20 Second Timeout

Doug Moe: ABA Champion, Three-Time ABA All-Star, and Successful NBA Coach

Doug Moe, who won an ABA championship and earned three ABA All-Star selections before becoming a successful NBA coach, passed away today at the age of 87. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Moe rose to prominence as a two-time All-America selection at the University of North Carolina, where he formed an enduring friendship with his teammate Larry Brown, who became a three-time ABA All-Star before having a Hall of Fame coaching career. Moe's college career ended after he received $75 to fly to a meeting with point shavers, even though he did not participate in the point shaving scheme.

Moe played basketball in the Italian League before joining Brown with the New Orleans Buccaneers in the ABA's first season, 1967-68. Moe led the Buccaneers in scoring (24.2 ppg, second in the league) and Brown led the league in assists (6.5 apg) as both players made the All-Star team. The Buccaneers finished first in the Western Division with a 48-30 record and they advanced to the ABA Finals, where they lost in seven games to the Pittsburgh Pipers, who were led by the incomparable Connie Hawkins. Moe finished second to Hawkins in the regular season MVP voting.

In the summer of 1968, the Buccaneers traded Brown and Moe to the Oakland Oaks for Ronald Franz, Steve Jones, and Barry Leibowitz. Moe ranked third on the Oaks in scoring (19.0 ppg) during the regular season, trailing league scoring champion Rick Barry (who averaged 34.0 ppg but only played in 35 games) and Warren Jabali (21.5 ppg). Brown led the league in assists again (7.1 apg), and Barry, Moe, and Brown all made the All-Star team while Jabali won the Rookie of the Year award. Jabali won the Playoff MVP as the Oaks routed the Indiana Pacers 4-1 in the ABA Finals. Moe ranked third on the team in playoff scoring (19.8 ppg).

After the 1969 season, the Oaks sent Moe to the Carolina Cougars as part of a three team trade. Moe averaged 17.3 ppg for the 42-42 Cougars, earning his third straight All-Star selection. Prior to the 1970-71 season, the Cougars shipped Moe to the Washington Capitols for Gary Bradds and Ira Harge. This reunited Moe with Brown. The Capitols moved to Virginia and became the Squires. Moe's 32 year old knees were wearing down by this point, but he still averaged 13.0 ppg in 78 games as the Squires went 55-29 to finish first in the Eastern Division before bowing 4-2 to the Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division Finals.

Moe finished his playing career averaging 6.8 ppg for the 1971-72 Squires, a team that featured ABA scoring champion Charlie Scott (who jumped to the NBA's Phoenix Suns before the end of the season), and rookie sensation Julius Erving, who averaged 27.3 ppg and 15.7 rpg in the regular season before supersizing those numbers to 33.3 ppg and 20.4 rpg in the playoffs.  

Brown and Moe both retired after the 1971-72 season. Brown became Carolina's head coach, and he hired Moe to be his assistant coach. Moe served under Brown for two years in Carolina, and then Moe served under Brown for two years in Denver before being hired to be San Antonio's coach after the 1976 ABA-NBA merger. Moe led the Spurs to Central Division titles in 1978 and 1979. The Spurs lost 4-3 to the Washington Bullets in the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals. The Spurs fired Moe after starting 33-33 in the 1979-80 season. 

Moe served as Donnie Walsh's assistant coach in Denver for the 1980-81 season, but then took the helm after the Nuggets started 11-20. They went 26-25 the rest of the way under Moe. Moe's Nuggets led the NBA in scoring for five straight seasons, and his 1981-82 squad still holds the NBA's single season scoring record (126.5 ppg). Moe led the Nuggets to a winning record in seven of his nine full seasons with the team, he guided them to the 1985 Western Conference Finals, and he earned NBA Coach of the Year honors in 1988 after leading the Nuggets to a 54-28 record, which at that time was the team's highest single season win total since joining the NBA. George Gervin won three of his four scoring titles while playing for Moe's Spurs, and Alex English won the 1983 scoring title while playing for Moe's Nuggets. Moe went 19-37 as Philadelphia's coach in the 1992-93 season before the team fired him. Moe rejoined the Nuggets as a coaching consultant in 2002, and he worked as an on the bench assistant coach for the Nuggets from 2005-08 under George Karl. After Moe passed away, Karl tweeted that Moe was his "big brother."

In 1997, Moe was one of 30 players selected to the ABA All-Time Team, and in 2018 he received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement award, which has been presented annually since 2009 by the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA). Moe was always quick with a quip or a soundbite, and he called everyone--including himself--a "stiff." He was a bit of a showman on the sidelines, and his teams were high scoring and fun to watch, but they also won a lot of games: Moe ranks 26th in NBA history with 632 regular season coaching wins.

Anyone who was associated with the ABA in any capacity joined a fraternity that transcends anything else that the person did during his life, and that feeling was palpable when I covered the ABA Ol' School Reunion in Denver in 2005. The ABA not only had all-time great players who are household names--including Erving, Gervin, and Moses Malone--but it also had some great players whose names and accomplishments are not brought up as much as they should be. One such great player is James Silas. Moe shared with me his memories of coaching against prime James Silas and then coaching Silas after Silas injured his knee: "My recollections of when he was really great are from before he got hurt, when he was playing against us. He was absolutely the best—the ultimate guy at the end of the game. He was just terrific. Unfortunately, he hurt his knee and was never quite the same—still a great player, but there is no telling how great he would have been had he not gotten hurt. People really didn't get to know the real Silas in the NBA. That is a shame. He really was 'Captain Late' and he was the best."

Doug Moe was one of the original ABA players, and he is eternally a part of that fraternity and that legacy.

Labels: ABA, Alex English, Connie Hawkins, Denver Nuggets, Doug Moe, George Gervin, Julius Erving, Larry Brown, NBA, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs

posted by David Friedman @ 11:38 PM

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Stephen Curry is the 30th Member of Pro Basketball's 25,000 Point Club

On Saturday March 8, Stephen Curry joined pro basketball's 25,000 point club while scoring a game-high 32 points as his Golden State Warriors won at home versus the much improved Detroit Pistons, 115-110. The NBA and its media partners count Curry as the 25,000 point club's 26th member because they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge ABA statistics, thereby wrongly excluding Julius Erving (who scored 30,026 career points), Dan Issel (27,482), George Gervin (26,595), and Rick Barry (25,279).

Curry joins Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, John Havlicek, Reggie Miller, and Jerry West on the list of players who scored at least 25,000 points while playing for one franchise. 

Curry ranks fifth among active players on the career scoring list, trailing only LeBron James (the NBA's career scoring leader who is also the sole member of the 40,000 point club), Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. DeMar DeRozan needs to score 123 points to be the next member of the 25,000 point club. Chris Paul is 2158 points short, but the soon to be 40 year old has not scored 1000 points in a season since 2020-21 so it seems unlikely that he will join the 25,000 point club.

Curry, West, and Russell Westbrook are the only 25,000 point club members who are shorter than 6-4, which is yet another reminder of how much size matters in pro basketball. As I discussed in my article about Westbrook joining the 25,000 point club, Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, West, and Havlicek were the "charter" members of the 25,000 point club, and then the club added six members in the 1980s: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Dan Issel, Elvin Hayes, George Gervin, Moses Malone and Rick Barry.

Even though the 25,000 point club is not as exclusive as it used to be, joining the club is still meaningful: a player who averages 25 ppg and plays in 80 games per season for 12 years would fall short, highlighting the combination of durability and high level productivity that it takes to surpass 25,000 points.

Labels: Dan Issel, George Gervin, Golden State Warriors, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry

posted by David Friedman @ 2:28 PM

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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:

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Labels: Andrei Kirilenko, David Robinson, George Gervin, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jamaal Tinsley, Julius Erving, Victor Wembanyama

posted by David Friedman @ 11:18 PM

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Russell Westbrook Joins the Elite 25,000 Point Club, and is the Second Player With 25,000 Points/9000 Assists/8000 Rebounds

Last Friday night, Russell Westbrook joined pro basketball's 25,000 point club after scoring 23 points as his L.A. Clippers defeated the Detroit Pistons, 136-125. According to the NBA and its media partners, Westbrook is the 25th member of the 25,000 point club--but ABA statistics should be counted by the NBA just like AFL statistics are counted by the NFL, so the truth is that the 25,000 point club has 29 members. Julius Erving (30,026 career points, ranking eighth all-time), Dan Issel (27,482 points, 13th), George Gervin (26,595 points, 18th), and Rick Barry (25,279 points, 26th) are the ABA players who are excluded by the NBA, while former ABA player Moses Malone is docked 2171 points but still makes the "official" cut.

Just as it has become more common for players to score 60 points or even 70 points in a single game, it is more common for players to score more than 25,000 career points. The 1977-78 Official NBA Guide (published the season after the ABA-NBA merger) lists the NBA's All-Time Top Scorers. The 25,000 point club had four members at that time: Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points), Oscar Robertson (26,710 points), Jerry West (25,192 points), and John Havlicek (25,073 points). As I discussed after Vince Carter became the 26th member of the 25,000 point club on November 21, 2018, this club used to be ultra-exclusive (note that in 2018 LeBron James had not yet surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the regular season career scoring list):

Younger fans may not realize that the 25,000 point club used to be even more exclusive. The "charter" members, so to speak, are Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and John Havlicek, who founded the club from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. In the 1980s, the club added six members: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who is still the all-time scoring leader), Julius Erving, Dan Issel, Elvin Hayes, George Gervin, Moses Malone and Rick Barry. The club has since more than doubled in size. This is similar to the dramatic increase in the number of chess players who have at least a 2600 FIDE (International Chess Federation) rating; there were just 15 such players on the first official rating list in 1971 but by 1991 there were 33 and by 2004 a 2600 rating was not enough to earn a top 100 spot in the world rankings. Chess ratings are affected by the composition of the entire pool of players (it is easier to gain points when there are more players who have high ratings), while pro basketball point totals are affected not just by skill but also by rules changes, style of play changes, training advances that have extended careers and other factors. 

