Wes Unseld."
I included three centers in my
Pantheon: Russell, Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar (listed here in chronological order). O'Neal was not eligible because I only considered retired players. It is very difficult to make meaningful comparisons of players who played in different eras under different conditions/with different rules but I would still go with Russell, Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar as the three greatest centers in pro basketball history. If winning is the most important criterion in terms of ranking individual impact in a team sport, then Russell has to be listed first: he was the one indispensable player on the greatest dynasty in pro basketball history. Smith is correct that Russell was "surrounded by best players ever" but Russell's presence also enabled those players to maximize their potential individually and collectively.
Chamberlain set records that will never be broken and he was a more complete all-around player than Russell; Chamberlain could control the game individually at either end of the court, while Russell was a dominant defender/rebounder who was a complementary scorer and a fine passer/screener. The classic, unanswerable dual hypothetical question is if Chamberlain would have won 11 rings had he played with the Celtics or if Russell would have won more than two rings had he played with the various teams that employed Chamberlain. Or, to put it more simply, "Was Chamberlain a better player than Russell but Chamberlain only rarely had the right supporting cast or was Russell a better player than Chamberlain because Russell consistently brought out the best from all of his teammates?"
Abdul-Jabbar may be the most underrated great player in pro basketball history; his sky hook is the sport's greatest single weapon and he was much better as a rebounder and defender--particularly during the first half of his 20 year career--than most people realize. He represented an amalgamation of Chamberlain and Russell, possessing both the ability to be a dominant scorer as well as the ability to blend with various kinds of teammates in order to win multiple championships.
O'Neal ranks no higher than fourth on my list. He relied on his physical prowess--not just size and strength but, at least early in his career, surprising agility and quickness. However, O'Neal was not consistently dedicated to staying in shape and consequently he missed a lot of games due to injuries and his athletic skills dissipated earlier than they might have if he had worked harder. Russell would have frustrated and outsmarted O'Neal had they faced each other when they were both in their respective primes. Chamberlain and O'Neal would have each scored a lot against the other but Chamberlain was a better passer and a better defender. The young Abdul-Jabbar was way too skilled and fundamentally sound for O'Neal; O'Neal now implores Roy Hibbert to "jump hook" opposing centers "to death" and that is exactly what Abdul-Jabbar would have done to O'Neal, using his height/reach advantage and impeccable footwork to launch sky hooks over O'Neal. Abdul-Jabbar would not have relished the body contact involved with guarding O'Neal--and strong centers like Moses Malone sometimes gave Abdul-Jabbar problems--but Abdul-Jabbar's length and his knowledge of basketball fundamentals would have helped him on defense as much as on offense in this hypothetical matchup.
Labels: Bill Russell, Bill Walton, David Robinson, George Mikan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Patrick Ewing, Sam Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, Wilt Chamberlain
posted by David Friedman @ 1:26 PM
Pro Basketball's 100-100 Club
This article was originally published in the April 2002 issue of Basketball Digest
; I submitted it with the title "Pro Basketball's Greatest Ball Hawks" but for some strange reason the editor awkwardly renamed it "Basketball's Inside-Out Superstars." I still don't know what that is supposed to mean but in any case it hardly provides an accurate or meaningful description of the subject of the article. Attentive readers will note that I later revisited this subject for NBCSports.com and the editor there used the title that I selected: Pro Basketball's Greatest Ball Hawks.Great shot blockers do not usually get a lot of steals and the best ball thieves generally do not block many shots. Most blocked shots happen in the paint, which is patrolled by centers and power forwards, while steals frequently occur in the open court and on the perimeter, areas in which smaller, quicker players flourish. It is uncommon for a player to get 100-plus steals and 100-plus blocked shots in one season (only Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion, Tracy McGrady, Bo Outlaw and Ben Wallace did so in 2000-01).
