20 Second Timeout

The Groaning and Grumbling About the NBA's 65 Game Rule is Unfounded

Media members, players, and fans are groaning and grumbling about the NBA's rule that a player must participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for most regular season awards, including regular season MVP. The main complaint is that it is somehow unfair that a player who misses at least 22% of the season (at least 18 games out of 82) is barred from winning the regular season MVP. It should be emphasized that this rule was collectively bargained and agreed upon by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.

The NBA's regular season has lasted 82 games since 1967-68, with the only exceptions being the lockout shortened seasons in 1998-99 (50 games) and 2011-12 (66 games), and the COVID-19 shortened seasons in 2019-20 (64-75 games) and 2020-21 (72 games).  

I have noted that it used to be a given that NBA players tried to play in as many games as possible:

In 1982-83--when Moses Malone and Julius Erving led the Philadelphia 76ers on a glorious, record-setting 12-1 playoff run culminating in a 4-0 NBA Finals sweep of the defending champion L.A. Lakers--39 NBA players played in all 82 regular season games, and Clemon Johnson played in 83 regular season games (51 with Indiana, followed by 32 with Philadelphia). An additional 22 players played in 81 regular season games. Those numbers were typical for that era; in 1981-82, 42 players played in all 82 regular season games, and three players played in more than 82 games, while an additional 21 players played in 81 regular season games. 

It was a given during that era that MVP level players rarely missed games. From 1967-82, the NBA regular season MVP played in 81 or 82 games every year except for 1978, when 1977 NBA Finals MVP Bill Walton captured the regular season MVP despite being limited to 58 games due to injuries--and Walton was not "load managing": he was legitimately injured. Erving won four regular season MVPs during his ABA/NBA career; in those MVP seasons, he played in 84, 84, 84, and 82 games (the ABA regular season lasted 84 games). Malone won three regular season MVPs during his ABA/NBA career; in those MVP seasons, he played in 82, 81, and 78 games.

Playing all 82 games used to be a badge of honor for NBA players.

From 1983-98, every NBA regular season MVP played in at least 76 games, 11 regular season MVPs played in at least 80 games, and six regular season MVPs played in all 82 games. In the lockout shortened 1998-99 season, regular season MVP Karl Malone played in 49 of 50 games. From 2000-11, every NBA regular season MVP played in at least 71 games, and six of them played in 81 or 82 games. In the lockout shortened 2011-12 season, regular season MVP LeBron James played in 62 of 66 games. From 2013-2019, every NBA regular season MVP played in at least 72 games, and three of them played in at least 80 games. In the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season, regular season MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo played in 63 of 73 games. In the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season, MVP Nikola Jokic played in all 72 of his team's games. In the past three regular seasons, 2023 MVP Joel Embiid played in 66 games, 2024 MVP Nikola Jokic played in 79 games, and 2025 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played in 76 games.

The 65 game rule was not needed previously because (1) it was a given that players tried to play in as many games as possible, and (2) it was a given that the regular season MVP would play in the vast majority of that season's games. If the rule had existed in the past, the only MVP race that would have had a different outcome is 1978, when George Gervin would have won because Bill Walton would have been disqualified. I am fine with the voters choosing Walton--who dominated during the 1977 season (when he played in 65 games and finished second in regular season MVP voting) before dominating during the 1977 playoffs (leading Portland to the NBA title while winning the Finals MVP) and then dominating during the first part of the 1978 season before getting injured--but I would also be fine with the voters choosing Gervin based on Gervin playing at a very high level while participating in all 82 games. 

The 65 game rule is needed now because (1) it is no longer a given that players try to play in as many games as possible and (2) the league, the players, and the MVP voters are so soft that without a firm rule in place an award for full season excellence might be given to a part-time player. Specifically regarding this season, it is unfortunate that several MVP caliber players may fall below the 65 game threshold, but if that happens then the MVP award should go to the best player who performed on a full-time basis. Contrary to the groaning and grumbling, that would not represent an injustice or some kind of dramatic break with history; it would maintain the correct way that MVP voting has consistently been done: a big part of being an MVP is being available for most of your team's games, and the voting trends from before the 65 rule game existed demonstrate this.

Kawhi Leonard is a good example. He is a two-time NBA Finals MVP (2014, 2019) because he was the best performer on the winning team while playing in every game of both of those series. It would have been illogical to give the Finals MVP to a player who missed several games in those series. During Leonard's 14 season career, he has played in at least 65 games four times (he still has a chance to reach the 65 game mark this season if he plays in at least nine of the Clippers' remaining 10 games). In those two seasons, he finished second and third in regular season MVP voting, and he won a Defensive Player of the Year award. His only other top five finish in regular season MVP voting happened in 2020, when he ranked fifth after playing in 57 out of 72 games. Leonard won the 2015 Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015 despite playing in just 64 games, but Draymond Green (who played in 79 games that season) had more first place votes (45-37). Under the current rule, Leonard would not have won the 2015 Defensive Player of the Year award, and that would have been a fair result: if you are not available to your team for a substantial portion of the season, then your "value" is diminished accordingly and it is difficult to argue that you are the "most valuable." 

The 65 game rule is not harming any players because from a practical standpoint it is not eliminating from award consideration anyone who would have likely won an award based on the way that voting has been done historically. The rule merely codifies the unwritten rule that existed for decades and it does so in a way that emphasizes to players the importance of being available. Players get paid guaranteed money whether they play or not, but they should not be guaranteed consideration for awards during seasons when they miss a substantial number of games. The number 65 is no more arbitrary or punitive than any other number, and having a defined rule in place is a sad necessity considering how soft the NBA has become; the alternative would be a farcical situation in which a player is named MVP despite playing barely half the season. 

The regular season MVP award is named after Michael Jordan, who played in all 82 games in four of his MVP seasons and who played in 80 games in his other MVP season; if the NBA gets rid of the 65 game rule and a player who plays in 50 or 60 games wins the regular season MVP then the award should be renamed for Joel Embiid or Adam Silver or perhaps the "Advanced Basketball Statistics Load Management MVP Award."

Labels: Bill Walton, Julius Erving, Kawhi Leonard, load management, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, NBA MVP

posted by David Friedman @ 10:23 PM

8 comments

George Raveling: Pioneering Basketball Coach

George Raveling--who starred as a player at Villanova before successful coaching stints at Washington State, Iowa, and USC--passed away yesterday at the age of 88. Raveling was inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, the same year that he received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (the Hall's highest honor other than induction). Raveling was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a Contributor in 2015. After Raveling passed away, Michael Jordan issued this statement: "For more than 40 years, he blessed my life with wisdom, encouragement, and friendship. He was a mentor in every sense and I'll always carry deep gratitude for his guidance. I signed with Nike because of George, and without him, there would be no Air Jordan."  

Raveling led Villanova to NIT appearances in 1959 and 1960, and he was selected by the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1960 NBA Draft but he did not play in the NBA. Instead, Raveling became an assistant coach at Villanova. Raveling not only provided security at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream Speech" in 1963, but after Dr. King delivered the speech he gave a printed copy of the speech to Raveling. Raveling donated the copy to Villanova in 2021. 

Raveling joined Lefty Driesell's staff at Maryland in 1969, thus becoming the first Black coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

In 1972, Washington State hired Raveling as head coach, and he became the first Black coach in the Pacific-8 (Pac-8) Conference (the conference is now the Pac-12). Raveling guided the Cougars to the NCAA tournament in 1980, the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1941. He was the UPI Pac-8 Coach of the Year in 1976, the Pac-8 Coach of the Year in 1976 (shared) and 1983, and the runner-up for the AP's national Coach of the Year award in 1983.