In 1977, even the 20,000 point club was very exclusive, including only (in addition to Chamberlain, Robertson, West, and Havlicek) Elgin Baylor (23,149 points), Hal Greer (21,586 points), Walt Bellamy (20,941 points), and Bob Pettit (20,880 points).  

Although the 25,000 point club is less exclusive than it used to be, tallying 25,000 points is still a milestone accomplishment: if a player averages 25 ppg and plays in 80 games per season for 12 years, he will be 1000 points short of 25,000, so it is obvious that all of the 25,000 point scorers combined high level production with durability.

Westbrook has won two scoring titles (2015, 2017), but he made his mark as an all-around player who is an elite scorer, rebounder, and passer. He and LeBron James are the only players in pro basketball history to have at least 25,000 career points, at least 9000 career assists, and at least 8000 career rebounds. Westbrook led the NBA in assists three times (2018-19, 2021), he became pro basketball's career triple doubles leader in 2021--breaking Oscar Robertson's record of 181--and he currently has 198 career triple doubles. Nikola Jokic ranks second among active players with 120, trailing only Westbrook, Robertson, and Magic Johnson (138). LeBron James (110) and Jason Kidd (107) are the only other players who amassed at least 100 career triple doubles.

It is baffling and inexcusable that so many media members use any excuse to bash Westbrook. Not only is Westbrook one of the most talented and accomplished players of all-time, but he also embodies all of the best values of a professional athlete: He shows up for every game, he plays hard, he accepts whatever his role is, and he is a great teammate. Westbrook has played in all 48 of the L.A. Clippers' games this season, and he has enthusiastically accepted a bench role that would cause many players of his status--and even players of a lesser status--to complain and sulk. 

Westbrook's critics remind me of a line from the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer; the chess prodigy's father in the movie notes that his son is better at playing chess than most people will be at anything they do. Russell Westbrook is better at playing basketball than most people will be at anything, and that goes double for many of the credential-wearing people who pose as journalists. The way that the L.A. Lakers and LeBron James' media sycophants treated Westbrook during Westbrook's brief time with the Lakers was despicable, and it is noteworthy that the legendary Hubie Brown stood out from the crowd by praising Westbrook. 

It is fitting that with Westbrook playing a key role the Clippers are now fighting for the number one seed in the Western Conference while the Lakers--who supposedly improved themselves by trading Westbrook last season--are struggling to qualify for the Play-In Tournament. The Lakers made a fluky run to the Western Conference Finals last year, but--as happened with other teams that made fluky playoff runs, including Portland (2019 Western Conference Finals) and Atlanta (2021 Eastern Conference Finals)--the Lakers are now showing their true level in terms of defense and professionalism; Westbrook was not causing the Lakers' problems, and getting rid of him did not solve their problems.

Labels: Dan Issel, George Gervin, Julius Erving, L.A. Clippers, LeBron James, Moses Malone, Rick Barry, Russell Westbrook

posted by David Friedman @ 10:21 AM

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George Gervin: An Appreciation

George "Iceman" Gervin may be one of the most underrated great players in pro basketball history. Gervin is overlooked for several reasons: he began his career in the ABA, he did not win a championship, and his prime years happened just before national/international coverage of pro basketball exploded. Gervin should be appreciated for being that rare player who is both a great shooter and a great scorer. During his career, Gervin shot. 504 from the field and .841 from the free throw line. He not only led the league in scoring four times (1978-80, 1982) but he also ranked in the top 10 in field goal percentage twice (1977-78), and he ranked in the top 10 in free throw percentage five times (1975-76, 1982-83, 1986). Gervin showed off his soft shooting touch with his deadly jump shot, his uncannily accurate bank shot, and his legendary finger roll, but he also excelled at drawing contact, ranking in the top 10 in free throws made for 11 straight seasons. 

"Stat gurus" tout "advanced basketball statistics" and proclaim that today's NBA players are so smart and efficient because they focus on only shooting layups/dunks and three pointers, but Gervin is a model of true basketball efficiency, as demonstrated by his shooting percentages and by his low turnover rate (3.0 tpg for his career, never averaging more than 3.8 tpg in a season) despite having the ball in his hands so much. Jacking up three pointers without regard to time/score/game situation is a high variance approach to basketball that is neither efficient nor fun to watch. I would rather watch George Gervin than James Harden, and any true basketball fan who has seen both players feels the same way.

For the first 43 years of NBA history (including the ABA's nine seasons as well), only two players won at least four scoring titles: Wilt Chamberlain (seven) and George Gervin (four). Michael Jordan now holds the record (10), and Allen Iverson and Kevin Durant won four scoring titles each. Julius Erving holds the ABA record with three scoring titles. Gervin ranks 12th in ABA/NBA career regular season scoring average (25.1 ppg), just ahead of Karl Malone (25.0 ppg) and Kobe Bryant (25.0 ppg), and just behind Oscar Robertson (25.7 ppg) and Damian Lillard (25.2 ppg). He also ranks 14th in ABA/NBA career playoff scoring average (26.5 ppg), just behind Stephen Curry (27.0 ppg) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (26.7 ppg). Gervin averaged at least 30 ppg in five different playoff series, and he led the league in playoff scoring average six times (1975 in the ABA, and then 1978-82 in the NBA).

Gervin's scoring prowess is impressive, but he was more than just a sharp shooting prolific scorer. He was an excellent rebounder and shotblocker from the guard position, and he led the Spurs to 10 straight playoff appearances. Gervin logged five 100-100 seasons during which he had at least 100 steals and at least 100 blocked shots; the 6-8 Gervin first played forward, but he spent most of his pro career at guard, and he is the only guard who had at least four 100-100 seasons. In recognition of Gervin's all-around game, he finished second in MVP voting in 1978 and 1979, and he also ranked in the top five in MVP voting in 1980 (third) and 1981 (fifth). Gervin earned five consecutive All-NBA First Team selections (1978-82), four All-ABA or All-NBA Second Team selections (1975-77, 1983), and 12 straight All-Star selections (1974-85).

Gervin twice won the Seagram's Seven Crowns of Sports award for basketball player of the year. That award is all but forgotten now, but it was a big deal in the 1970s and 1980s. The Seagram's awards were determined based on a computer formula that compared players at the same position in terms of scoring, shooting accuracy, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. Since players were only compared to players at the same position, it would seem that an award should have been given to the top finishers at each position and not just to the player with the top overall score. I have done a lot of archival research and used a variety of sources to piece together at least a partial list of Seagram's winners. The first public reference to the Seagram's awards that I found happened in 1974, but it is not clear if awards were given out at that time or if the rankings were just released to publicize the concept. Subsequent reports refer to the 1975 awards as the inaugural Seagram's awards. For the record, the top three basketball players in Seagram's 1974 rankings were Julius Erving, Bob McAdoo, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Here are the Seagram's basketball winners that I found, with runner-up information listed if available.

1975: 1) Bob McAdoo 2) George McGinnis 3) Julius Erving

1976: 1) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2) Julius Erving 3) Bob McAdoo

1977: 1) Bobby Jones 2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

1978: 1) George Gervin 2) Paul Westphal 3) David Thompson

1979: 1) George Gervin 2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 3) Paul Westphal

1980: 1) Julius Erving 2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 3) George Gervin

1981: 1) Julius Erving 2) Adrian Dantley 3) Moses Malone

1982: 1) Magic Johnson 2) Julius Erving 3) Adrian Dantley

1983: 1) Larry Bird

1984: 1) Larry Bird 2) Isiah Thomas 3) Magic Johnson

1985: 1) Michael Jordan

1986: 1) Larry Bird

1987: 1) Michael Jordan

"Iceman: A George Gervin Story" traces Gervin's life path from humble beginnings in Detroit to becoming an all-time great basketball player. By the end of the documentary, what shines through is not just Gervin's indisputable basketball greatness but also his kindness and his commitment to helping other people, embodied in the George Gervin Academy charter school program that he founded in San Antonio. Steve Smith and David Robinson--who are both well known for their extraordinary philanthropic efforts--credit Gervin as the inspiration for their community service work. Gervin said that his legacy will be defined not by what he did on the court, but by the people he has helped off of the court, declaring, "That's my trophy." Gervin delivers the same message, in more detail, in his autobiography Ice: Why I Was Born to Score.

The story of how Gervin signed with the ABA's Virginia Squires is remarkable. In 1972, Gervin was playing in the CBA after being expelled from Eastern Michigan University because he punched an opposing player (Jay Piccola, who later became President of Puma North America, and who appeared in "Iceman," describing the apology letter that Gervin wrote to him, a letter that Piccola has kept). The ABA paid Sonny Vaccaro to find talented players, and Vaccaro arranged for Gervin to have a tryout with the Squires. Squires owner Earl Foreman asked Gervin to go on the court and shoot. Gervin, wearing street clothes, put on such a tremendous shooting exhibition that Foreman signed him on the spot--according to Vaccaro, the deal was signed on a napkin! Vaccaro insists that Gervin made 50 straight shots from all over the court. Gervin, with his trademark laugh and smile, says that he does not remember making 50 shots, "but I don't remember missing any, either!" 