The ABA began recording steals and blocked shots in 1972-73 and the NBA followed suit in 1973-74. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain probably blocked 200-plus shots every season of their careers and may very well have exceeded 100 steals multiple times, particularly in their early years, but both of these Hall of Famers retired before such records were kept. Connie Hawkins almost certainly was a "100/100" player in the ABA and in his first seasons with the Phoenix Suns (he still managed 113 steals and 81 blocked shots in 1973-74 as a 32 year old player on the downside of his career). Jerry West posted 81 steals and 23 blocked shots in only 31 injury riddled games in 1973-74, his final season. West, who frequently blocked post players' shots as a double team defender a la a young Michael Jordan, likely had at least one "200/100" season.
While there is no way to measure the defensive prowess of pro basketball's early players, nearly three decades worth of statistics are enough to demonstrate that the "100/100" Club only admits a handful of members each year. In that period 48 players have joined the "100/100" Club, 25 of whom managed only one such season. Julius Erving is the charter member of the club, totaling 181 steals and 127 blocked shots in 1972-73 as a second year player with the Virginia Squires of the ABA. That season he also founded the "Top Ten" Club, ranking among league leaders in both categories (third in steals and seventh in blocked shots).
The New York Nets acquired Erving before the 1973-74 season and Coach Kevin Loughery employed a pressing, trapping defense to take advantage of Erving's ball hawking skills. The Nets started out 4-1 but lost nine straight as the team found it impossible to effectively maintain full court defensive pressure for four quarters. Loughery pulled back the reins and the Nets rolled all the way to the ABA title. Erving had his only "100/200" season and nearly became the first "200/200" Club member, compiling 190 steals (third in the league) and 204 blocked shots (third in the league).
After racking up 186 steals (fourth in the league) and 157 blocked shots (fourth in the league) in 1974-75, Erving became the first "200/100" Club member in 1975-76 with 207 steals (third in the league) and 160 blocked shots (seventh in the league). Erving continued accumulating "100/100" and "Top Ten" seasons after joining the Philadelphia 76ers in 1976-77. Erving finished his 16 year career with a record 12 "100/100" seasons, missing a 13th in 1977-78 by three blocked shots; he also likely had "100/100" numbers in his rookie season, the year before the ABA began recording steals and blocked shots. His other two non "100/100" seasons came in the last two years of his career.
Erving had a record six "Top Ten" Club seasons and narrowly missed a seventh in 1981-82, finishing 11th in steals by .012 spg. Only three other players have joined him in the "200/100" Club. When he retired in 1987 Erving ranked first on pro basketball's career steals list with 2272 and sixth on the career blocked shots list with 1941; at the start of the 2001-02 season he ranked fourth and 14th respectively.
The 76ers consistently ranked among the NBA's best in points allowed and scoring differential after trading for Bobby Jones, a perennial member of the All-Defensive First Team. Jones posted six "100/100" and two "Top Ten" seasons during his 12 year ABA/NBA career. Jones and Erving combined with Maurice Cheeks (2310 career steals, second all-time at the start of the 2001-02 season) and shot blockers Caldwell Jones and Darryl Dawkins to transform the 76ers from a team that simply tried to outgun the opposition into a formidable defensive team.
Much attention has been deservedly paid to Hakeem Olajuwon's considerable offensive prowess, but his abilities as a defensive player are just as amazing. He tied Erving's record with 12 "100/100" seasons and set the mark for "100/200" years with 11. He also has three "100/300" seasons and two "150/300" seasons; the only other members of those clubs are David Robinson (three-time "100/300" Club member and one-time "150/300" Club member) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (one-time "100/300" Club member).