Raveling then moved on to Iowa, leading the Hawkeyes to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths (1985, 1986). He was an assistant coach to Bobby Knight for the 1984 Team USA squad that won Olympic gold, and he was an assistant coach to John Thompson for the 1988 Team USA squad that won Olympic bronze (the last time Team USA was comprised entirely of college players). 

Raveling coached USC from 1986-1994, winning the Kodak National Coach of the Year award (1992), the Basketball Weekly Coach of the Year award (1992), and the CBS/Chevrolet National Coach of the Year award (1994). On September 25, 1994, his jeep was blindsided in a collision, and Raveling suffered nine broken ribs, a fractured pelvis, a fractured clavicle, and a collapsed lung. He was just 57 years old, but he retired from coaching to focus on his lengthy rehabilitation program. Raveling finished with a 335-293 career record in 22 seasons, including six NCAA Tournament appearances and five 20-win seasons. He had a losing record in his first season at each of the three schools that he coached, and he had a winning record in his last season at each of those three schools.

After he returned to health, Raveling worked as a basketball analyst for CBS and Fox Sports, served as the Director for International Basketball for Nike, and authored several books. His most recent book (published in 2025), What You're Made For, distills a lifetime of wisdom into chapters such as "To Be a Trailblazer" and "To Serve Others." Raveling's 2013 conversation/interview with Hubie Brown is a master class of basketball--and life--wisdom, and is essential viewing.

Labels: Dr. Martin Luther King, George Raveling, Hubie Brown, Iowa, Michael Jordan, Nike, Olympics, USC, Villanova, Washington State

posted by David Friedman @ 11:22 PM

1 comments

Kevin Durant is the Ninth Member of Pro Basketball's 30,000 Point Club

The Memphis Grizzlies built a 19 point lead and held on to defeat the Phoenix Suns 119-112, but the headline story from that game is that the Suns' Kevin Durant joined the elite 30,000 point club by making a free throw with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter. Durant finished with a game-high 34 points on 12-18 field goal shooting. Ja Morant scored a team-high 26 points as the Grizzlies improved to 36-17 while dropping the Suns to 26-27. The Grizzlies have the second best record in the Western Conference, while the Suns are fighting just to earn a berth in the Play-In Tournament; the Suns are yet another example of how the "Big Three" model of instant team building fails more often than it succeeds.

Durant is the 30,000 point club's ninth member, and the first new member since LeBron James became the eighth (and youngest) member in 2018, one year after Dirk Nowitzki joined. Before we reflect on Durant's excellent career, it must be emphasized that it is shameful that the NBA and its media partners call Durant the 30,000 point club's eighth member, ignoring the fact that Julius Erving scored 30,026 points. ABA numbers should be counted offiically by the NBA, just like the NFL officially counts AFL numbers. Erving was just the third player to score at least 30,000 points, and he was the first "midsize" (6-7 or under) player to accomplish the feat; nearly 40 years after Erving retired, the only other "midsize" players who have scored at least 30,000 points are Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Ignoring Erving's accomplishments and statistics skews the ubiquitous conversation about the greatest players of all-time; Erving is often left out of that discussion, but he deserves to be prominently mentioned. Erving starred in the ABA for five years before enjoying a spectacular 11 year run with the Philadelphia 76ers. He made the All-Star team in each of his 16 professional seasons, he never played for a losing or non-playoff team, and he is the only player to win an MVP award in both leagues. Erving won four regular season MVPs, three championships, and two Finals MVPs; he did a lot more than just score, but he was also one of the greatest, most consistent scorers of all-time, with scoring averages ranging from 20.0 ppg to 31.9 ppg in his first 14 seasons.

Durant is unlikely to join James in the 40,000 point club, but he has come a long way from being a skinny rookie who was played out of position at guard before blossoming in his second season after being shifted to his natural position of small forward. Durant spent his prime years at small forward but as his body developed and the league began favoring smaller lineups he became a devastating weapon at power forward, stretching the floor while not being afraid to attack the hoop. Durant had a high, loose dribble as a young player but he developed into an effective ballhandler. He did not average at least 4 apg until his sixth season, but he averaged at least 4 apg in each of the next 12 seasons. Durant won four scoring titles, and he posted two 50/40/90 seasons that exemplify how complete his scoring repertoire is: Durant is renowned as a midrange assassin, but he also posts up, drives to the hoop, drains three pointers, and not only draws fouls but shoots his free throws at an elite (.882) clip. Like Erving, Durant has an all-around game, and an impressive list of accomplishments, including two Finals MVPs, two championships, and one regular season MVP.

Six of the nine members of the 30,000 point club are in my Pantheon (an asterisk denotes that the player is in my Pantheon):

                               Pro Basketball's 30,000 Point Club 

1. LeBron James* 41,623 

2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* 38,387 

3. Karl Malone 36,928 

4. Kobe Bryant* 33,643 

5. Michael Jordan* 32,292 

6. Dirk Nowitzki 31,560 

7. Wilt Chamberlain* 31,419 

8. Julius Erving* 30,026

9. Kevin Durant  30,008

Labels: Dirk Nowitzki, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 3:25 AM

20 comments

NBA Stat Padding is Not New, and Calls Into Question the Accuracy and Relevance of "Advanced Basketball Statistics"

Tom Haberstroh's June 20, 2024 article about NBA stat padding focuses on discrediting Michael Jordan's statistics for steals and blocked shots that helped Jordan win the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year award, but Haberstroh ignores two larger issues:

1) NBA stat padding is not limited to just Jordan or just steals and blocked shots, nor is NBA stat padding a relic from the 1980s, as Haberstroh suggests. 

2) To the extent that raw boxscore numbers are inaccurate, the "advanced basketball statistics" derived from those boxscore numbers are inaccurate and thus irrelevant.

Haberstroh's laser focus on Michael Jordan's 1987-88 statistics is understandable because the NBA and its media partners are in the entertainment business, and it is not good for ticket sales, merchandise sales, or broadcast ratings to assert that the greatest player of all-time played in the 1980s or 1990s (and forget about the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s); the NBA and media members like Haberstroh benefit from promoting the narrative that the greatest player of all-time is playing right now. LeBron James has openly lamented that the one trophy missing from his extensive trophy case is the Defensive Player of the Year award, so it is not surprising that--since it is unlikely that James will ever win that award now at his advanced age--Haberstroh seeks to elevate James by diminishing Jordan. Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin have made a lot of money crafting narratives for James, so Haberstroh is just running a play from their already successful playbook. When McMenamin cites an anonymous source within the Lakers organization, do you think that his source is LeRoy the ball boy or LeBron the self-proclaimed "King"? McMenamin did not obtain his current position by advancing narratives favored by LeRoy the ball boy, because LeRoy the ball boy has no power. 

Writing an article discrediting Jordan for winning the one award missing from James' trophy case is a proven way to obtain access to "anonymous" sources, and to lay the groundwork for book deals, podcasts, and more. 

How do I know what motivated Haberstroh to write his article? I can't read Haberstroh's mind, but I can read his words, and he framed his article not around a narrative focused on improving NBA stat keeping--indeed, he even asserted that there is no problem now (i.e., we should have full faith in all of LeBron James' numbers, including his likely inflated assists)--but rather declaring in his opening sentence, "It may be the most consequential Defensive Player of the Year award in NBA history." Haberstroh understood the assignment: Jordan has something that James does not have but very much wants, so that 1988 Defensive Player of the Year award must be discredited by any means necessary. Haberstroh makes it clear that his mission is not to set the record straight overall about NBA stat keeping, but just to discredit one player's statistics to undermine one specific award from 36 years ago. The subtitle of his article--"Has LeBron James Been Chasing a Ghost?"--further emphasizes Haberstroh's agenda; writers generally do not write the headlines for their articles, but in this instance the headline accurately reflects Haberstroh's theme and purpose.