Gervin joined the Squires in the middle of the 1972-73 season, teaming up with fellow future Hall of Famer Julius Erving. Erving established himself as a superstar as a rookie in 1971-72, averaging 27.3 ppg and 15.7 rpg in the regular season before leading the league in playoff scoring (33.4 ppg) and playoff rebounding (20.4 rpg). When Gervin became a Squire, Erving was on his way to winning the first of his three scoring titles. Erving insisted to Gervin that they play one on one after practice, something that Erving picked up from his brief time as Pistol Pete Maravich's teammate with the Atlanta Hawks, as Erving told me: "It really was one of the joys of my life to play with Pete, to be in training camp with him. We used to stay after practice and play one-on-one. We would play for dinner after practice. I did the same thing with George Gervin once he became my teammate [in Virginia]--I pretty much learned that from Pete. If this guy is going to be your teammate, you really need to stay after practice and get to understand his game and know his likes and his dislikes--where he likes the ball and that kind of stuff. The best way to do that is to just play--go play each other one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three. Play away from the coaches, away from the whole team practicing in unison." In "Iceman," Erving added that he liked to challenge his teammates so that they would not become lazy, and he said that he is proud of how great Gervin became.

The cash-strapped Squires traded Erving to the New York Nets prior to the 1973-74 season, and then they sold Gervin to the San Antonio Spurs during the 1973-74 season. Erving led the Nets to two ABA championships (1974, 1976), and Gervin emerged as one of pro basketball's top scorers while lifting the Spurs into becoming perennial contenders. Erving and Gervin faced each other in two memorable playoff series, with Erving's Nets beating Gervin's Spurs in the 1976 ABA playoffs en route to claiming the final ABA title, and then Gervin's Spurs defeating Erving's Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the 1979 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Erving averaged 32.1 ppg, 11.3 rpg, and 4.6 apg with shooting splits of .488/.222/.824 in the 1976 series as the Nets won in seven games, while Gervin averaged 27.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg, and 2.7 apg with shooting splits of .523/.000/.812. The three point shot was not a major weapon at that time, as Erving only attempted nine and Gervin only attempted three during that series. Erving was the leading scorer in five of the seven games, including a series-high 41 points that were not quite enough to prevent the Spurs from winning game six in San Antonio, 106-105. In the 1979 series, Erving averaged 26.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 6.0 apg with shooting splits of .542/.755, while Gervin averaged 26.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 2.6 apg with shooting splits of .550/.820; three point shooting is not included in the shooting splits because the NBA did not start using the three point shot until the next season. I provided game summaries of the 1976 series in Julius Erving's Playoff Career, Part II: Two Championships in Three Years with the Nets, and I provided game summaries of the 1979 series in Julius Erving's Playoff Career, Part III: Consistency, Frustration and then a Glorious Championship Run.  

What stands out about Erving and Gervin is not just the wins and the points, but their artistry, a facet of Gervin's game that Erving poetically described in a 1986 interview with Bob Sakamoto: "He personifies being at one with certain elements in the universe that, at least theoretically, are supposed to have a certain effect. When I see him play, sometimes it makes me think about the psychic side of the sport, abstract things that can be introduced to the sport and explained through his motion. It really is a tribute to him that he can trigger this in me, because I've seen a lot of players come and go, and he's probably my favorite." Of course, everything that Erving said about Gervin is true of Erving as well.

After beating Erving's 76ers, the Spurs lost 4-3 to the defending NBA champion Washington Bullets in the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals. The Spurs shifted to the Western Conference in 1981, and Gervin led them to the 1982 Western Conference Finals, but the eventual NBA champion L.A. Lakers swept them 4-0. The Spurs acquired Hall of Fame center Artis Gilmore before the 1982-83 season, and the Gervin-Gilmore duo led the Spurs back to the Western Conference Finals, but the Lakers prevailed again, 4-2. 

The Spurs traded Gervin to the Chicago Bulls before the 1985-86 season. Gervin backed up second year sensation Michael Jordan before Jordan suffered a foot injury that caused him to miss 64 games. Gervin started 75 games and played all 82 games, averaging 16.2 ppg in his final NBA season.

After his NBA career ended, Gervin played a season in Italy. He credits that time in Europe for helping him to refocus his life priorities and attain greater balance; near the end of Gervin's NBA career he struggled with drug addiction, and that battle almost cost him his family. Gervin is candid about this period, saying that he suffered from a "malfunction" in his brain. John Lucas, the number one overall pick in the 1976 NBA Draft, lost his NBA career to drug addiction, but he has spent much of his post-playing life helping others battle substance abuse. Gervin sought out Lucas, and Lucas played a key role in Gervin's recovery. 

Gervin feels that his most powerful legacy is his family and his community service work. He has said that he never sought fame, and that he played basketball because he loved to hoop. His journey is so different from the journeys of many of today's star athletes, who have been pampered and showered with praise since childhood, and then are provided with generational wealth because of their athletic abilities; too much public adulation and too much money distorts reality, and often leads to a sense of entitlement as opposed to a sense of responsibility.

So many of today's athletes scream, "I'm him!" Erving is not like that, and neither is Gervin. Gervin combines confidence with humility. He knows that he could not just score but also play at a high level, but he was never a showboat, and he gives credit to his teammates. Gervin has always spoken highly of his Spurs backcourt partner James Silas, and at the 2005 ABA Reunion Gervin told me, "James Silas was a guy who we really went to at the end of the game. James Silas never missed free throws. They don't give him enough credit and I'm disappointed in that, but we (the ABA players) give it to him because we played with him and respect him and a lot of us idolize his play."

Uninformed people often think that great athletes are running, jumping, and scoring without much thought, but the reality is that excellence in sports requires intelligence. You can get a glimpse of this intelligence in George Gervin's answer to my question about what made Roger Brown special: 

He probably had one of the best first steps in basketball. You've really got to understand basketball to know what I'm saying when I say 'first step.' Matter of fact, I learned that from him when I played against Roger Brown--that first step. He used to pivot and make you move and he isn't going anywhere. It was probably one of the best moves that I picked up and when I went to the guard spot it really helped to take my game to the next level.

Speaking to me in a 2004 interview that I quoted in my Roger Brown tribute article, Gervin added that he wished that modern players emulated Brown's approach to the game: "What guys don't realize today is that first step is everything because if I can get the first step on you then you will never catch me--and if you do catch me then all I have to do is fake and you will go for the fake because you are trying to catch up--you are in a recovery situation. That's where Roger was good. He forced you into a recovery situation all the time, so you had to go for his fakes." Gervin contrasted Brown's use of the first step with the way that too many current players overuse the dribble: "Dribbling that ball five, six, seven, eight seconds is a travesty. What are the other four guys doing--standing there watching? A lot of the guys pound the ball today, but we used to move the ball around and when we got it we took that first step and made something happen. So we (retired legends) hope and pray that the guys understand that you really need to give the ball up. If you're not going to make your move, give it up, go back and get it. Don't just stand there and pound it."

Gervin was a basketball artist and a basketball technician--and the two traits are connected: by mastering the sport's fundamental techniques, Gervin acquired the necessary foundational skills to enable his creativity to blossom. He played basketball with unbridled joy, and it was a joy to watch him play.

Labels: Artis Gilmore, Chicago Bulls, George Gervin, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Roger Brown, San Antonio Spurs, Seagram's Seven Crowns of Sports, Virginia Squires

posted by David Friedman @ 11:04 PM

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NBA Belatedly Provides Limited Benefits to Retired ABA Players

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) jointly announced that the two organizations will partner to fund payments to approximately 115 retired ABA players who are not currently receiving any pension payments from the NBA. The program will provide an annual payment of  approximately $3828 for each year of service; for example, a player who played five ABA seasons would receive $19,140 per year. The payments are designated as "recognition payments" and not as pensions, no doubt for legal reasons as the NBA does not want to connect these payments in any way with their pension plan.

The Dropping Dimes Foundation deserves credit for pressuring the NBA until the league felt so ashamed about neglecting its legal and moral obligation to retired ABA players that it had to do something. Scott Tarter, the CEO and founder of Dropping Dimes, said after the announcement, "It's an incredible day for former ABA players, one that we and the players have been hoping for and working so hard toward for many years." Hall of Famer Mel Daniels, who passed away in 2015, was a major supporter of Dropping Dimes. Tarter noted, "Too bad Mel is not here to see this in person. This was his idea all along, saying, 'We've got to do something for these guys.'"

I am happy that the retired ABA players will--belatedly--at least receive something from the NBA other than excuses and neglect, and I acknowledge that even this relatively small amount of money may indeed be life-changing (as some have described it) for retired players who are in dire financial straits, but it must be emphasized that the ABA-NBA merger took place in 1976, so this payment plan is 46 years overdue and contains no provisions for makeup payments. Further, many retired ABA players have passed away, and their family members will not receive a penny, even though those players should have been receiving pension money (or "recognition payments") for many years, if not decades.

Also, let's place the "recognition payments" in context. The plan will cost the NBA and NBPA $24.5 million, but the NBA is a multi-billion dollar per year business, which means that $24.5 million is the NBA equivalent of spare change found in between couch cushions. The value of NBA franchises has soared since the ABA-NBA merger thanks not only to the brilliance of great players including but not limited to Julius Erving, Moses Malone, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, David Thompson, Dan Issel, and Bobby Jones, but also because of the adoption of ideas either created by and/or popularized by the ABA, including the three point shot rule and the Slam Dunk Contest. 

The ABA's impact is not acknowledged and recognized by the NBA and its media partners, as I noted in The Legacy of the ABA:

The ABA developed and nurtured many of the players who became the NBA's marquee stars in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Hall of Famers Julius Erving, Moses Malone, George Gervin, David Thompson and Dan Issel. The scintillating Erving had an excellent NBA career but those who saw him in his ABA days got a special treat. Mike Gale, a two-time ABA All-Defensive Team guard who played with Erving on the 1974 ABA champion New York Nets and later played against him in both leagues, says, "Doc was an awesome player. Because of the way the ABA was at that time (not having a national TV contract), most of America did not get to see him in what we would call his prime. Some of the moves that he made, you will never see again. It was amazing to see his work ethic. After practice, we'd be out there playing and shooting. He just loved the game. He'd try to think of things that were out of the ordinary and not done the regular way. It was a sight to see. We sat back (as teammates) and would say, 'How'd he do that?'"