Olajuwon’s four "Top Ten" seasons are second only to Erving and his three shot blocking titles trail only Abdul-Jabbar and Mark Eaton, who each won four. Olajuwon has ranked in the top ten in shot blocking a record 14 times. Olajuwon is a two time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and in 1988-89 he became the first and only member of the "200/200" Club with 213 steals (sixth in the league) and 282 blocked shots (fourth in the league). This feat will likely never be matched. No center other than Olajuwon has approached 200 steals and the only "midsize" (6-7 or under) players to block 200-plus shots in a season besides Erving are "100/200" Club members Gar Heard and Terry Tyler. Heard blocked 230 shots (sixth in the league) and had 136 steals in 1973-74 for the Buffalo Braves. The Detroit Pistons' Tyler ranked fifth in 1978-79 with 201 blocked shots and moved up to fourth in 1979-80 with 220 blocked shots; he had 104 and 107 steals respectively in those seasons.
Olajuwon is the career professional blocked shots leader (3740 before the start of the 2001-02 season) and ranks seventh on the career professional steals list with 2088. Injuries and age have slowed down Olajuwon and he has not had "100/100" numbers since 1996-97, although he did manage 82 steals and 123 blocked shots in the lockout shortened 50 game 1999 season.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen round out the "200/100" Club roster. Jordan is the only two time "200/100" Club member, with 236 steals (second in the league) and 125 blocked shots in 1986-87 and 259 steals (first in the league) and 131 blocked shots in 1987-88, the year that he won his only Defensive Player of the Year Award. Interestingly, his next best shot blocking total was 83 in 1990-91. He has won three steals titles (tied for the most ever with Michael Ray Richardson and Alvin Robertson) and ranked in the top ten in steals nine times. Jordan entered the 2001-02 season third on the professional career steals list (2306).
Pippen, Jordan's teammate on six Chicago Bulls' championship teams, had 211 steals (third in the league) and 101 blocked shots in 1989-90. In 1990-91 Pippen just missed the "200/100" Club, posting 193 steals (fifth in the league) and 93 blocked shots. Pippen had 155 steals and 93 blocked shots in 1991-92 and made one last run at "200/100" with 232 steals (first in the league) and 89 blocked shots in 1994-95. His 2080 career steals rank eighth on the all-time list prior to the 2001-02 season.
Elvin Hayes, Marvin Barnes and David Robinson are the other members of the "Top Ten Club." Hayes, 16th on the career professional shot blocking list with 1771, had his only "Top Ten" Club season in 1974-75, ranking fourth in blocked shots (187) and tenth in steals (158).
Barnes joined the "Top Ten" Club in 1975-76 with the ABA Spirits of St. Louis, blocking 134 shots (sixth in the league) and getting 124 steals (eighth in the league). Barnes was an immensely talented player whose career fizzled due to off-court problems.
Robinson won his sole Defensive Player of the Year Award in his only "Top Ten" Club season, leading the league in blocked shots in 1991-92 (305) and ranking fifth in steals (158). Robinson also won the shot blocking crown the previous year and stood in the sixth position on the career professional blocked shots list at the start of the 2001-02 season (2703).
George Gervin is perhaps the most intriguing member of the "100/100" Club. His detractors would argue that he accumulated his steals and blocks by gambling, frequently giving up easy shot attempts to his opponents. Unfortunately, there is not an individual statistic for points allowed. Each steal and blocked shot that an individual tallies is a tangible victory for his team's defense; whether a gambling defensive style pressures the opponent into mistakes or gives up more scoring opportunities than it foils is a difficult question to answer.
An analogy can be made with Allen Iverson and Dennis Rodman. Iverson's critics belittle his prolific scoring totals because of his low field goal percentage; Rodman was frequently accused of not playing good help defense, particularly toward the end of his career, so that he could stay close to the basket and win rebounding titles. The fact that Gervin, Rodman and Iverson played significant minutes on teams that advanced deep in the playoffs strongly suggests that their styles of play were not harming their teams.