Haberstroh is not doing investigative reporting about NBA stat keeping in general, even though he mentions the topic in his article, nor is he examining why individual scoring numbers have soared in recent seasons. That is why we are still waiting for Haberstroh, Windhorst, McMenamin or any of the other well-known NBA reporters/commentators to do an in depth video analysis showing that the scoring totals of many current NBA players are inflated by their deployment of a host of illegal moves, including palming, traveling, and flopping/flailing. It is instructive to contrast the step back move used by Larry Bird, Dell Curry and Adrian Dantley with what is called a step back move in today's game, but such an analysis does not mesh with the NBA's preferred narrative.

Even though Haberstroh clearly states his agenda, that does not mean that his basic premise about Jordan's steals and blocked shots being inflated by home team statisticians is wrong--but instead of focusing just on Jordan to elevate James, let's look at the larger issues. There is good reason to believe that NBA stat padding extends well beyond just Jordan's steals and blocked shots in the 1987-88 season, and the problem is not just that statisticians favor the home team's players. 

An assist is supposed to be a pass that leads directly to a basket, but I charted assists in a number of games for several years and found that Chris Paul's gaudy assist totals are inflated (for more details, see A Brief History of NBA Stat Padding after the end of this article). Inflating Paul's assist totals affects not just Paul but it alters the NBA's official record book rankings of players, and it also renders meaningless the highly touted "advanced basketball statistics" that are treasured by "stat gurus." If assists are being handed out more often than they should be, then the vaunted "advanced basketball statistics" for assists per 36 minutes, assists per 100 possessions, and any player ranking formulas relying on assist numbers are skewed. Further, if Haberstroh is correct that steals and blocked shots numbers are easy to manipulate as well, then those inaccurate boxscore numbers further skew the "advanced basketball statistics." 

On March 31, 2009, I addressed this issue in If Some of the Numbers are Bogus Then How "Advanced" are "Advanced Stats"? My consistent position for over 20 years is that there is some value in raw boxscore numbers, and there is some value in the intelligent use of certain "advanced basketball statistics," but the best way to evaluate players and teams is detailed skill set analysis based on a combination of in person observation, film review, and consideration of the opinions of qualified observers (i.e., reviewing what coaches, scouts, other players, and competent analysts say). As Haberstroh noted in his article, even if Jordan's 1987-88 statistics were inflated, qualified observers at that time such as Pat Riley and Bob Ryan considered Jordan to be an elite defensive player. Similarly, even though it is obvious that Chris Paul's assist totals are inflated, I would still argue that Paul is an elite playmaker based on analyzing his skill set: he makes great reads, he has the ability to deliver a variety of kinds of passes even under pressure, and he understands the right pass to make depending on how the defense is deployed and who is the intended recipient of the pass.

Detailed skill set analysis is not easy, nor does it mesh with our current culture dominated by screaming hot takes delivered in 30 seconds or less, but if you love basketball and respect basketball history then detailed skill set analysis is the best way to evaluate players and teams.

A Brief History of NBA Stat Padding

Charting Chris Paul's Assists Versus the Golden State Warriors (November 1, 2013)

Charting Assists for Chris Paul and Jason Kidd (April 12, 2009)

Rick Barry Interview (February 13, 2009)

Paul and West Lead Hornets to 116-105 Win Over Lakers (January 7, 2009)

Charting Assists for Chris Paul and Tony Parker in New Orleans' 90-83 Victory Over San Antonio (December 18, 2008)

Smooth All-Around Performance by Paul Lifts Hornets Over Heat (November 9, 2008)

Manu is the Man as Spurs Eliminate Hornets (May 20, 2008)

David West Dominates as Hornets Throttle Spurs, 101-82 (May 4, 2008)

Labels: "advanced basketball statistics", "stat gurus", Chris Paul, LeBron James, Michael Jordan

posted by David Friedman @ 12:33 PM

5 comments

Nikola Jokic Becomes 10th Member of Pro Basketball's Three MVP Club

Nikola Jokic earned his third regular season MVP in the past four seasons, becoming just the 10th member of pro basketball's Three MVP Club, and the first new member of that exclusive group since LeBron James joined in 2012. Bill Russell was the first pro basketball player who won at least three regular season MVP awards, and he was then followed by Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James. Jokic and Malone are the only members of that group who are not in my pro basketball Pantheon. Jokic's career began after I made my selections, while Malone did not miss the cut by much.

This season, Jokic ranked in the top 10 in scoring (10th), rebounding (fourth), and assists (third), and he is the second player in pro basketball history to accumulate at least 2000 points, at least 900 rebounds, and at least 700 assists in the same season, matching a feat first accomplished by Oscar Robertson in 1961-62. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jalen Brunson rounded out the top five in this season's MVP balloting. They each had MVP-caliber seasons, but no one filled up a boxscore quite like Jokic did, and no one was as essential to his team's success. Jokic is not a defensive stopper, but he uses his size and strength to good effect to clog up the paint, and his defensive rebounding helps the Denver Nuggets to finish off defensive possessions by gaining control of the ball. The Nuggets ranked fourth in defensive field goal percentage and sixth in points allowed, and that would not be possible if the player who leads the team in minutes played were a defensive liability. 

My consistent position about MVP voting has been that the award should go to the league's best all-around player unless there is a dominant big man like Shaquille O'Neal who impacts the game more than any other player. Jokic is a hybrid who fits into both categories: he is the sport's best all-around player but he is also physically dominant in the paint as a scorer and rebounder. 

Jokic is just 29 years old and he has played at least 72 games in eight of his nine NBA seasons, so he is young enough and durable enough to play at an MVP level for at least another five or six years. It would not be surprising if he joins pro basketball's Four MVP Club, which has just six members: 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 6 (1971-72, 1974, 1976-77, 1980)
Bill Russell: 5 (1958, 1961-63, 1965)
Michael Jordan: 5 (1988, 1991-92, 1996, 1998)
Wilt Chamberlain: 4 (1960, 1966-68)
Julius Erving: 4 (1974-76 [ABA], 1981)
LeBron James: 4 (2009-10, 2012-13)

If Joel Embiid continues to be an injury-prone player who cannot lead his team past the second round of the playoffs then history will not look kindly on Embiid's 2023 regular season MVP award that cost Jokic the chance to become the first pro basketball player to win four straight regular season MVPs. Jokic has posted a 9-4 career playoff series record while leading the Nuggets to the 2023 championship, and even if the Minnesota Timberwolves knock out the Nuggets in this year's playoffs that will not invalidate Jokic's prior accomplishments and honors.

Labels: Bill Russell, Denver Nuggets, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Nikola Jokic, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 1:29 AM

0 comments

Roland Lazenby Details Magic Johnson's Triumphs and Tribulations

Magic Johnson starred at Michigan State, leading the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA title in a famous showdown with Larry Bird's Indiana State Seminoles. Johnson then won five NBA titles (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987-88) with the L.A. Lakers while earning three regular season MVPs (1987, 1989-90) and three NBA Finals MVPs (1980, 1982, 1987). Johnson broke Oscar Robertson's NBA record for career regular season assists, and Johnson currently ranks seventh on the all-time regular season assists list in addition to holding the record for career playoff assists. Johnson led the NBA in regular season assists four times (1983-84, 1986-87) while also leading the league in steals twice (1981-82) and free throw percentage once (1989).

Johnson suddenly retired from the NBA in November 1991 after being diagnosed as HIV positive, but Commissioner David Stern permitted Johnson to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, and Johnson won the 1992 All-Star Game MVP. Johnson coached the Lakers for the final 16 games of the 1994 season, but did not return to the bench after the Lakers went 5-11 with him at the helm. Johnson came back to the NBA as a player for 32 regular season games and four playoff games in 1996 before retiring for the final time. Johnson's lucrative endorsements and savvy business deals enabled him to amass a net worth of more than $1 billion.