The ABA changed the way that basketball is played and the way that it is packaged and presented. The ABA did not introduce the three point shot--it had been previously used in the ABL and some college teams had experimented with it decades earlier--but the ABA popularized it. The rivalry between the leagues was so bitter that the NBA could not bring itself to start using the three point shot until four years after the merger. College basketball began using the three point shot a few years later. It is impossible to imagine basketball at any level today without the three point line. March Madness would not be the same without the possibility of an underdog team getting hot from three point range and knocking off a blue chip school.

The ABA wrapped a concert and a Slam Dunk contest around the 1976 ABA All-Star Game, essentially creating the concept that has morphed into what is now known as All-Star Weekend. The NBA scoffed at that idea for years before finally embracing it in 1984. The ABA's influence can even be felt in the box score. Steals, blocked shots, turnovers (the ABA called them "errors") and offensive rebounds are statistics that were first tracked by ABA scorekeepers before the NBA decided to make them part of the game's official numerical language. Ironically, while the NBA adopted these categories for its own use it stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the statistics compiled by ABA players. The NFL recognizes that the AFL’s Joe Namath was the first pro quarterback to pass for 4000 yards in a season but the NBA acts as if the 11,662 ABA points scored by Namath's New York contemporary Julius Erving do not exist. The careers of great ABA players like Roger Brown and Mel Daniels exist in a statistical netherworld; sometimes, they are mentioned in articles or on TV but often their accomplishments are completely disregarded.

The NBA's stubborn refusal to officially count ABA statistics is as foolish as it is petty. The NFL had a fierce rivalry with the AFL, but after the AFL-NFL merger the NFL as a league as well as the NFL's individual teams included AFL statistics in the sport's official records. Contrast the NFL's sensible approach to this issue with the NBA pretending that most of Julius Erving's 40 point games never happened or that Kyrie Irving holds the Nets' single game scoring record that actually is still held by Julius Erving. The NBA wants you to believe that Erving is the 74th leading scorer all-time with 18,364 NBA regular season points instead of accepting the reality that Erving is the eighth leading scorer in pro basketball history with 30,026 regular season points. Younger fans who think that they know who is the greatest forward of all-time may be surprised to know that Erving is the first non-center in pro basketball history who scored at least 30,000 career points, and that he retired as the third leading scorer in pro basketball history behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.

Despite the ABA's immense cultural and historical impact, the "recognition payments" for ABA players pale in comparison to what is received by retired NBA players via the NBA's pension plan. The NBA's pension plan for players who retired post-1965 currently pays out more than $800 per month for each year of service. A 62 year old retired NBA player who played at least 10 seasons receives an NBA-funded pension of $215,000 per year, and the minimum that a 62 year old retired NBA player who played just three seasons receives is an NBA-funded pension of $56,988 per year. As mentioned above, the NBA's belated "recognition" of retired ABA players is coming in the form and amount of money that the NBA found in between couch cushions.

The "recognition payments" are a small first step, but if the NBA is serious about acknowledging its debts--financial and historical--to retired ABA players then the NBA will increase those payments to place them on par with the payments from the NBA's pension plan, and the NBA will remove ABA statistics from the "memory hole" and place those numbers in the official records.

Labels: ABA, Artis Gilmore, David Thompson, George Gervin, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, NBA

posted by David Friedman @ 8:18 PM

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Defining Impact on Winning and Evaluating Great One on One Scorers

Here are some recent NBA headlines: "Harden's 47 points lead Rockets over Jazz 102-97," "Harden has 2nd straight triple-double, Rockets top Grizzlies," "Harden's 50-point triple-double leads Rockets over Lakers," and "Harden scores 29 to lead Rockets past Blazers 111-104." Those headlines would lead one to believe that James Harden is the primary, if not only, reason that the Houston Rockets are enjoying a four game winning streak. There is no doubt that Harden has posted impressive individual numbers during these four games--but does that mean there is a connection between his numbers and the team's success?

I have often said that Harden is an updated version of Stephon Marbury, meaning that he puts up numbers that are not really impacting winning. I have been asked/challenged at times to explain or justify that assertion.

So, let's look at some other numbers from that winning streak, during which Houston beat Utah 102-97, Memphis 105-97, the L.A. Lakers 126-111 and the Portland Trail Blazers 111-104. Harden's plus/minus numbers from those games are -1, +3, +14 and -15 respectively. Thus, the Rockets outscored their opponents by 35 points but they only outscored them by one point while Harden was in the game.

Plus/minus numbers can be noisy for a variety of reasons but they are not completely meaningless, particularly when they are used in conjunction with the eye test. The eye test tells us that Harden is flashy, that Harden scores a lot, and that Harden holds onto the ball for most of the shot clock such that it is highly likely that if Houston scores while he is in the game he will either be making the shot or delivering the assist. The eye test also tells us that he is, at best, a lazy and indifferent defender, though his attention seems to pick up at least momentarily if someone posts him up.

Take away the offensive sizzle and the defensive fizzle and what do you have? Sound and fury signifying, if not nothing, then very little in regards to winning basketball.

Why are the Rockets winning now? Collectively, they are defending better. Their bench is playing much better and is killing the other team's bench on many nights. Also, at the end of the Lakers' game, Harden did take over by hitting several clutch shots. Not surprisingly, that is the one game out of this four game sample size during which his plus/minus numbers were significantly positive.

If you believe in basketball karma (or just karma in general), you also have to think that the way Harden is allowed to repeatedly commit fouls and violations on offense is going to come back to haunt him, as it has throughout his postseason career when he is awarded bogus calls much less frequently. His step back, step back move last night versus Utah--which in old school terminology is known more simply as a traveling violation--is just the latest, most egregious example of how Harden is permitted to blatantly break the rules. The media narrative is that he is a foul-drawing genius. Some people call him the greatest one on one player in the game today, if not all-time. I get sick to my stomach when I hear that.

Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had fundamentally complete skill sets in all areas of the court, plus supreme athleticism. Julius Erving did not have as great or consistent of a jump shot as those guys, but during his prime it was impossible to guard him one on one. George Gervin, Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Bernard King and Mark Aguirre did not have the all-around games that Erving, Jordan and Bryant did, but as pure one on one scorers they take a back seat to no one. Don't forget Jerry West and Pete Maravich as well. George Gervin was smooth and efficient. Adrian Dantley was an undersized post up technician with deceptive quickness and power. Alex English was a poet and he was poetry in motion. Bernard King was a scientific and explosive scorer who repeatedly practiced certain shots from various areas of the floor and then made sure that those were the shots he took during games. Mark Aguirre could teach a master class on post up play and he could also beat you off the dribble. Jerry West and Pete Maravich could shoot (and connect) from anywhere on the court at any time.

To put Harden in that group is an insult to the way that those players developed their craft so that they could score within the rules. Harden's points count in the record books, much like the home runs hit by Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and the other PED cheaters, but just like Bonds, McGwire and the others did not truly surpass Hank Aaron, Harden has not truly surpassed his great predecessors. James Harden is regularly permitted to (1) travel, (2) lock his arms into the defender's, flail and be awarded two free throws, (3) jump into a stationary defender while shooting a three pointer and be awarded free throws, and (4) bulldoze into the lane, commit an offensive foul but instead be awarded free throws. These things do not happen once in a while; they are a regular part of Harden's repertoire. I am not convinced that he could score much more than 20 ppg if he were officiated correctly.

Most conspiracy theories regarding the NBA are nonsense but one has to wonder if the NBA is for some reason invested in Harden's success and/or invested in promoting offense in general to the point that defense becomes an afterthought (at least until the playoffs, when some semblance of sanity returns). During the Lakers' game, the Lakers resorted to keeping their hands down or completely away from Harden so that they could not possibly be called for a foul. Of course, that just lets Harden shoot uncontested shots that any competent NBA player can make. San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich figured out several years ago that Harden must be defended with "high hands" (which makes a lot more sense than no hands, which the Lakers tried), because if a defender moves his hands anywhere near Harden then Harden is going to be awarded free throws.

If you are too young to remember Adrian Dantley, then find some old footage and watch how he drew fouls. He used impeccable footwork, fakes and body positioning. He made basketball moves to score and if he got fouled he earned it. He did not bulldoze opponents, he did not travel and he did not flail.

The way that James Harden plays is not great one on one offense and the way that the NBA officials let him get away with blatant fouls/violations makes Harden almost unwatchable for any basketball purist.

Labels: Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Bernard King, George Gervin, Houston Rockets, James Harden, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, Mark Aguirre, Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich

posted by David Friedman @ 8:21 PM

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LeBron James Becomes 24th--and Youngest--Member of the 25,000 Point Club

On Monday night, LeBron James became just the 24th member of pro basketball's 25,000 point club. At 30 years, 307 days, he is easily the youngest player to achieve this milestone, surpassing Kobe Bryant's record (31 years, 351 days). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who broke Wilt Chamberlain's once seemingly untouchable mark of 31,419 points in 1984, ranks number one with 38,387 points but his 30-plus year reign as king of the all-time scorers may be in jeopardy in six or seven years if James stays healthy.

Shamefully, the NBA still ignores ABA statistics and pretends that Julius Erving, Dan Issel, George Gervin and Rick Barry--four Hall of Famers who played in both the ABA and the NBA--did not join the 25,000 point club. As long as the NBA sends that quartet's names down some Orwellian memory hole, I will make a point of mentioning those names every time I write an article about the 25,000 point club.  

