20 Second Timeout

Reflections on the Extraordinary Basketball Life of Pat Williams

Pat Williams, who built the powerful 1983 Philadelphia 76ers team that stormed to the NBA championship with a 12-1 postseason record, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 84. Williams was the General Manager of the 76ers from 1974-86, a period during which the 76ers reached the NBA Finals four times (1977, 1980, 1982-83) while reaching the Eastern Conference Finals seven times (1977-78, 1980-83, 1985). 

This has been a sad week for fans of the 1970s and 1980s 76ers; on Tuesday, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant passed away. Bryant played for Williams' 76ers in the mid to late 1970s, and was part of the "Bomb Squad" reserve unit, along with World B. Free. Free and former 76ers coach Gene Shue reunited with the San Diego Clippers in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Williams took over a moribund 76ers team and quickly turned them into a championship contender by drafting Doug Collins, signing George McGinnis away from the ABA's Indiana Pacers, and then acquiring Julius Erving from the New York Nets after the 1976 ABA-NBA merger. The 76ers' owner at that time, Fitz Eugene Dixon, had only recently purchased the team and was not very familiar with pro basketball. After Williams informed Dixon that Erving was available for the then-astronomical price of $6 million (including compensation to the Nets plus a long term contract for Erving), Dixon asked who Erving was. Instead of replying that Erving was a three-time regular season MVP, Williams explained simply that Erving is "the Babe Ruth of basketball." Dixon then told Williams "Fine and dandy," and the rest is history: Erving spent the last 11 seasons of his pro career with the 76ers, winning the 1981 regular season MVP and earning five All-NBA First Team selections while leading the 76ers to the league's best overall regular season record from 1976-83 plus the aforementioned seven Eastern Conference Finals appearances, four NBA Finals appearances, and one NBA title.

Williams had a "20-20-20" vision for Erving, McGinnis, and Collins, convincing those three stars that the 76ers would be best served by having a balanced attack with three 20 ppg scorers as opposed to an offense featuring one 30 ppg scorer and two 15 ppg scorers. The 76ers posted the Eastern Conference's best regular season record in 1976-77 (50-32) with Erving averaging 21.6 ppg, McGinnis scoring 21.4 ppg, and Collins chipping in 18.3 ppg. All three players made the All-Star team, and Erving and McGinnis earned All-NBA Second Team selections as well. The 76ers lost 4-2 in the NBA Finals to a Portland Trail Blazers team featuring Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas.  

The 76ers gradually moved away from the 20-20-20 approach toward an approach recognizing that Erving was clearly the team's best player. Erving averaged an NBA career-high 26.9 ppg in 1979-80 and he finished second in regular season MVP voting to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose L.A. Lakers defeated Erving's 76ers 4-2 in the NBA Finals after rookie Magic Johnson had 42 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists in game six to earn Finals MVP honors.

Erving won the 1981 NBA regular season MVP, becoming the first non-center to capture that honor since Oscar Robertson won the 1964 NBA regular season MVP and foreshadowing the way that non-centers would soon dominate MVP voting--but during that era a team needed a dominant center to win an NBA title, and even the great Erving could not win an NBA title with a center duo of Darryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones trying to match up with Hall of Fame big men Bill Walton, Washington's duo of Wes Unseld-Elvin Hayes, Jack Sikma, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Robert Parish; teams led by those big men won every NBA title between 1976 and 1982. Williams solved the 76ers' big man problem by acquiring Moses Malone prior to the 1982-83 season. Malone, who had already won the 1979 and 1982 regular season MVPs, teamed with Erving to form one of the greatest duos in pro basketball history: Malone won the 1982-83 regular season MVP after averaging 24.5 ppg and a league-leading 15.3 rpg, while Erving was fifth in 1982-83 regular season MVP voting, his fourth straight top five finish. The 1983 76ers' 12-1 playoff record stood as the all-time standard for postseason excellence until the 2001 L.A. Lakers went 15-1 in an expanded playoff format, followed by the 2018 Golden State Warriors going 16-1 after the NBA again expanded the playoff format.

Although Williams enjoyed his greatest professional success while working in the NBA, he began his sports career in baseball, not basketball. He played catcher on a scholarship for Wake Forest, and then he spent two years playing in the minor leagues before moving into a front office role for the Miami Marlins, then a minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1967, The Sporting News honored Williams as the Minor League Executive of the Year. 