Roland Lazenby's Magic: The Life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Celadon Books, 813 pages, $40.00) provides a detailed, engaging account of Johnson's ascension from high school phenomenon to NCAA champion to all-time NBA great. Lazenby has written biographies of several all-time great basketball players, including Jerry West, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant. Lazenby's Magic Johnson biography is divided into three parts: Part I is titled "Lansing," Part II is titled "Hollywood," and Part III is titled "Across The Great Divide." 

Lansing

Part I is the longest section of the book (338 pages), and some reviewers have criticized Lazenby for focusing so much attention not only on Johnson's early days but also on Johnson's family history dating back to the 1800s. Lazenby has stated that his intention was to not just tell the story of Johnson's basketball life but to place Johnson's entire life in the larger context of American history. Lazenby may not have written the book that some other people think that he should have written, but it is only fair to evaluate Lazenby's book based on what he wrote and what he tried to accomplish--not on what other people think that he should have written or tried to accomplish. 

It is interesting to learn about Johnson's family history, and it is also interesting to consider the different ways that family history can be interpreted and understood. Some of Johnson's ancestors were slaves, so should we focus on the persecution they suffered, or should we focus on how in America it is possible for a descendant of slaves to become a world-famous sports legend who earned generational wealth? Acknowledging the opportunities that America provides does not in any way diminish the horrors of slavery and racism. Reading about Johnson's family history reminds us that America is a flawed country with a troubling past but also a great country that, in the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is striving to live up to its great, foundational principles: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

Labels: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Philadelphia 76ers, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 10:53 PM

9 comments

Remembering Earl "The Twirl" Cureton

Earl "The Twirl" Cureton passed away unexpectedly yesterday at the age of 66. The Detroit native had just substituted for Rick Mahorn on the Detroit Pistons radio network on Friday night, and Cureton was scheduled to call Sunday's game versus Orlando as well. 

Cureton enjoyed a 12 season NBA career. Like many NBA role players, he was a star in college, averaging 16.2 ppg and 9.5 rpg in 81 games for Robert Morris and Detroit Mercy. Cureton scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Detroit's 95-87 loss to Lamar in the 1979 NCAA Tournament. Cureton began his NBA career with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1980 and he played three seasons with the 76ers. Cureton was a teammate of Julius Erving's on Philadelphia's 1983 NBA championship team before playing for his hometown Detroit Pistons from 1983-1986. Cureton was Michael Jordan's teammate with the Chicago Bulls in 1986-87, and he also played for the L.A. Clippers, Charlotte Hornets, Houston Rockets, and Toronto Raptors in addition to playing pro ball in Italy, France, Venezuela, Mexico, and Argentina. Cureton only played in two regular season games for the 1994 Houston Rockets, but he served as an effective rotation player in 10 playoff games as they won the NBA title.

Most recently, Cureton worked as the Community Ambassador of the Detroit Pistons. His Pistons teammate Isiah Thomas issued this statement: "All of us are hurting. He was a tremendous teammate, tough competitor, a champion and a great human being. Earl always held the Detroit community close to his heart and worked tirelessly to make a difference for the city he loved. He will be greatly missed."

You can get a sense of Cureton's upbeat demeanor in this video during which he reminisces about his NBA career:

Cureton recalled that when he was growing up he had Julius Erving's posters on his wall, never dreaming that one day he would be Dr. J's teammate and play on a championship team with him. Cureton called Erving the "ambassador for the NBA. I think he was that player who set the standard for the league. A class act. He had a certain air about him. When he walked into a room, you knew Doc was in that room...Always gave 110% out there on the basketball court. You can't have a better role model than that..I think that he was the best at going to the basket. No other player that played in the league went to the basket like that."

The 1983 76ers--featuring Hall of Famers Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Maurice Cheeks, and Bobby Jones plus Hall of Fame caliber guard Andrew Toney--will always be my favorite team of all-time. They set the all-time record (since broken in the expanded playoff format) by going 12-1 in the playoffs, culminating in a 4-0 sweep of the defending champion L.A. Lakers. If you loved the 1983 76ers, you remember Cureton hitting a skyhook over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after Malone got in foul trouble in game two of the 1983 NBA Finals. In the commemorative championship video, Erving good-naturedly joked to the post-game media scrum that Cureton will now become so famous that he won't be able to walk the streets of Detroit without being recognized, while Cheeks said Cureton had seen Abdul-Jabbar shoot the skyhook against him so many times that he probably figured he might as well do it once. The 76ers had fun along the way, but they never lost sight of their mission to get Erving his first NBA championship ring to go alongside his two ABA championship rings. Bruce Newman covered the series for Sports Illustrated during a golden era for the league (and the magazine).

Cureton is the third member of that squad to pass away. Mark McNamara passed away on April 27, 2020, and Moses Malone passed away on September 13, 2015. The 1983 76ers brought a lot of joy not just to Philadelphia but to the basketball world with their teamwork, their unselfishness, and their determined focus to complete their journey; in the three seasons prior to acquiring Malone, the 76ers lost to the L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals in 1980 and 1982, and they lost in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals after building a 3-1 lead versus the Boston Celtics. 

The passage of time and the passages of life are sobering reminders of how important it is to cherish every moment of the journey.

Labels: Detroit Pistons, Earl Cureton, Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets, Isiah Thomas, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Philadelphia 76ers

posted by David Friedman @ 4:32 PM

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Embiid and Towns Join the 60 Point Club

Last night, Joel Embiid set a single game franchise record by scoring 70 points as his Philadelphia 76ers defeated the hapless San Antonio Spurs, 133-123. Embiid shot 24-41 from the field while also snaring 18 rebounds and dishing for five assists. Wilt Chamberlain's 76ers record of 68 points had stood since December 16, 1967. Chamberlain still holds the NBA's single game record with his famous 100 point performance, but he accomplished that remarkable feat as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors (now known as the Golden State Warriors). Embiid is the ninth player to score at least 70 points in an NBA game, joining Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, David Thompson, David Robinson, Kobe Bryant, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Damian Lillard. Chamberlain, Baylor, and Embiid are the only players who had least 15 rebounds while scoring at least 70 points, but Embiid's specific stat line of 70-18-5 has never been matched; the only other player with a 65-15-5 stat line is Michael Jordan.

While Embiid dominated the unsharpened Spurs, Karl-Anthony Towns scored a career-high and franchise record 62 points as his Minnesota Timberwolves squandered an 18 point lead and lost 128-125 to a Charlotte Hornets team that is almost as bad as the Spurs. Towns had 44 points on 14-17 field goal shooting in the first half, but he managed just four points in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves collapsed. Minnesota coach Chris Finch was not pleased with his team: "It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball all through the game." It suffices to say that there are good reasons to be skeptical about Minnesota's contender status despite the team's gaudy 30-13 record, but that is a subject for another article. 

Embiid and Towns are the first players to score at least 60 points on the same day since George Gervin and David Thompson had their famous last day of the season duel for the 1978 scoring title. Scoring 60 or 70 points in an NBA or ABA game used to be a rare occurrence, particularly for people not named Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain scored at least 60 points in a game 32 times. Kobe Bryant is next on the list with six 60 point games, including 60 on the dot in the final game of his splendid career. Until well into the 21st century, Chamberlain had more 60 point games than every other player in ABA/NBA history!