James' accomplishment brings to mind the way that he is often called a "pass first" player. I have never bought into that description because, among other things, Pass First Players Do Not Score 61 Points in a Game. As I have explained many times, James is a prodigious scorer who is also a gifted passer. Why does it matter to make a distinction between being pass-first and being a great scorer who also passes well? It is important to realize that despite all of James' skills, he did not win a championship until he embraced the challenge and responsibility of being a big-time scorer when the stakes are highest; ignoring that truth is a major distortion of basketball history and permits people to create some kind of false dichotomy between James and players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant who are celebrated for their scoring prowess (and often not given proper recognition for their playmaking skills).

During his first stint in Cleveland and during the early part of his run in Miami, James would score a lot of points during the regular season and early playoff rounds only to become bizarrely passive the deeper that he advanced in the playoffs, including no-show efforts versus Boston in the 2010 playoffs and versus Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals. After the latter debacle, when James was outplayed at critical times by Jason Terry,  Dwyane Wade implored James to accept the responsibility of carrying a heavy scoring load against elite teams. The strange thing about this is that James has the fourth highest regular season scoring average and fifth highest playoff scoring average in pro basketball history; he has spent his whole career being a dominant scorer, so it is mystifying that he mentally checked himself out of the aforementioned Boston and Dallas series. Those playoff failures did not represent James being a pass-first player; they represented him carrying his teams to the playoffs by scoring a lot of points only to let his teammates down by playing passively precisely when his scoring was needed the most. Presumably, after scoring at a high rate in the 2012 and 2013 NBA Finals while leading Miami to back to back titles, James put all of that pass-first nonsense to rest forever during last year's NBA Finals, when he very properly jacked up shots at a rate that would make even Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant blush; the short-handed Cavaliers needed for James to shoot early and often and perhaps they could have even stolen the title if James had taken more shots during the pivotal game four when the Cavaliers were trying to seize a 3-1 lead over the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.

Correctly labeling James as one of the greatest scorers in pro basketball history does not in any way diminish his other skills, including passing. It does place his career and the careers of other great players in proper perspective, though. Magic Johnson was a pass-first player for the vast majority of his career and he only assumed a score-first role after Abdul-Jabbar was well past his prime. Jason Kidd was always a pass-first player. James, on the other hand, is going to lead his team in scoring and in shot attempts every year until his body breaks down. When James arrived in Miami, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had to accept lesser scoring roles, not the other way around. The same thing has held true for Kevin Love when he joined forces with James in Cleveland. Yes, James passes the ball to his teammates but he also makes sure that he is the team's leading scorer--and there is nothing wrong with that, just like there was nothing wrong with Jordan or Bryant filling a similar role during their respective primes. Other than Magic Johnson, there have not been many pass-first players who were the best player on a championship team. On the other hand, Abdul-Jabbar won six championships, Jordan won six championships and Bryant has won five championships. Erving won two ABA titles plus an NBA title and Barry put on tremendous scoring exhibitions in the 1967 and 1975 NBA Finals, leading the Warriors to the title 40 years ago.

The bottom line is that there are some very good passers in the 25,000 point club but there are no pass-first players in that elite fraternity--and that includes James. Maybe if James sticks around long enough to surpass Abdul-Jabbar as the sport's all-time leading scorer people will finally understand and accept this.

Labels: Dan Issel, George Gervin, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 3:19 AM

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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

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We Are Family

Note: Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" was released a few years after the NBA-ABA merger, but it is the perfect theme song to represent how ABA players feel about each other. This article was originally published on March 2, 2005 at HoopsHype.com but the link no longer works, so I have reprinted the article in its entirety below.

Loyalty and togetherness.

These unbreakable bonds connecting most ABA players were renewed and strengthened throughout the "ABA Ol' School Reunion," which took place in Denver during the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend. The Reunion was organized by Fatty Taylor, who played seven years in the ABA, and his longtime friend James Render.

"I got the idea for the Reunion because the NBA All-Star Game was coming to Denver, Colorado, which is an ABA city," Taylor said. "So it is only fitting to have a Reunion for all the ABA guys. I just decided to get all the guys together in a spirit of fellowship. We figured that it is a chance just to see each other again. There is no telling when your day will come. It started off as a big party, but it turned into more than I thought it would."

The ABA Reunion is not an "official" NBA All-Star Weekend event and this does not bother Taylor at all. "I just thought that it was something that I really wanted to do--getting in touch with guys who I haven't seen in years. They were happy and wanted to see each other. See, the ABA players are a little different from the NBA players. We had a close-knit league. The NBA tried to destroy us and never wanted to see us make it. We played hard and we tried hard (to not let that happen)."

Taylor would like to make the ABA Reunion an annual event. "This is something that could be for us every year at the All-Star Game--an ABA Reunion, having different festivities. Everybody likes each other and we are happy to see each other. When we played against each other, we went out there and played hard, but after the game we would go out and party and have a good time. We just want to relive some of those good times."

The festivities began on Thursday, February 17 when several ABA players--including Rick Darnell, Mike Davis, Willie Davis, Joe Hamilton, Eugene "Goo" Kennedy, Warren Jabali and James Silas--gathered at Denver's East High School to sign autographs and reminisce. Riding in a yellow Hummer stretch limo to the school, the players regaled each other with stories. Not surprisingly, Julius Erving featured prominently in several of them--both for his ABA exploits and for his summer-league displays.

Joe Hamilton described a Dr. J move that was so otherworldly that Hamilton fell off of the bench in amazement and was fined by his coach for not keeping his mind on the game. Several players mentioned the Doctor destroying Sidney Wicks in a summer-league game after Wicks had proclaimed that he was going to shut down Erving. Asked about this later, Erving remembered the incident, saying that it happened at the Willie Naulls game in Los Angeles.

Mike Davis described a Rucker League encounter when Connie Hawkins blocked Wilt Chamberlain's patented fadeaway jumper, except that he was not satisfied to just block it--he wiped the ball all over the backboard before sweeping in the rebound. After that, Chamberlain discarded the fade away for that evening and proceeded to dunk on everybody in sight.

Davis, who lives in New York, got up at 4 a.m. and had to take a flight with a Las Vegas connection to arrive in Denver. When the pilot said that the plane was flying over Colorado, Davis felt like saying, "Hey, drop me off here!" He was tired and hungry during the drive to East High School, but would not have missed the ABA Reunion for the world. Signing autographs and interacting with fans has a special meaning to Davis, who explained that he'll never forget meeting a professional basketball player for the first time when Carl Braun, the New York Knicks' star guard in the 1950s, spoke at the Boys and Girls Club that Davis went to as a child.

Many of the fans at the East High School event had not even been born when the ABA existed, but others had vivid memories of the league. One older gentleman brought with him a program from the 1984 NBA All-Star Game, which was held in McNichols Arena in Denver and featured several ex-ABA players. When he seemed a bit reticent about asking for autographs, Darnell came over, talked with him, asked him which players he was looking for and made sure that he got the signatures he wanted.

Warren Jabali is a very interesting figure. When it is suggested to him that it is amazing that one year he averaged 10 rpg as a 6-2 guard/forward going against much taller players, he says simply, "They couldn't jump." There is no pretense to his comments and no extra words--he gets straight to the point. Most of the ABA players are quick with a joke or a comment, but Jabali is more reticent, perhaps because he feels that he has been misquoted and misrepresented previously. He has a Jim Brown-like presence--quiet, but strong and confident.

After the appearance at East High School, which was covered by the local Fox television affiliate in Denver, the players headed back to the Doubletree Hotel for the Welcome Reception. While a DJ spun songs from the 1970s, the ABA players renewed acquaintances and interacted with fans who bought tickets for the event.

That night Hamilton told me about playing on the 1974-75 Kentucky Colonels team that won the ABA Championship. He recalls that when Coach Hubie Brown arrived, things changed. "We're like, 'Hubie, come on, we're veterans.' We practiced like it was the first day. It could be February the 15th and we've played 60 games. We're still practicing like it's the first day, but that's Hubie. Hubie knew every nook and cranny of this game. Any situation that would come up, Hubie Brown had something for it. His knowledge of the game was just so amazing."

Hamilton indicated that Brown's encyclopedic understanding of basketball mirrors the football wizardry of the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick. Hamilton knows something about football. He used to work as the Athletic Director for Louisville's youth programs and his son Joey III is an assistant coach at Male High School in Louisville, winners of three state football championships under the direction of Bob Redman (father of NFL quarterback Chris Redman).

On Friday, the players did more autograph signings. During the Reunion weekend, Lelands.com donated its expertise to coordinate in person signings by over 20 ABA players--including Hall of Famers Julius Erving, George Gervin and Moses Malone--of 300 basketballs and will sell the limited edition balls over the next year, with some of the proceeds benefiting the Colorado Hawks, Taylor's AAU team for fourth through twelfth graders.

Friday night's "Ol' School ABA Reunion Party" at Invesco Field featured a performance by India.Arie, daughter of five-time ABA All-Star Ralph Simpson. She performed several of her hits, including "Video" and "Talk to Her," plus material from her new CD. Throughout the evening, video screens showed montages of ABA highlights, which were provided by Arthur Hundhausen, webmaster of the Remember the ABA website

ABA players frequently point out that at the time of the merger, the NBA needed what the ABA had: the best young players--like Erving, Gervin, Malone, David Thompson and Artis Gilmore--and an exciting, free-flowing game. Hundhausen's videos provided evidence of this, showcasing a fun, fast-moving game featuring ball and player movement, good shooting, dramatic dunks and devastating blocked shots.

It is amazing that Gilmore, one of the great all-around centers in the history of the game, is not in the Hall of Fame and is not even among this year's finalists for the honor. Gilmore is stoic and resigned about the mystifying snub, although he poignantly notes that induction would have meant more to him if he had received it before the passing of his mother within the last year.