Williams first became involved with the NBA in 1968, and he worked for several different franchises. He began his NBA career with the Philadelphia 76ers, enjoyed a successful tenure as the Chicago Bulls' General Manager, briefly took that same role with the Atlanta Hawks, and then returned to Philadelphia in 1974. In 1989, Williams helped to launch the Orlando Magic expansion franchise, and Williams was a pillar in Orlando ever since that time, not only building the Magic into a championship contender but also attempting to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Orlando.

Nick Anderson, the first player chosen in the NBA Draft by the expansion Orlando Magic in 1989 with the 11th overall pick, posted a heartfelt tribute to Williams that reads in part, "I'm totally devastated. This is a sad day for Basketball and Orlando. My kids asked 'Why you crying Daddy?' and I told them because I lost a father for the second time. The last time I felt this tore up was when my father passed away. And now my basketball father Pat Williams has gone to join my dad in Heaven."

During Williams' tenure with the Magic, the expansion team quickly became a contender, reaching the NBA playoffs in their fifth season, and then making four straight playoff appearances from 1994-1997. The Magic drafted Shaquille O'Neal in 1992, and acquired Penny Hardaway in a draft day trade in 1993. Those two players led the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. 

Williams was also a motivational speaker, and the author of more than 100 books, including The Winning Combination: 21 Keys to Coaching and Leadership Greatness. Williams was not only a shrewd personnel evaluator and savvy businessman, but he was a wonderful ambassador for basketball. In 2012, Williams received the John Bunn Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame short of induction. He was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. Faith and family were always foremost for Williams, who raised 18 children (14 of whom were adopted) with his wife first wife Jill. 

I interviewed Williams twice. He was very generous with his time, and very forthcoming with his answers. Williams will be deeply missed by all of the people whose lives he touched, and his impact and legacy will never be forgotten.

Labels: Doug Collins, George McGinnis, Julius Erving, Nick Anderson, Orlando Magic, Pat Williams, Philadelphia 76ers

posted by David Friedman @ 11:54 AM

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NBA TV Celebrates Julius Erving's 72nd Birthday by Airing "Sir Charles and The Doctor"

Julius Erving turns 72 tomorrow, and NBA TV provided a birthday gift for basketball fans by airing "Basketball Stories: Sir Charles and The Doctor," featuring a conversation that Erving had with Charles Barkley (Barkley celebrated his 59th birthday on February 20). Erving and Barkley were Philadelphia 76ers teammates from 1984-87, Erving's final three NBA seasons and Barkley's first three NBA seasons. 

Barkley remembered that before he joined the 76ers he was nervous about meeting Erving for the first time. Barkley asked his college teammates how he should address Erving, and they told him they were not sure. Erving took all of the pressure off by approaching Barkley, and introducing himself. 

Thinking back to his first meeting with Barkley, Erving said that he did not follow college basketball very closely, but his philosophy was always to "extend a hand of friendship" to rookies who joined the 76ers. Erving recalled that there were questions about how Barkley would fit in with the 76ers, and that the 76ers had drafted Barkley hoping that Barkley could provide rebounding. 

Barkley said that every NBA team needs helpful veterans like Julius Erving and Moses Malone, who were Barkley's mentors early in his pro career. Erving agreed that veterans should help young players, but he pointed out that not all young players will listen to advice from veterans.

Barkley told Erving that Moses Malone provided a very blunt reply when Barkley asked Malone why he was not getting more playing time. Malone said, "Young fella, you're fat and you're lazy." Malone offered to help Barkley improve his conditioning. Erving said that as a professional athlete it is important to be in good enough condition to deal with the physicality of the game and to avoid injuries. Erving noted that Barkley, Wes Unseld, and Shaquille O'Neal are among the few players who could carry a lot of weight but still be mobile and avoid serious ankle or knee injuries.

Barkley soon got into better shape, and established himself as a threat to take a defensive rebound and go coast to coast for a dunk. Barkley's direct approach did not fit in with Coach Billy Cunningham's concept of how to play the game. Erving said that Cunningham's philosophy was "Get the rebound, make the outlet pass, and fill the lane," but Barkley's philosophy was the shortest distance between two points was a straight line--so Barkley just grabbed the rebound and dribbled down court without making the outlet pass. Erving said that Cunningham told him that he was going to retire because Barkley was driving him crazy. Cunningham retired from coaching after Barkley's rookie season, and Cunningham never coached again in the NBA, though he was part of the Miami Heat's ownership group for a while. Cunningham has the second highest regular season winning percentage in NBA history (.698, just behind Phil Jackson's .704), and he led the 76ers to one championship and three NBA Finals appearances in eight seasons.