Labels: Elgin Baylor, Joel Embiid, Julius Erving, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kobe Bryant, Larry Miller, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 10:10 PM

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Classless Chicago Fans Tarnish Bulls' Inaugural Ring of Honor Ceremony by Booing Jerry Krause

On Friday night, the Chicago Bulls held their inaugural Ring of Honor ceremony, inducting Artis Gilmore, Johnny "Red" Kerr, Dick Klein (the team's first owner and general manager), Bob "Butterbean" Love, Jerry Sloan, Chet "The Jet" Walker, Jerry Krause, Tex Winter, Phil Jackson, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, and Michael Jordan. What should have been an event brimming with joyful nostalgia was tarnished when Chicago fans booed lustily after Krause's name was announced. Krause's widow Thelma, in attendance to accept the honor, cried at the disrespect, and was immediately comforted by other honorees and retired Bulls players. 

There is a proper time and place to express displeasure regarding Krause's role in ending the Bulls' dynasty, but a ceremony honoring him for his significant contributions to building the Bulls' dynasty is not that time or place, particularly considering that Krause died several years ago and thus his widow felt the brunt of the fans' senseless hatred. I don't want to hear excuses about fans being too young to remember Krause, or fans booing without knowing why just because other fans booed. If other people jumped off of a cliff would you follow them, or would you assess the situation and draw conclusions? Of course, that question presumes that the people who booed have functioning brains, which is far from certain. 

When your team honors the people who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to make your team great, you cheer. This is not complicated.

I have written about Krause many times. I am not his biggest fan, but I respect what he accomplished--and anyone who has any knowledge of basketball history respects what he accomplished. An objective, detached take on Krause's legacy is that he deserves a lot of credit for building the Bulls' dynasty, and a lot of blame for breaking up the Bulls' dynasty, as I explained in my obituary for Krause:  

In 1998, I was furious at Krause for destroying something so beautifully artistic and so competitively fierce.

Nearly 20 years later, I am still puzzled and saddened by what Krause did but I also appreciate what he accomplished--not just with the Bulls but over the span of his life. Those who knew him well say that he was a loyal friend with a good heart. Ultimately, that is how he should be remembered--and, despite his gruff demeanor at times and despite his mistake in breaking up the Bulls, there is no doubt that Krause belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame. It is a shame that if he ever is inducted he will not be around to enjoy that most deserved honor.

After Krause was inducted posthumously in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, I assessed his legacy: 

I was as baffled and upset as anyone by Krause's haste and glee to break up the Bulls so that he could try to build another championship team from scratch but Krause deserves a lot of credit for hiring Phil Jackson as coach and for acquiring key players Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, Bill Cartwright, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper and Dennis Rodman. An NBA executive's job is to win games and championships; by that standard, Krause is one of the most accomplished executives in pro basketball history.

"The Last Dance" told the story of the Chicago Bulls' dynasty from Michael Jordan's perspective, and to a large extent made Krause a villain for a generation of fans too young to remember the 1990s. Krause resigned from the Bulls in 2003 after his post-dynasty plan failed woefully, but it should never be diminished or forgotten that Krause's Chicago teams won six NBA titles (1991-93, 1996-98). Jordan did not win a playoff series as a player before Krause arrived in Chicago, and Jordan did not win a playoff series in his two years playing for the Washington Wizards; in 18 years as an owner/executive, Jordan's teams only made the playoffs three times, and did not win a single series. Jordan's 2011-12 Hornets went 7-59, setting the NBA record for worst single season winning percentage. Obviously, being a successful NBA executive is not quite as easy as Jordan thought when he mocked Krause during the Bulls' glory years. Krause's critics say that anyone could have built a championship team around Jordan, but Jordan himself proved for nearly two decades that he was neither capable of finding a great player nor capable of even putting together a team that consistently qualified for the playoffs.

The Bulls' classless fans should be ashamed of booing Krause and tarnishing what should have been a great moment.

Labels: Artis Gilmore, Bob Love, Chet Walker, Chicago Bulls, Dennis Rodman, Dick Klein, Jerry Krause, Jerry Sloan, Johnny "Red" Kerr, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Tex Winter, Toni Kukoc

posted by David Friedman @ 11:17 PM

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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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Definining Athleticism, and Correlating Athleticism With Basketball Greatness

In 2007, I wrote Is Steve Nash the Best Athlete in the NBA?, an article that was not just about Nash specifically but rather an examination of how athleticism is thought about and discussed:

Athleticism is often defined very narrowly. In the context of basketball, athleticism is usually understood to refer primarily to explosiveness laterally (quickness) and vertically (jumping ability); in football, athleticism usually is defined by one's performance in the 40 yard dash and in the bench press. However, this kind of thinking leads to a lot of stereotyping and superficial analysis, usually along racial lines--i.e., Larry Bird being praised for his cerebral skills while Michael Jordan is commended for his athletic ability. The reality is that Bird was a phenomenal athlete, possessing superb hand-eye coordination, quickness for a step (a concept that will be explained below) and better jumping ability than most people seem to think; compare his blocked shot totals to those of legendary leaper Dominique Wilkins (Bird has the edge, with 755 blocks in 897 games compared to Wilkins' 642 blocks in 1074 games)--and while Bird did not have the broad jumping ability of a Julius Erving, he was more than capable of playing above the rim to get rebounds and even throw down some dunks (albeit ones that fans would term "generic"), particularly early in his career.

Nikola Jokic's emergence as not only a two-time regular season MVP but also an NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP provides a great opportunity to further explore athleticism in general, and basketball athleticism in particular. In the popular imagination, it seems that basketball athleticism is defined very narrowly, as noted above. The ability to broad jump--in other words, the ability to take off from one spot, soar through the air, and then dunk the basketball before returning to the ground--attracts a lot of attention and praise, and when a basketball player is described as "athletic," that is shorthand for "He can jump high above the rim" or "He can take off from the foul line and dunk." Most NBA players can execute a generic one handed dunk, so even though dunking may be considered an "athletic" move for a non-NBA player it is not a sign of elite NBA level athleticism--but flying through the air and dunking, particularly if the dunk is accomplished over a defender, is considered to be a sign of elite NBA level athleticism. To some degree, straight-line speed--particularly when dribbling a basketball--is also considered to be a sign of elite NBA level athleticism; a player may be described as "the fastest player in the league from baseline to baseline," and this is meant to indicate that said player has elite NBA level athleticism.

Such narrow definitions and descriptions of athleticism not only fail to capture the full breadth of what athleticism is, but they also fail to correlate athleticism with basketball greatness. Jumping high above the rim, broad jumping or sprinting very fast from baseline to baseline do not have much correlation with basketball greatness unless the player who has such abilities can apply them effectively on offense or defense. 

Broad jumping ability is most useful in creating high percentage scoring opportunities, but it is important that the ability is deployed with an understanding of time/score/game situation. Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant are three players who not only had tremendous broad jumping ability but they each also had a great understanding of basketball fundamentals; for example, Erving's greatness is not defined by his mid-air feats, but by his ability to combine his physical skills with his broad understanding of the game--including knowing when to dunk, and when to execute a different shot or play. Similarly, Jordan and Bryant both knew how to use broad jumping ability in concert with basketball fundamentals to create high percentage scoring opportunities.

Athleticism should be defined in a broader way than just jumping high and running fast. Court vision, strength, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness, agility, and quickness are valuable athletic abilities.

Court vision refers not only to the ability to see what is happening on the court right now, but also to visualize what could or will happen depending on the movements of the other nine players. It has been said that Larry Brown could see where all of the other players were on the court at the same time, and that as a coach he would stop practice if a player were the slightest bit out of position. Brown was a three-time ABA All-Star guard who led the league in assists in each of the ABA's first three seasons before becoming the only coach to lead a team to an NCAA title (Kansas, 1988) and an NBA title (Detroit, 2004). 

Boston Coach Bill Fitch called Larry Bird "Kodak" because it seemed like Bird could take a picture of the court with his mind and know where every player was. Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, and LeBron James are three other all-time greats blessed with elite court vision. Jokic is similar to Bird, Robertson, Johnson, and James because he can see plays before they develop; such players can make a pass that creates an opening, as opposed to merely passing to a player who is already wide open.