Saturday was an open day for the players to rest and unwind. On Sunday morning, hundreds of retired NBA and ABA players attended the NBA Retired Players Association's annual brunch at the Hyatt Regency/Denver Tech Center. Cedric the Entertainer served as emcee and several ABA players and coaches received awards--including Byron Beck (Original Denver Nugget), Larry Brown (Coach of the Year; he was unable to attend the ceremony), Spencer Haywood (Legend Award), Dan Issel (Founder Award), Doug Moe (Humanitarian Award) and David Thompson (Mr. Denver Nugget Award). Lafayette "Fat" Lever (Community Service Award) and Kiki Vandeweghe (Basketball Executive Award), who both played for the Nuggets in the NBA, were also recognized.

The ABA Reunion concluded Sunday evening with a gathering at the Seawell Ballroom in the Denver Center of Performing Arts, just a few blocks from the Pepsi Center. The ABA players joined fans to watch the NBA All-Star Game on big screen TVs. After the game ended, the party was just beginning, as the screens switched to Hundhausen's ABA highlight video montages. The After Party lasted until past 1 am. Some retired NBA players stopped by as well, including current Hall of Fame finalist Adrian Dantley.

Four-time All-ABA guard Mack Calvin put the whole weekend into perspective: "I think that what is important and special about this is that the ABA players--Doc and Gervin and all the guys--have always been a unit. A lot of guys can think about doing their own thing, but those guys have always been team guys. There has always been some camaraderie. I think that this exemplifies the overall attitude for over 30 years. The ABA guys are like a family. We had to stick together in order to survive. It's all about seeing these guys and talking about the old days."

Labels: 2005 ABA Reunion, Eugene "Goo" Kennedy, Fatty Taylor, George Gervin, James Silas, Joe Hamilton, Julius Erving, Mack Calvin, Mike Davis, Moses Malone, Rick Darnell, Warren Jabali, Willie Davis

posted by David Friedman @ 12:49 PM

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Roger Brown: Ankle Breaker and Shot Maker

Note: This article was originally published on December 27, 2004 at HoopsHype.com but the link no longer works, so I have reprinted the article in its entirety below. Nine years after I wrote this piece, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame finally inducted Roger Brown.

Roger Brown overcame unjust banishments from the NCAA and the NBA to lead the ABA's Indiana Pacers to three championships. Brown's peerless skills and amazing ability to deliver in the clutch inspired basketball legends Julius Erving and George Gervin during the early days of their careers.

Brown starred at Brooklyn's Wingate High. In 1959 he outscored Connie Hawkins 39-18 in the New York City Championship game at Madison Square Garden, but Hawkins' Boys High prevailed 62-59. Brown signed with the University of Dayton Flyers, but he never played college basketball. He and Hawkins were falsely implicated for being involved with Jack Molinas, a former college basketball star turned mobster who paid players to shave points. Hawkins and Brown were banned by the NCAA and the NBA.

Hawkins played in the short lived American Basketball League and then spent several years touring with the Harlem Globetrotters before leading the Pittsburgh Pipers to the championship in the ABA's first season (1967-68). He later reached a settlement agreement with the NBA and became an All-Star with the Phoenix Suns. In 1992 Hawkins was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Brown's life took a different path. He worked in a General Motors plant in Dayton for five years, declining an opportunity to join the ABL because he could make more money working for GM. This proved to be a wise decision when the league folded during its second season.

In 1967 Brown signed with the ABA's Indiana Pacers, realizing that this might be his last opportunity in professional basketball. Most players who do not play college basketball struggle during their first professional seasons--even All-Stars like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Dirk Nowitzki. Brown jumped from high school basketball to professional basketball without missing a beat, averaging 19.6 ppg and making the All-Star team as a rookie despite playing only AAU ball after his prep days.

Pacers' broadcaster Bobby "Slick" Leonard coached the team from 1968 until 1980: "Roger Brown was a money player. Anytime the game was on the line, Roger was always there. Roger had tremendous ability--one of the greatest small forwards to ever play the game. I've seen everyone that came down the pike in the last 50 years--playing against them, coaching them or broadcasting them. Roger Brown deserves to be in the Hall of Fame."

Leonard used an isolation play that took advantage of Brown's one-on-one skills as well as his passing ability: "We gave him the ball, isolated him and put all four players above the free throw line on the other side of the floor. If they came with a double team, we just cut the man whose defender left toward the basket and he would get a layup." If the opponent tried to guard Brown one-on-one, things got ugly. Leonard remembers, "He had some unbelievable moves. I've seen guys who were guarding him fall down. He had reverse dribbles and stuff. Matter of fact, one time when Larry Bird was younger he was working out with Roger over at Butler Fieldhouse and he wanted Roger to teach him that baseline move that Roger had. He could paralyze you."

Roger Brown enjoyed his greatest season in 1969-70, winning the Playoff MVP after averaging 28.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg and 5.6 apg in the postseason. In the last three games of the ABA Finals versus the Los Angeles Stars, Brown carried the Pacers to their first title, scoring 53, 39 and 45 points, including an ABA Finals single game record seven three pointers. Brown did all this while being guarded by the Stars' Willie Wise, who Erving has frequently mentioned as one of the players who guarded him toughest. Hall of Famer Rick Barry says of Wise, "He was one of the best defensive players that I ever played against."

Like Connie Hawkins, Roger Brown sued the NBA and received an out of court monetary settlement. Brown could have jumped to the more established league--but that never crossed his mind: "I want to clear my name. I have no intention of jumping." Brown felt tremendous loyalty to the team and to the Indianapolis community. In fact, while he was still an active player he was elected to a seat on the Indianapolis City Council.

The Pacers won their second ABA title in 1972 when Brown outscored Barry, then a member of the New York Nets, 32-23 in the sixth game of the ABA Finals. Barry says, "Roger was an outstanding player. He certainly had a terrific basketball career and probably is one of the more underrated guys that most people don't know a whole lot about. He is not really given the recognition that he deserves for the career that he had." He continues, "I sent something in when they asked me to do it when they were trying to get some support for him for the Hall of Fame because, based upon the other people who are in the Hall of Fame, I certainly feel that he is deserving of it based upon his skill level."

Mel Daniels played center for those Pacer teams. Daniels, who won two ABA regular season MVPs and ranks among the top dozen postseason rebounders in pro basketball history (1608 playoff rebounds, 14.8 rpg), declares, "Those who did not see Roger Brown or didn't know him, missed a treat. He was so good one-on-one that I remember defenders actually screaming for help. He actually dislocated or broke eight guys' ankles (with a) crossover dribble move. He would look at you and put the ball down and look at you again and if you made a move, he would react opposite to that move and get to the basket. Sometimes it was so easy for him, he would laugh at people and miss the layup because he was laughing."

Darnell Hillman was an outstanding shot blocker for the Pacers and he offers a similar description of Brown's devastating offensive arsenal: "As clever and quick as he was, Roger had the uncanny ability to make you sometimes turn around in circles and he hasn't even left his spot. You think, 'I've lost him, I've got to find him and recover,' and he hasn't even left his spot. He'd laugh about it." Hillman notes, "In three years of playing Roger I only beat him twice. I played Roger every day, either before or after practice. (At first) I leaned too much on my jumping ability, rather than the technique and art of playing position defense. Playing against him taught me how to stay on the floor and learn the different tricks. One of the things that Roger taught me was that if you are guarding an offensive player, most guys give away when they are going to shoot the basketball--watch a guy's left hand. When he is getting ready to shoot the basketball it's got to come to the ball on the right hand--then you want to close up. When he taught me that it improved my ability to close out on guys and really change their shots."

Before he won four NBA scoring titles, a young Gervin learned a lot from playing against Brown: "He probably had one of the best first steps in basketball. You've really got to understand basketball to know what I'm saying when I say 'first step.' Matter of fact, I learned that from him when I played against Roger Brown--that first step. He used to pivot and make you move and he isn't going anywhere. It was probably one of the best moves that I picked up and when I went to the guard spot it really helped to take my game to the next level."

Gervin wishes that today's players emulated Brown's game: "What guys don't realize today is that first step is everything because if I can get the first step on you then you will never catch me--and if you do catch me then all I have to do is fake and you will go for the fake because you are trying to catch up--you are in a recovery situation. That's where Roger was good. He forced you into a recovery situation all the time, so you had to go for his fakes." Gervin contrasts Brown's use of the first step with the way that many current players set up their moves: "Dribbling that ball five, six, seven, eight seconds is a travesty. What are the other four guys doing--standing there watching? A lot of the guys pound the ball today, but we used to move the ball around and when we got it we took that first step and made something happen. So we (retired legends) hope and pray that the guys understand that you really need to give the ball up. If you're not going to make your move, give it up, go back and get it. Don't just stand there and pound it."

Erving praises Brown's well rounded skills: "Roger handled the ball and moved a lot like Scottie Pippen in his prime. Scottie could handle the ball and run a team. Roger was a much better shooter than Scottie and a prolific scorer who could get his points in bunches. At that time I was 21 and he was probably 31, 32. His depth of knowledge made him someone I wanted to watch and also watch out for. I was just running and jumping and trying to jump over people and (it helped) just to see what he was doing on the ground, knowing that he was a great jumper in his day but by that time he had channeled his energies to be a complete player, be a team player and win championships. So he was already at a place that I was trying to get to."

Brown's body began to break down during the 1972-73 season and he spent part of the 1973 ABA Finals in traction because of a back injury. He was never again the same player, retiring two years later. Brown never averaged 25 ppg in the regular season, but he played on well balanced teams that had several potent scoring threats. Look at Tracy McGrady's numbers when he won scoring titles in ’03 (32.1 ppg) and ’04 (28.0 ppg) compared to this year (23.1 ppg as of December 25). Does his decline in scoring indicate that his skills have eroded or that his role has changed? Brown's ability to score at will in the clutch suggests that he could have put up bigger regular season numbers if the Pacers had needed him to do so. Hall of Fame voters should consider a player's overall impact, not just raw statistics.