Note: the following lists accompanied the original article and thus were compiled prior to the completion of the 2001-02 NBA season. | "100/100" Club |
|
|
| Player | Seasons |
|
| Julius Erving | 12 |
|
| Hakeem Olajuwon | 12 |
|
| Sam Lacey | 7 |
|
| David Robinson | 7 |
|
| Bobby Jones | 6 |
|
| George Gervin | 5 |
|
| Vlade Divac | 5 |
|
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 4 |
|
| Terry Tyler | 4 |
|
| Kevin Garnett | 4 |
|
|
|
|
Note: List includes all players who totaled 100-plus steals and 100-plus blocked shots in at least four seasons.
|
| "100/200" Club |
|
| Player | Seasons |
| Hakeem Olajuwon | 11 |
| David Robinson | 7 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 3 |
| Terry Tyler | 2 |
| Patrick Ewing | 2 |
| Julius Erving | 1 |
| Gar Heard | 1 |
| Bob Lanier | 1 |
| Elvin Hayes | 1 |
| Robert Parish | 1 |
Note: List includes all players who totaled 100-plus steals
and 200-plus blocked shots in the same season.
| "200/100" Club |
|
| Player | Seasons |
| Michael Jordan | 2 |
| Julius Erving | 1 |
| Hakeem Olajuwon | 1 |
| Scottie Pippen | 1 |
Note: List includes all players who totaled 200-plus steals
and 100-plus blocked shots in the same season.
| "Top Ten" Club |
|
| Player | Seasons |
| Julius Erving | 6 |
| Hakeem Olajuwon | 4 |
| Bobby Jones | 2 |
| Elvin Hayes | 1 |
| Marvin Barnes | 1 |
| David Robinson | 1 |
Note: List includes all players who ranked in the top ten in
steals and blocked shots in the same season.
Labels: David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, Kevin Garnett, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen
posted by David Friedman @ 12:41 AM
Michael Jordan Views Hall of Fame Induction as Sign of Mortality
It is said that an athlete dies twice. Rarely has there been a more poignant--and somewhat surreal--illustration of that concept than Michael Jordan's Basketball Hall of Fame press conference. Many athletes have been moved to tears upon being selected as Hall of Famers--and many deserving athletes who are on the outside looking in at the Hall of Fame want nothing more than to receive that fateful call announcing that they have joined the immortals of their sport. Jordan, who heads this year's class of David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, C. Vivian Stringer and John Stockton, had a decidedly different take on being chosen:
This is not fun for me. I don't like being up here for the Hall of Fame because at that time your basketball career is completely over. I was hoping this day would be 20 more years, or actually go in when I'm dead and gone. Because now, all along...you always [could] put shorts on and go out and play. Now, when you get into the Hall of Fame, what else is there to do? This is kind of a love-hate thing for me--great accomplishment, great respect that everybody's paying, but for me, I always want to be able to have you thinking that I can always go back and play the game of basketball, put my shorts on. As long as you have that thought, you never know what can happen...Am I? No. But I'd like for you to think that way. Hall of Fame, to me, is like, 'OK, it's over and done with, it's pretty much done, you can't ever put a uniform back on.' It's totally the end of your basketball career. But it's a great accomplishment. I don't walk away from it. But I never envisioned myself really wanting to be up here so quickly. I wanted it to be when I'm 70 years old, 80 years old. I'm 45 and I still think I can play. You guys don't know if I can or can't but at least I've got you thinking that way.Jordan sounded and looked more than wistful; it seemed like he really wanted to rip off his suit, put on a jersey and challenge Kobe Bryant or LeBron James to a game of one on one
right now. It does not surprise me that Jordan feels this way and I suspect that a few other Hall of Fame inductees had similar thoughts pass through their minds but I've never heard anyone explicitly say such things so strongly--Jordan seemed to be dead serious when he said that he would rather not be put in the Hall of Fame until he is either old or even dead. As I watched him utter those words, I had decidedly mixed feelings. On the one hand, I appreciate how extraordinarily competitive he is; nothing will ever be as fulfilling or meaningful to him as those moments when he was at the peak of his powers and simply killing anyone who stood in his way. When Jordan retired for the first time and said that he was going to spend more time with his family that statement was plainly absurd, because Jordan is as single-mindedly devoted to what he does best as any other genius is single-mindedly devoted to his passion; a PBS special about Albert Einstein noted that the great physicist wrote out a series of demands that his wife had to follow in order to stay married to him, including to only speak to him when spoken to first by him and to deliver him his food precisely when he wanted it so that he could eat in solitude while he pondered the mysteries of the universe: geniuses--whether in sports, physics or any other field--often place greater value on their work than they do on relationships with other people. When ESPN aired those "SportsCentury" documentaries a decade ago, it struck me that Jack Nicklaus was about the only person who could claim to be the greatest at what he did who appeared to have a somewhat "normal" family life and relationships with other people.