Strength is an important athletic ability, but not in terms of specific movements such as the bench press or the squat; strength is important in basketball only to the extent that a player can leverage it to gain an advantage, such as better rebounding position or better post position (both offensively and defensively). Moses Malone was a master of the subtle (and not so subtle) application of strength to improve his positioning in the paint to grab rebounds and convert high percentage shots. Players like Malone and Jokic prove that it is not necessary to fly above the crowd to have an athletic advantage over the competition; strength, when properly utilized, is very difficult to counter.

Hand-eye coordination is an underrated athletic ability that enables a player to handle the ball with dexterity even against pressure defense, and to use the dribble or the pass as appropriate to gain an advantage for his team. Dribbling in one place to show off just wastes precious time on the shot clock without gaining an advantage; much of the ball handling that generates praise and social media views is worse than useless in terms of winning basketball. A player's overall body movements may seem awkward, but if that player has finely tuned hand-eye coordination then he can control the ball in a way that defeats even high level defense. When Jokic advances the ball up the court after snaring a defensive rebound, his body movements may not match traditional expectations for grace and athleticism, but his superior hand-eye coordination enables him to control the ball and to make plays for himself and his teammates.

Mental toughness, which could be specifically defined as the ability to keep going when lesser athletes would give up, is another underrated athletic skill. There is research supporting the notion that there is a specific brain region linked to hand-eye coordination, and that there is a signaling molecule (interleukin-6) that generates a feeling of tiredness (in short, it is not our bodies that become tired, but rather our brains signal us to feel tired, or to not feel tired). ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy mentioned that Jokic's improved physical conditioning enables Jokic to log heavy minutes without a drop in efficiency/productivity; I agree with that, but would add that Jokic also appears to possess a lot of mental toughness that enables him to persevere through various challenges (foul trouble, the minor injuries that all players face but that affect some players more than others, etc.).

It may be easier to notice differences in jumping ability between various players than to notice differences in some of the other athletic abilities, but differences in hand-eye coordination and mental toughness may be more important than differences in jumping ability. As Charles Barkley has said, a deer can run and jump, but that does not mean that a deer can play basketball.

Quickness is not the same as sprinting speed. Quickness encompasses both mental quickness and physical quickness; it is a tremendous advantage to process events quickly mentally, and then be able to move quickly physically based on openings to pass, shoot, or drive that may only be available for a split second. A player who has a combination of elite court vision plus physical quickness can be very effective even if he does not jump particularly high or run particularly fast.

Agility is the ability to maintain body balance even in seemingly awkward or unfavorable situations. While jumping ability can be measured, agility is more difficult to quantify, and that is probably why an agile player like Jokic is sometimes described as awkward or unathletic; the way that Jokic moves does not fit the stereotype of what an athletic player looks like, but if you observe Jokic you will notice that he rarely falls down, he is rarely out of position, and he repeatedly makes passes and shots that an uninformed viewer may consider to be lucky. If some guy in the park makes one awkward shot every five games, then that is probably luck--but when Jokic makes such shots and passes on a regular basis, it is incorrect to dismiss such plays as luck or to suggest that he is not athletic.

Describing Jokic as unathletic is lazy and imprecise. Jokic has not demonstrated elite abilities in high jumping, broad jumping, or straight line speed, but he has demonstrated elite abilities in terms of court vision, strength, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness, agility, and quickness. I would argue that if one takes a comprehensive view of athleticism then Jokic is one of the best athletes in the NBA; players whose athleticism is limited to jumping high and running fast are not athletic enough overall to match up with Jokic, and that is one reason why Jokic has enjoyed so much recent success both individually and in terms of leading the Denver Nuggets to the franchise's first championship.

Labels: Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Nikola Jokic, Oscar Robertson, Steve Nash

posted by David Friedman @ 11:32 AM

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Wayback Machine, Part XI: The 1985 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

The front cover photo of the 1985 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball featured Larry Bird driving from the left wing against the L.A. Lakers. Bob McAdoo guarded Bird while Magic Johnson guarded Quinn Buckner at the top of the key. Kevin McHale cut to the hoop on the left baseline with his defender obscured from view. It looked as if the obscured defender (perhaps Michael Cooper) had been screened by McHale, and that McAdoo had switched from McHale to Bird. The back cover photo showed Bird battling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for a rebound while Michael Cooper and a partially obscured Magic Johnson watched. Bird's Boston Celtics defeated Johnson's Lakers 4-3 in the 1984 NBA Finals.

The 1985 CHPB contained 335 pages, matching the previous edition. It included 23 team profiles, lists of the 1984 NBA statistical leaders, the complete 1984-85 schedule, a list of all 228 selections in the 1984 NBA Draft, and a "TV/Radio roundup." The 1985 CHPB had four feature stories: Dan Shaughnessy wrote "Bird & McHale: Pride and Power of the Celtics," Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Peter Knobler contributed "Giant Steps" (an excerpt from the forthcoming book of the same name), Joe Gergen described how "Bernard King Captures New York," and Fran Blinebury profiled the player now known as Hakeem Olajuwon in "Akeem Olajuwon: The 7-Foot Nigerian Who Jumped to the Pros." 

Fran Blinebury and Filip Bondy co-wrote the "Inside the NBA" article, predicting that the L.A. Lakers would defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals. In the 1984-85 season, the Lakers posted the best record in the Western Conference (62-20) and breezed through the first three rounds of the playoffs with an 11-2 record before beating the Boston Celtics 4-1 in the NBA Finals. The Celtics had the best record in the league (63-19) and they stormed through the Eastern Conference playoffs with an 11-4 record, including a 4-1 victory over the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals as Julius Erving and Larry Bird faced each other in a playoff series for the fourth and final time. Erving's 76ers defeated Bird's Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1980 and 1982, while Bird's Celtics triumphed in 1981 and 1985.

Here are some interesting notes, quotes and quips from the 1985 CHPB:

1) Shaughnessy asserted that Larry Bird and Kevin McHale are "the pride and power of the Boston Celtics." The omission of any mention of Robert Parish, the third member of Boston's Hall of Fame frontcourt trio, is more than a little odd. During the Celtics' 1983-84 championship season, Parish led the Celtics in regular season rebounding (10.7 rpg) while also ranking second in scoring (19.0 ppg) and blocked shots (1.5 bpg, a fraction behind McHale). Parish led the team with 79 starts, and he earned his fourth straight All-Star selection, a streak that he would extend to seven (he made the All-Star team nine times overall). During the playoffs, Bird was the clear number one scoring option (27.5 ppg, up from 24.2 ppg during the regular season), but Parish ranked third in scoring (14.9 ppg), second in rebounding (10.8 rpg), and first in blocked shots (1.8 bpg). In 1983-84, Parish consistently outperformed McHale in the regular season, the playoffs, and the NBA Finals.

In 1984, McHale made the All-Star team for the first time and he was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, but it could not plausibly be said that he was Boston's second best player: Bird was the clear number one, Parish was number two, and at that time it could still be argued whether McHale or Dennis Johnson was number three. 

This is not meant to take anything away from McHale; he eventually emerged as perhaps the best low post scorer in the league, the "man with 1000 moves" (as Dominique Wilkins memorably put it) whose footwork was admired and emulated--and he was also an elite defensive player who could guard small forwards, power forwards, and even centers, a versatile skill set that proved quite valuable for the Celtics, who generally hid Bird defensively on the opposing team's worst frontcourt scorer (for example, when the Celtics played the Atlanta Hawks, McHale checked small forward Dominique Wilkins while Bird was assigned Tree Rollins, a great shotblocker who was non-factor offensively).