Brown died of liver cancer in 1997. Erving eloquently summarizes Roger Brown's legacy: "When I first got into the ABA, Roger Brown and the Indiana Pacers were the best franchise in the league. They had the guys with the biggest reputations, they had big game players in terms of clutch play--but Roger Brown was the go-to guy and when you are the go-to guy on a team with Darnell Hillman, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Mel Daniels, you are talking about a pretty special player. His reputation coming up paralleled the achievements of Connie Hawkins, including the negative experience of being blackballed from the NBA. Then, he played with the Pacers and led them to titles, in addition to being head and shoulders above others as a citizen, running for political office and winning. It's a great basketball story. He contributed in more ways that just basketball but his basketball contributions are far from being insignificant and they are enough to warrant him being in the Hall."

Labels: Bobby "Slick" Leonard, Connie Hawkins, Darnell Hillman, George Gervin, Indiana Pacers, Julius Erving, Mel Daniels, Rick Barry, Roger Brown

posted by David Friedman @ 5:57 AM

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Highlights from First Virginia Squires Reunion

The Virginia Squires recently celebrated their first reunion. The franchise's two most famous alumni, Hall of Famers Julius Erving and George Gervin, both attended, along with former owner Earl Foreman and former Coach Al Bianchi. Here is a brief interview with Erving; check out the still photo around the :18 mark for a great image of a young Dr. J defying gravity:



Erving, Gervin and their former teammates enjoyed reminiscing with each other and with local fans:



Wavy.com posted a two part history of the Squires. Part One includes a great shot of Erving lofting a finger roll over Artis Gilmore (check out the video around the 1:57 mark):

History of the Virginia Squires, Part One

Part Two details the franchise's demise after the cash-strapped Foreman sold Erving to the New York Nets and sold Gervin to the San Antonio Spurs:

History of the Virginia Squires, Part Two

Labels: Al Bianchi, Artis Gilmore, Earl Foreman, George Gervin, Julius Erving, Virginia Squires

posted by David Friedman @ 10:07 AM

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Julius Erving Offers Thoughtful, Moving Reflections in his Autobiography

Dr. J--Julius Erving's autobiography, written with the assistance of Karl Taro Greenfeld--is a candid, unflinching look at the life of an American sports icon. Erving's rise, literally and figuratively, is described in a captivating, evocative manner; the reader learns how Erving emerged from a single-parent home to become not just one of the greatest basketball players of all-time but also a dignified, highly respected man who has positively influenced many lives. Erving flew to the hoop with grace and power but he never put on airs.

Erving's parents divorced when he was three years old and he only saw his father--Julius Winfield Erving Sr.--a few times before the elder Erving died from injuries that he suffered in a traffic accident. Young Erving was raised by his mother Callie Mae Abney alongside older sister Alexis Alfreda (known as Freda) and younger brother Marvin (who was nicknamed Marky). The family lived in public housing in a racially mixed neighborhood in Hempstead, Long Island. Erving did not face much overt racism in Long Island but he experienced culture shock as a youngster when he, his mother and his siblings visited their relatives in the Deep South. A sign declaring "WELCOME TO KLAN COUNTRY" greeted them when they drove into North Carolina and Erving's cousin Bobby told him, "White people are devils"--but Erving's mother told her son, "All people are the same. Black. White. We're all the same. There's good and bad people among white and black. You remember that."

Erving's character formed early, shaped by his mother's wisdom and his own internal moral compass; Erving would always be a leader but not a radical, a free thinker but not a revolutionary, a man who followed the rules but was never afraid to improvise when necessary (p. 28):

Mom says if I do my homework first, then I can play. I have to keep quiet in class. I must go to school. I should respect my elders.

I stand by the rules, move with care and respect and wariness, and agree to abide by the penalties of failure and rewards of success. Despite what I have seen in the Jim Crow South, the injustice that makes Bobby hate, and even the violence of our own Parkside Gardens, when even as a child I can get a sense that some lives just aren't as highly valued as others, I seek shelter in the security of rules, the snugness of being tucked into a line, of being a number in a column rather than a soul out of place, alone.

Early in his life, Erving dealt with death, loss and suffering. His father was not much of a presence in his life before passing away, cousin Bobby drowned as a young child and Erving suffered a serious knee injury playing street football; for a while it seemed questionable if he would ever walk without a limp, let alone resume being the fastest running/highest jumping kid in his peer group. Erving wore a cast on his leg for three months, during which time he watched basketball both in the neighborhood park and on TV, where he caught his first glimpses of Elgin Baylor--and began to form a vision of how the game could be played artistically (p. 35): "For the first time, I have this idea that certain ways of playing basketball are more beautiful than other ways. That there is scoring, putting the ball in the basket, but also the artistry of how that scoring is done. This is a new idea, an idea I have never heard spoken aloud: that some basketball players look better than other basketball players because of the way they play."

Erving resumed playing various sports after his leg healed and his streetball exploits attracted the attention of Don Ryan, a 19 year old Salvation Army basketball coach. Ryan invited Erving and Erving's friend Archie Rogers to become the first black players on the local Salvation Army team. Erving won the MVP award in his first season of organized basketball and his squad dominated the local teams. Ryan taught the kids more than just how to play basketball; Erving remembered that Ryan insisted that his players "win without bragging and lose without crying."

After Erving's mother married Dan Lindsay, the family moved to Roosevelt, Long Island and Erving came under the guidance of high school coaches Earl Mosley and Ray Wilson, two men who picked up where Ryan had left off both in terms of coaching basketball on the court and also setting an example for how to act off of the court.

Erving came of age during the 1960s, an era scarred by war, assassinations and civil unrest, but his faith in the American ideal never wavered. He believed in the United States, despite her shortcomings: "It is a force for good. It is the greatest nation. And if I work to the best of my abilities, then I will be rewarded" (p. 123).

The dreadful day that Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, a group of black kids--eager to exact revenge against any white person they can find--gathered menacingly around Stephanie, one of Erving's white classmates. Erving went into the middle of the crowd, insisted that they stop harassing Stephanie and then he walked her home: "This is our hope, as a nation, I think, that two kids--the little black boys and little white girls of Dr. King's speech--can just walk together, and share their dreams, and in sharing somehow give strength and validity to each other's dreams. Teachers, our parents, Ray Wilson, Earl Mosley, Don Ryan, they keep telling us we are American's future. Adults repeat the sentiment so much it becomes a platitude, as meaningless as a car advertising jingle, but now, at this moment, as Stephanie thanks me for walking her home, it becomes real" (p. 128).

No one is flawless and the one aspect of Erving's life that has surprised and disappointed some of his fans is his infidelity to Turquoise Brown, his first wife and the woman with whom he had three children (at the time that she married Erving, Turquoise also had a son from a previous relationship). In Dr. J, Erving frankly describes his attitude toward women and sex; his first sexual experience came at the hands of an older step-cousin who, essentially, molested/assaulted him when he was 13 years old. By the time he reached college and had attained a certain status as a big man on campus, Erving's attitude about sex had been set: "Perhaps it is a product of the impersonal manner in which I was introduced to sex, but I divide women into two categories. There are those who I  consider relationship material, who I view as good girls, and then there are those who I see more as objects, as bad girls. I know that's simplistic and even offensive to many women, and that among the so-called good girls there are plenty of bad people and vice versa, but I am mired in that kind of patriarchal thinking on the subject and it will take years for me to break out of it. My struggle to respect women and to see them all as God's creatures is one of the ways I've had to rise above my own circumstances and perhaps the cultural norms of when and where I was raised" (pp. 158-159).

While Erving wrestled with temptation off of the court, he literally rose above the crowd on the court. He earned a slot as an alternate for the 1970 U.S. Olympic Development camp; the camp consisted of a pool of 40 players from which the 1972 U.S. Olympic Basketball team would be selected. After a player got injured, Erving came to the camp one week into the proceedings, made the squad and earned team MVP honors during a European exhibition tour. He also excelled at the University of Massachusetts; Erving is one of just five players who averaged at least 20 ppg and at least 20 rpg during an NCAA career.

Most fans probably think of Erving as a dunker and/or a flashy scorer but Erving's game was always well-grounded in the sport's fundamentals. Early in his career, he made his name primarily as a rebounder, though he also was an excellent scorer, passer and defender. Erving's big hands, outstanding leaping ability and impeccable timing enabled him to outduel bigger and stronger players on the boards. Erving attracted the attention of the ABA's Virginia Squires, who signed him to a five year contract after his junior season.

Erving made a quick adjustment to the professional game on the court, averaging 27.3 ppg, 15.7 rpg and 4.0 apg as a rookie in the 1971-72 season. He elevated those numbers to 33.3 ppg, 20.4 rpg and 6.5 apg in the playoffs, a tremendous beginning to a very underrated postseason career. Off of the court, Erving experienced some of the challenges typically encountered by young men who achieve fame and fortune very quickly; Erving and a fellow University of Massachusetts student named Carol developed a serious relationship before Erving turned pro but after Erving joined the ABA he enjoyed the company of many different sexual partners. In his book, Erving does not attempt to justify his behavior (he misled Carol to believe that they were still in a committed, monogamous relationship) but he explains his mindset/shortcomings: "But I'm still a young man, just twenty-two now, and while the idea of fidelity to one woman seems the righteous and moral thing to do, I know enough about my own failings to recognize it's not realistic" (p. 219). After his rookie season, Erving traveled back to Amherst (Carol was still enrolled in college) and--without admitting that he had already cheated on her--suggested to Carol that they have an "open relationship," telling her that only after they have had other partners could they truly know if they were meant to be together. She is understandably skeptical of such an arrangement and Erving recalls thinking at that time, "I may have negotiated away the best thing I ever had" (p. 221).