At the same time that I very clearly understand exactly how Jordan feels and why he said what he said, I could not help but think of
The ABA's Unsung Heroes, players like
Roger Brown, Mel Daniels and
Artis Gilmore: induction in the Hall of Fame would mean so much to them, to their families and to everyone who was affiliated with the ABA. Sadly, they will likely never receive the recognition that they deserve, while Jordan--who knew that he would be a first ballot selection--trivialized the highest honor in the sport. I'm sure that Jordan did not mean for his comments to be taken that way--if nothing else, he is way too focused on his own thoughts and feelings to even consider how what he said could be interpreted regarding larger issues--but in some ways what he said was a slap in the face to everyone who has been inducted in the Hall of Fame as well as to people who should have received that honor long ago but have been snubbed. Jordan is not concerned with being a sports immortal because he considers such status to be a given in his case but most people treasure being chosen as a Hall of Famer.
Jordan's bold defiance of the natural order--the aging process that cruelly robs all of us of our youth, our talents and ultimately our very existence--is at once inspiring and sad; it is what made him so great but it could also end up making him a very miserable old man if he does not find an outlet for his competitive juices or a way to channel all of that energy into other endeavors. If Jordan never discovers anything else that provides meaning or value to him then the next few decades of his life could prove to be very empty. When he is 75 years old is he going to be limping on to the court before game one of the Finals and still proclaiming that he wants everyone to think that he can still play? When Jordan says that at age 45, for at least a second you think that maybe he really could still compete, at least for a few minutes in a half court set--but not too long from now, such declarations are going to seem more delusional or pathetic than proud or defiant. Hopefully, Jordan can emulate the path of Jerry West and Joe Dumars and be satisfied to sublimate his personal competitive urges to the task of building a championship team but somehow I doubt that even winning a championship as an executive would mean a fraction as much to Jordan as the chance to play just one more NBA game as a dominant player.
Andrea Jaeger is an elite athlete (the second ranked tennis player in the world in 1981) who has devoted her post-tennis life to
helping ease the suffering of ill children; Jaeger is obviously an exceptional example but perhaps Jordan would be more at peace--and could help make the world a better place--if he uses the profile he has acquired and the resources at his disposal to help people who are less fortunate than he is.