The point is that Shaughnessy ignored and devalued Parish (whose name is just mentioned once, parenthetically, in Shaughnessy's article) while heaping praise on McHale. It is also strange that Shaughnessy mentioned that Bird and McHale are both white. How is that relevant to assessing the "pride and power of the Boston Celtics"? 

Reading that article reminded me of the extent to which many media members went out of their way to promote white players during that era. There is no question that Bird is a Pantheon level player, nor is there any question that McHale is worthy of being selected to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, but Shaughnessy's hagiography of young, first-time All-Star McHale combined with his complete disregard for Parish--already established as a perennial All-Star--leaves a very strange impression.

2) At a time when the 38 year old LeBron James is on the verge of breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career regular season scoring record, it is interesting to hearken back to when Abdul-Jabbar was 37 and had just broken Wilt Chamberlain's career regular season scoring record. The introduction to the excerpt from Abdul-Jabbar's autobiography declared that the 1984-85 season "could be his last hurrah." That assessment turned out to be premature, as Abdul-Jabbar capped off that campaign by winning his fourth NBA title and his second NBA Finals MVP. In 1985-86, Abdul-Jabbar earned the last of his 10 All-NBA First Team selections, tying a record held by Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West (James holds the current record: 13).

Abdul-Jabbar felt that Chamberlain resented him when he was a young player and Chamberlain was one of the league's elder statesmen (though still an elite player). Abdul-Jabbar praised Chamberlain's strength, his tenacity as a rebounder, and his ability to be a prolific scorer, but he also compared Chamberlain unfavorably to Bill Russell in terms of understanding how to help his team win. 

Abdul-Jabbar called Oscar Robertson "the best all-around player in the history of basketball." Abdul-Jabbar marveled at how easy Robertson made the game look.

Abdul-Jabbar resented journeymen players--he mentioned Kent Benson and Dennis Awtrey by name--who hit him with cheap shots because they lacked the necessary talent to compete with him. After Benson hit Abdul-Jabbar with a punch to the midsection that knocked the wind out of him, Abdul-Jabbar decked Benson and suffered a broken hand. Abdul-Jabbar felt that the referees protected white players and did not apply the rules fairly to him, which made him believe that he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Abdul-Jabbar reveled in reaching the top of his profession, but acknowledged that eventually his ability to perform at the highest level would wane even if his competitiveness never wavered. He was not sure what he would do after he retired from the NBA, but he mentioned possibly going to law school. He doubted that he could dominate another field the way that he had dominated basketball, but he was determined to try to be that dominant in another endeavor.

3) Joe Gergen described Bernard King's rise from schoolboy sensation in New York City to college star at the University of Tennessee to the toast of New York, carrying the Knicks to the seventh game of the 1984 Eastern Conference semifinals versus the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics. King averaged 29.1 ppg on .545 field goal shooting in that series, including 43 points in a game four win and 46 points in a game six win. 

Gergen noted that prior to the 1984 playoffs, Knicks players had authored just three 40 point playoff performances: one by Cazzie Russell, one by Willis Reed, and one by Bernard King. Gergen left out Bob McAdoo's 41 point playoff game in 1978, but his point was well taken: prior to King, 40 point playoff performances were rare for the Knicks, one of the NBA's original teams dating back to 1946. In the 1984 playoffs, King scored 40 or more points in six of the Knicks' 12 games, spearheading a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Pistons before nearly toppling the Celtics. King shot .600 or better from the field in five of those six 40 point games, and a "mere" .514 in the other one. King led the NBA in playoff scoring (34.8 ppg) in 1984.

Red Holzman, the Hall of Famer who coached the Knicks' championship teams in 1970 and 1973, called King "the greatest scoring machine I've ever seen."

Reading the articles by Shaughnessy and Gergen, it is interesting to note that in 1983-84 media members selected Larry Bird for the first of his three straight official regular season MVP awards, but Bernard King finished first in the player balloting conducted by the Sporting News.

4) Hakeem Olajuwon entered the NBA in 1983 without the "H" in his first name, and without the polished offensive game that would propel him and the Houston Rockets to NBA titles in 1994 and 1995. Blinebury noted that Olajuwon's basketball journey started in Lagos, Nigeria in 1979 when the 16 year old Olajuwon had never played basketball and could not even dunk a basketball. Olajuwon was a soccer goalie until Richard Mills--an American who coached the Nigerian national basketball team--spotted Olajuwon on a soccer field and encouraged him to play basketball. The rest is history: Olajuwon played three seasons at the University of Houston (1982-84), increasing his scoring average from 8.3 ppg as a freshman to 16.8 ppg as a junior who earned First Team All-America honors while leading the Cougars to the NCAA Championship Game, where they fell short against Patrick Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas. Olajuwon got his revenge 10 years later, defeating Ewing's Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals.

The Rockets paired Olajuwon with 1984 NBA Rookie of the Year Ralph Sampson to form a "Twin Towers" frontcourt that was expected to dominate the NBA for the next decade. Olajuwon and Sampson led the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals, losing to the Celtics in six games, but then injuries derailed Sampson's career. Olajuwon teamed with power forward Otis Thorpe and a great supporting cast (including Robert Horry, Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, and Mario Elie) to lead Houston to the 1994 NBA championship, and then he led the Rockets to a second consecutive title after a midseason trade that shipped out Thorpe but reunited Olajuwon with college teammate Clyde Drexler.

5) Larry Bird's profile gushed: "MVP for season, MVP for playoffs, MVP for universe...His skills and sheer will lifted Celtics to title...Nothing he can't do...Incredible vision of the court...Killed the Lakers with his outside shot in Game 5 of finals, but relied on tireless work off the offensive boards during other games."

6) Danny Ainge's profile is less than complimentary: "Finally meeting lowered expectations...Have to wonder about scouts who once projected him as a top three pick...Was actually drafted 31st in 1981, because he was under contract to the Toronto Blue Jays...It appears he was as good an infielder as he is a guard--and he wasn't much of an infielder."

7) The Chicago Bulls' team profile praised incoming rookie Michael Jordan while also urging patience: "Now that they have the next Julius Erving in Michael Jordan, the Bulls need the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This strikingly young and talented team can score from everywhere except the pivot--which will prove the Bulls' undoing again."

8) Here is Jordan's entire profile in his first CHPB appearance: "Odds-on favorite to be Rookie of the Year...Only sure thing among entire rookie crop...Can do it all, brilliantly and gracefully...A great shooter who hit 55.1 percent of his field goal attempts in senior year at North Carolina...With his quickness and instincts, he should have no problems swinging back and forth between guard and forward...Bulls will find spot for him in starting lineup...Born Feb. 17, 1963...Raised in Wilmington, N.C....Will hit the three-point shot." In hindsight, several things stand out:

1. The 1984 draft featured Olajuwon (first overall pick), Jordan (third overall pick), Charles Barkley (fifth overall pick), and John Stockton (16th overall pick), each of whom was later selected as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, so it is interesting that at least one author considered only Jordan to be a "sure thing" prior to the 1984-85 season. In addition to those all-time greats, several players from the 1984 NBA Draft had long, excellent careers, including Sam Perkins, Alvin Robertson, Otis Thorpe, Kevin Willis, Michael Cage, and Jerome Kersey.

2. "Bulls will find spot for him in starting lineup" may be the biggest understatement of all-time!

3. Perhaps the optimism about Jordan's three point shooting stemmed from Jordan shooting .447 from three point range in his sophomore season when the ACC experimented with using the three point shot (the NCAA did not start using the three point shot nationwide until 1986-87). Of course, the ACC's three point shot was closer than the NBA's three point shot (17 feet 9 inches inches compared to 23 feet 9 inches), and the ACC defenders were not as good as NBA defenders. Jordan posted a career three point shooting percentage of .327 in the NBA.