During the summer of 1972, Erving jumped to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, teaming up with the incomparable Pete Maravich. Erving only spent part of the preseason with the Hawks before a court order forced him to rejoin the Squires but Maravich left an indelible impression on Erving: "One of the things that makes Pete so great is his hang time, and no one talks about that. He can leave the floor and sort of stay up there long enough to fake one way and then pass another...Pete Maravich is the most skilled basketball player I have ever seen" (pp. 226-227).

Erving had already sold his Virginia residence, so when he returned to the Squires he stayed at the home of team owner Earl Foreman;  Foreman spent most of his time at his Washington, D.C. home. Erving entertained various young ladies at Foreman's place but then he met Turquoise Brown. Erving knew that he had, as he put it in the book, "problems with fidelity" but he quickly felt a powerful attraction to Brown, who he married early in 1974. By that time, Erving had been traded to the New York Nets. He celebrated his homecoming by winning the first of his four regular season MVPs en route to leading the Nets to the 1974 ABA title.

Erving's Nets fell short in the 1975 playoffs but bounced back to claim the 1976 championship in the final season before the ABA/NBA merger. In the 1976 ABA Finals versus the powerful Denver Nuggets, Erving operated at the highest possible level, leading both teams in scoring (37.7 ppg), rebounding (14.2 rpg), assists (6.0 apg), steals (3.0 spg) and blocked shots (2.2 bpg) as the Nets prevailed four games to two. Erving could have justifiably devoted a whole chapter to that series alone and a strong argument can be made that this was the greatest single-series performance in pro basketball history but Dr. J describes the series in just two pages.

The financially strapped Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers. Erving led the 76ers to the NBA Finals four times in 11 seasons but it took the acquisition of Moses Malone in 1982 to push the team over the hump; the 76ers had long needed an elite big man to match up with Hall of Fame centers like Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish. Walton's Portland Trailblazers defeated the 76ers in the 1977 NBA Finals, while Abdul-Jabbar teamed with Magic Johnson to knock off the 76ers in the 1980 and 1982 NBA Finals.

Erving is justifiably proud of his 1981 NBA regular season MVP,  noting that he was the first non-center to win the NBA MVP since Oscar Robertson (1964): "I am contributing to this transformation of the game, in that the most exciting players are now playing facing the basket instead of with their backs to it. I feel like this is some vindication of my style, of the game played on the rise and above the rim" (p. 338). Throughout the book, Erving points out that each era has its own context, making it difficult to fairly compare players from different eras; for instance, during Erving's career star players tended to not question the coaches and many coaches favored using a balanced attack--but more recent superstars such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have the power to get coaches fired and do not hesitate to demand (in word or simply by the way that they play) to fire up more than 20 field goal attempts per game (a level that Erving regularly reached in the ABA but that he only topped once in his NBA career while adhering to the guidelines of coaches Gene Shue, Billy Cunningham and Matt Guokas).

Erving filled the last blank space on his basketball resume when the 76ers claimed the 1983 NBA championship. Erving does not discuss that magical title run in great detail, concluding, "No matter how old I get, no matter what I accomplish, I still see a lanky fifteen-year-old staring back at me. I'm still Mom's son and Marky's brother. I'm still Junior" (p. 379).

Erving later adds, "Basketball doesn't recede in importance. Perhaps it was simply never as meaningful as it seems. It is why you know me, know my name, but it is not me. It is my profession, what I do--it's a strange profession in that those who become very good at it also become famous. Great dentists and accountants are unremarked upon when they enter a restaurant. Great basketball players are never unnoticed" (p. 389).

During various media appearances to promote Dr. J, Erving has stressed that his autobiography is not primarily a basketball book and this is true; Erving focuses much more on his upbringing, his internal thought processes about non-basketball situations and his off court life than he does on his basketball career, though he clearly--and quite correctly--expresses the opinion that his basketball accomplishments have not been given their full due.

However, Erving makes a point of mentioning that he does not appreciate Larry Bird saying that Michael Jordan was the best player he ever faced: "...I find that a little disrespectful. We beat them up pretty bad in some playoffs, and they got the better of us in others, but those are the toughest matchups for both of us. I don't think it's fair for Larry to say that Michael is the best based on one great playoff game, the 63-point performance in Boston Garden. But then, Larry is always playing mind games, so he's probably trying to psych out Magic and me" (p. 325). Erving and Bird shared a tremendous rivalry, a rivalry that has sadly been forgotten by far too many commentators and fans. Erving is right to insist that this rivalry should be remembered and respected. Later in the book, he declares that Philadelphia's game seven win against Boston in the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals "may have been the most important game in my career. Back then, those Sixer-Celtic series felt bigger than championship finals, or certainly more emotional. Those games are tougher and more mentally draining than any others I've ever played" (p. 356). As for his infamous fight with Bird in November 1984, Erving is not proud of what happened and he notes that neither he nor Bird will autograph photos of them fighting. Erving also says that he considered it "office politics, the squabbles of men at work" and that it never affected their personal or business relationships.

The 1982-83 76ers set a record (since broken by the 2000-01 Lakers) by going 12-1 in the playoffs but their core players were too old to establish a dynasty; the 76ers failed to defend their title, losing in the first round of the 1984 playoffs. Erving attributes the 76ers' decline to the accumulated wear and tear of the previous several extended postseason runs, noting that Bird's Celtics were swept in the 1983 playoffs and that Erving's 76ers swept Johnson's Lakers in the 1983 playoffs: "Long playoff runs tire out a team, as we are forced to return again and again to our emotional and spiritual wells" (p. 390). During the 76ers' 1984 first round loss to the Nets, Erving realized that his days at the top of the sport were numbered: "My knees are sore and my groin injury has recurred throughout that series, so I'm hobbled, feeling my age and playing through pain, averaging over 18 a game but never exerting my will the way I have in playoffs past" (p. 390).

Ultimately, though, Erving is much more focused on larger issues than he is on his basketball career or anyone else's basketball career. The death of his sister Freda before the age of 40 as a result of colon cancer reminds Erving again of the fragility of life and the mysteries of existence: "I don't understand God's will. I don't understand His plan. The universe sometimes seems arbitrary to me, its cruelty as unthinking as a mousetrap. When Marky passed, I forced myself to keep moving forward, as I did with Bobby, Tonk, and Wendell, but when I go with Mom and Freda to Marky's grave in Rockville Centre, I think again about the substance of this life, about the extinguishing of the body and the mysteries of the soul. I always believe that Marky travels with me, and I sometimes feel him there, but I also know that this is the story I tell myself in order to soften the harsh truth of his being gone" (p. 363; Tonk was his father's nickname, while Wendell refers to Wendell Ladner, a New York teammate who died in a plane crash).

Erving feels like he entered pro basketball through the "side door," so it was very important to him to leave the sport through the "front door," to retire at a time of his choosing when he still could perform at a high level. His 1986-87 Farewell Tour featured an amazing outpouring of love and respect from across the country and around the world. 

Erving briefly worked as an analyst for NBC's NBA coverage but he was never comfortable on camera: "It takes a certain knack, a quickness of mind, and an ability to say nothing while sounding like I am saying something. I have to learn to speak while a producer is talking into my ear, giving me some statistics that I can use in support of a vacuous thesis about the first half of a basketball game that will be forgotten tomorrow...I find the analyses numbing. It is remarkable to me how we can fill hours, days even, of television talking about basketball, and yet I always feel that we are failing to communicate the truth of the game. Even here, in this book, I worry that I am not up to the task of explaining the essence of basketball as it is played at the highest levels. I feel that it is like trying to explain music through words or to describe a painting through text. You can give a feeling of the work, or compare it to something else, but you can't re-create the actual feeling of being on the court, or making that move, imposing your will, of the precise moment that you realize you can reach the front of the rim" (pp. 402-403). 

Erving's life since retiring from the NBA has not been easy; he has weathered the death of his son Cory, the death of his mother and a divorce from Turquoise. An associate ripped off Erving for several million dollars in a golf course deal and--though Erving denied it at the time--Erving's financial troubles contributed to his decision to sell off over 100 pieces from his personal memorabilia collection, including championship rings and MVP trophies.

It is a natural human tendency to downplay and/or excuse one's own flaws and shortcomings but Erving is very candid and blunt about his personal failures. Many people were shocked about the 1999 revelation that Erving was the father of young tennis star Alexandra Stevenson, who had been raised by her mother Samantha, a sportswriter who had an affair with Erving: "Samantha obviously did a fantastic job as a single mom raising her daughter, and I have nothing but praise and admiration for both of them. As I said, there are facets of my life that are less than heroic. This is an area where I wish I could have done it differently...There is no villain here, though I would say--and this is my book--that there is one person who is more at fault in this affair than the rest, and I raise my hand" (p. 408). Erving later had a second child out of wedlock with a different woman, to whom he is now married and with whom he is raising a family: "Whatever shame I feel at having sired children out of wedlock is balanced by the fierce pride I take in them, all of them...As I say, mine is an American life, fully lived, and I am not above reproach for my shortcomings. I hear my mother's stern voice and still feel her disappointment" (p. 418).

Dr. J tells Erving's story articulately and passionately; the book provides great insight into Erving's life.

Postscript:

Erving spoke with Keith Olbermann about his life and his philosophy:



The entire interview is tremendous but Erving's comments about basketball and aesthetics struck a particular chord with me and they echo my feelings about the sport. I quoted the passage (from page 35) in which Erving described his first thoughts/visions about playing basketball beautifully and artistically; Erving told Olbermann that George Gervin possessed that artistic quality and that Kevin Durant is the active player who most embodies this trait.

Labels: Boston Celtics, Don Ryan, George Gervin, Julius Erving, Kevin Durant, L.A. Lakers, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, New York Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Virginia Squires

posted by David Friedman @ 11:39 PM

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