Garry Kasparov--arguably the greatest chess champion of all-time--is the same age as Jordan and has been retired from competitive chess nearly as long as Jordan has been retired from the NBA but Kasparov has created a second life for himself as a political activist, author and
strong supporter of chess as a positive activity for young people.Labels: Basketball Hall of Fame, C. Vivian Stringer, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, John Stockton, Michael Jordan
posted by David Friedman @ 4:44 PM
Jordan, Robinson, Stockton Headline List of Hall of Fame Finalists
Michael Jordan, David Robinson and John Stockton--three members of
the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List--are among 16 Finalists for induction in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. They were selected in their first year of consideration, as was Utah Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan and WNBA star Cynthia Cooper; the other 11 Finalists are NBA players Dennis Johnson, Bernard King, Chris Mullin, coaches Bob Hurley, Vladimir Kondrashin, Don Nelson and C. Vivian Stringer, contributor Al Attles (who has been a player, coach and administrator), international player Pereira "Ubiratan" Maciel and Veteran's Committee selections Richie Guerin and Johnny "Red" Kerr, who already has received this year's John Bunn Award, the highest honor that the Hall bestows other than induction. As usual, several Hall of Famers attended the annual Hall of Fame press conference, including Clyde Drexler, George Gervin, David Thompson, Bob Lanier and Curly Neal (representing the Harlem Globetrotters, one of a handful of teams that has been inducted)
However, both Jordan and Stockton were absent, so Robinson spoke for all 16 Finalists when he came on stage and said that being tapped as a Finalist is "an amazing honor." Later, when Robinson answered questions for a small group of reporters, he talked about Stockton: "John is an amazing guy, one of the guys I respected the most during my career, just the way he carried himself and the way he approached the game. He was the consummate professional." Robinson described Jordan and Stockton as "locks" to be selected as inductees but hastened to add that it is hard for him to imagine any of the Finalists not making it.
Robinson said that the Spurs' playoff battles versus Stockton's Utah Jazz teams helped prepare the Spurs to finally become NBA champions for the first time in 1999: "They (the Jazz) were like pit bulls. They were just so tough. They were tough minded. They executed extremely well and I think they really helped us get to the level that we got to in our execution. When we won our championship we were known as one of the top executing teams in the league and I think that it was largely because of playing against those guys and understanding what it took night in and night out to make it happen. Those guys really set the standard for that."
Robinson's selection as a Finalist was a foregone conclusion, as is his induction later this year, but I asked Robinson what was the first thought that went through his mind when he was officially told that he is a 2009 Hall of Fame Finalist. Robinson answered, "My first thought actually went back to my senior year (in college). In the first game of the season we played in the Hall of Fame Classic against Vinny Del Negro and the N.C. State Wolfpack. I just remember being at the Hall of Fame and never thinking that I would actually be in the Hall of Fame but I remember that experience. That was the very first thing that came into my mind. I thought, 'Wow, I had a chance to be a part of that thing.' That's pretty special."
Robinson noted that the Spurs' management and coaching staff did not try to change his game, even when outsiders labeled him as "soft"; instead, they surrounded him with players who complemented his overall game. When I interviewed
Hank Egan three years ago, he marveled at what he called the "grace" that Robinson displayed when Tim Duncan joined the Spurs; Robinson candidly admitted that Duncan was already a better scorer in the post and Robinson willingly ceded to Duncan the top scoring role on the team. I asked Robinson about making that transition and he replied, "That was a no-brainer but to me it was not really a lessening of my importance. They still looked to me for leadership and things like that but Tim was just a phenomenal scorer and just a great presence in the paint, so why would you not want a great scorer to do his job? That is why when he first came in I told him, 'It's obvious to me that you are a much better scorer than I am, so I am going to put you in a position where you can be successful.' I didn't care how many points I scored and it was obvious that first year that he didn't care either, which was nice. If one game he scored 25 and the next game he scored eight it never fazed him one bit and that's when I knew that he was going to be great. He has that temperament. He just doesn't get rattled. He's so steady, so patient and he knew that it was going to come. When you play against him, that is one thing you realize, this (sense of) impending doom. You know that guy is going to keep coming at you until the end and that is what he has proved throughout his career. He is just phenomenal."
Later, during All-Star media availability, I asked Duncan to share his first impressions about playing alongside Robinson and Duncan said, "My first impressions started way before I got to training camp. Knowing the kind of player he was and watching him play over the years, seeing what he had done during playoff runs and MVP seasons, walking in there I was more in awe than anything else but because of the competitor in me once I got on the floor I wanted to prove myself to him."
Labels: David Robinson, John Stockton, Michael Jordan
posted by David Friedman @ 2:24 AM