9) Isiah Thomas may be one of the most underrated great players of all-time, but during his career he was appreciated: "None better, maybe ever...Point guard supreme...Played more than 3000 minutes (3007) for second straight year...Pistons looked to him in every clutch situation and he usually delivered."

10) Before Mike Dunleavy became a long-time NBA head coach who led the Lakers to the 1991 NBA Finals and who won the Coach of the Year award in 1999, he was a 6-3 sharpshooter who carved out a solid journeyman career while playing for two teams that reached the NBA Finals (1977 76ers, 1981 Rockets). His career seemed to be over by 1983, but the CHPB summarized his improbable 1983-84 season with Milwaukee: "What a year...An unwanted free agent in October...A Wall Street broker in January...A Milwaukee Buck in March...A starter by April...Had given up hope of resuming basketball career when he got call March 8...Don Nelson started him ahead of Paul Pressey because he was more dependable and offered the perimeter threat...Maybe the best three-point shooter in the league...Hit 19-of-45 bombs (42.2 percent) last season."

Dunleavy led the NBA in three point field goal percentage in 1982-83 (67-194, .345). In 1983-84, only six NBA players made at least 25 three point field goals, the minimum number required to qualify for the three point field goal percentage title. Darrell Griffith took top honors (91-252, .361), but if Dunleavy had canned just six more while maintaining his percentage he would have taken the crown. Dunleavy played 19 games in 1984-85, retired for three seasons, and then made cameo appearances in 1988-89 and 1989-90 before quitting for good. 

11) The 76ers' scouting report declared, "Barring last-minute trades or injuries, the 76ers bring the most potent team in the history of pro basketball into the 1984-85 season. There is nothing this team can't do with the ball and do better than any other contender. The Sixers can run and the addition of Barkley will greatly improve their attack in the halfcourt set."

While the 76ers looked potent on paper and ended up having a strong season (58-24 regular season record before losing 4-1 to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals), it is difficult to understand how anyone could have considered this squad to potentially be the greatest offensive team ever. Charles Barkley was destined to become an all-time great, but in 1984-85 he was a raw and out of shape rookie who averaged 14.0 ppg. Julius Erving was a Pantheon level player who should be in the greatest player of all-time conversation but in 1984-85 he was a 35 year old who was still very good but no longer consistently great in an era when few players even played past the age of 33. That being said, in 1983-84 Erving ranked 12th in scoring (22.4 ppg), 10th in steals (1.8 spg), and eighth in blocked shots (1.8 bpg)--an impressive trifecta for any player, let alone a 34 year old veteran of 13 pro seasons.

Future Hall of Famer Bobby Jones was also past his prime at 33.

Perhaps Andrew Toney could have picked up some of that slack, but in the spring of 1985 he began suffering the foot injuries that ultimately ended what could have been a Hall of Fame career. Toney made the All-Star team in 1983 and 1984, but he played just 157 regular season games after the 1983-84 season.

The 76ers had some great moments during the 1984-85 season, but the combination of two stars aging, one star being hurt, and a future star being not quite ready for prime time left the 76ers short of being able to match the younger Celtics and Lakers.

12) Erving was an excellent passer, a facet of his game that is not mentioned often enough now but was acknowledged during his career: "In the forecourt, Erving remains an excellent playmaker. He averaged 4.0 assists per game last season and his intuitions are seldom wrong."

13) While the 76ers had a potent offense, their defense was often underrated. The CHPB profile noted that the 76ers led the NBA in blocked shots while ranking fifth in points allowed. Erving, termed a "tremendous" shot blocker, led the team with 1.8 bpg. How great was Erving as a shot blocker? LeBron James, often praised for his defense and his chase down blocks--something that Erving did more often than James--has never averaged more than 1.1 bpg during a season, which would be a career-low for Erving, who played until he was 37.

14) Erving's profile began with a question--"Can he do it one more time?"--and noted "Had another outstanding season, but didn't pick up his game in the playoffs...Nagging injuries may sap his resolve for second NBA ring...Still can soar when healthy, but is mortal when he is hurt or has played too many minutes." It is important to emphasize that during that era few players played past age 33 and no one--other than Abdul-Jabbar and Erving--was playing at an All-Star level past that age in the early to mid 1980s. Players who are accomplishing that now are the beneficiaries of improvements in medical technology and training techniques. 

15) The CHPB included Erving's ABA statistics and thus listed Erving with 26,120 career points (25.3 ppg average), 9477 rebounds, 4504 assists, a .509 career field goal percentage and a .776 career free throw percentage.

16) Here is Barkley's entire profile in his first CHPB appearance: "Rich get richer...Can shoot, rebound, and has great quickness for his size...'Boy Gorge' must keep weight down to reasonable level...Long NBA season has a way of doing that...Sixers hope he'll be the answer at power forward, despite fact he'll give up several inches to opponents...That was never a problem at Auburn, but it might be different in pros...Came out early after junior year...Didn't get big money because he was drafted by Sixers, who couldn't offer much because of salary-cap problems...Born Feb. 20, 1963...Grew up in Leeds, Ala."

17) Alex English thrived in the 1980s, and he would be even greater in today's game with the emphasis on freedom of movement. His profile summarized his scoring prowess: "Poetry in motion...It's a thing of beauty to watch him shoot his unorthodox jumper from the baseline...Hardly looks like he is breaking a sweat...Just seems to pop open at different spots on the floor...Makes his defender pay by scoring right in his face."

18) Johnny Bach was a hoops lifer who may be best known to most fans as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls' first three championship teams, but in 1983-84 he was the oldest rookie head coach in NBA history, guiding a patchwork Golden State team to a 37-45 record after the team went 30-52 the previous year. The Warriors were not a stable or well-run organization at that time--they missed the playoffs each year from 1978-86--so their lack of success was something beyond Bach's control to correct.

19) Here is Olajuwon's entire profile in his first CHPB appearance: "'Akeem the Dream'...Has been playing the game for only five years, but was the No. 1 overall pick in draft...Already being compared to Bill Russell as a defensive force...Runs the floor as well as anyone in the game today...Will team with Ralph Sampson...Born Jan. 23, 1963, in Lagos, Nigeria...An All-American as a junior, he went to the NCAA Final Four three times with University of Houston...Awesome shot-blocker and strong inside force...Averaged 16.9 ppg and 13.7 rpg, then decided to leave school early."

Olajuwon scored 620 points in 37 games (16.76 ppg) in his final college season, so he did not average 16.9 ppg but 16.8 ppg after rounding.

20) Abdul-Jabbar's profile declared: "The most potent offensive force in the game today, even at his age." In 1983-84, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 21.5 ppg while shooting .578 from the field. He was the leading scorer for the fourth highest scoring team in the league, a squad that had six double figure scorers plus two other players who each averaged at least 9 ppg. Had it been desirable or necessary, Abdul-Jabbar could have scored more, so even though he did not rank among the top 10 scorers that season it was not farfetched to term him "the most potent offensive force." 

21) Magic Johnson's profile noted his value while also mentioning his disappointing performance (by his high standards) in the 1984 NBA Finals: "Changed the entire concept of the point guard position and is unquestionably the finest passer in the game today...Unfortunately, he made several critical blunders against Boston in the finals that probably cost the Lakers their third NBA championship in five years...Had another fine regular season...Can beat you by passing (13.0 assists per game), scoring (17.6 ppg) or rebounding (7.3 rpg)."

Wayback Machine, Part I looked at the 1975 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part II looked at the 1976 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part III looked at the 1977 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part IV looked at the 1978 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part V looked at the 1979 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part VI looked at the 1980 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part VII looked at the 1981 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part VIII looked at the 1982 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
 
Wayback Machine, Part IX looked at the 1983 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball

Wayback Machine, Part X looked at the 1984 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball 

Labels: Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Zander Hollander

posted by David Friedman @ 10:28 PM

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