Barkley said that he would have scored 2000 more points if Maurice Cheeks would have passed to him more often on the fast break. Erving laughed, and he said that Darryl Dawkins also thought that Cheeks had a "Dr. J eye," but Erving added that Cheeks loved getting assists and Cheeks knew that if he passed to Erving then the ball was going in the basket with no nonsense.

Barkley remembered that the intensity of the Philadelphia-Boston rivalry surprised him as a rookie. Barkley asked Erving to talk about what that rivalry meant to him. Julius Erving versus Larry Bird was the NBA's best rivalry in the early 1980s, but Erving is too modest to say that. Instead, Erving replied,  "Respect is more important than popularity." Erving remembered how the Boston fans chanted "Beat L.A." in the waning moments of game seven of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals after it became clear that the 76ers were going to beat the Celtics and move on to face the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Erving finished with 29 points and was the CBS Player of the Game for game seven, though it must be noted that Andrew Toney (game-high 34 points) was also sensational. Erving said that Boston hated Philadelphia and Philadelphia hated Boston, but "When I say 'hate' I don't really mean hate. We all survived it. Everybody got their trophies, and their stats, and life goes on." Erving's approach to life and basketball is different from the Michael Jordan "I took that personally" meme.

The conversation shifted to the beginning of Erving's pro career. Erving described how he signed with the ABA's Virginia Squires after his junior year at the University of Massachusetts (UMASS). In typical Erving style, he said that Charlie Scott was the best player on the team, even though it is obvious that Erving quickly established himself as a better all-around player than Scott. Erving said that he became the team's best player after Scott jumped to the NBA's Phoenix Suns. 

Erving said of going to the ABA, "It was absolutely the right move. I have no regrets about it." Erving won three regular season MVPs (1974-76) and led the New York Nets to two championships (1974, 1976) before the ABA merged with the NBA prior to the 1976-77 season. Erving noted with pride that when he retired he was just the third player in pro basketball history to score at least 30,000 regular season points, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. Erving expressed frustration that ABA statistics are disregarded by the NBA and by media outlets, resulting in him erroneously not being listed as a member of the elite 30,000 point club. Erving declared, "The ABA takes a slap to the face, big time...Maybe they'll wait until I die (to count the ABA numbers)."

I have said it for over 20 years, and I will say it again: ABA Numbers Should Also Count. The NFL counts AFL statistics, awards, and championships, and it makes no sense that the NBA ignores ABA statistics, awards, and championships. 

Barkley asked Erving about navigating the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, when Erving was a young adult and Barkley was still a child. Erving said that Arthur Ashe, Reggie Jackson, and Bill Russell provided good guidance. "You don't get through it by yourself," Erving concluded. 

Barkley and Erving talked about mortality. Erving's brother was just 16 when he died from lupus, and Erving's sister died at 34. Erving's son Cory died at 19. Those losses have shaped Erving's thoughts and perspective about mortality. "All of this is gravy," said. "You think about mortality based on what happens in your life. How you react to what happens in your life determines if you are happy."

Erving is proud of how his 1982-83 76ers won the NBA title in dominating fashion with a 4-0 sweep of the L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals, but he pointedly notes, "Nobody wants to count the ABA. I won two championships in the ABA...If you are going to make me a rookie, then maybe I should have won Rookie of the Year." That latter sentiment is a thought that I have expressed before: if the NBA is not counting ABA experience and ABA statistics, then Erving should have been the Rookie of the Year for the 1976-77 season.

Barkley asked Erving how and when he knew that it was time to retire. Erving recalled the exact moment in the 1985-86 season: "The year before I retired we were in Cleveland. It was a blizzard. The arena was cold. My knees hurt so bad I could not even sleep in the hotel bed. That's when I knew."

Erving mentioned that now players are sticking around to play 20 seasons or more (he played 16 seasons) and he said,  "If I wanted to stay out there, there was a way. But I wanted to go out the front door. I left college early and came in through the side door. That Farewell Tour was second to none."

Barkley said that being a member of the 76ers during Erving's 1986-87 Farewell Tour was a career highlight, and he said that he learned a lot about leadership by watching how Erving conducted himself. Barkley recalled one piece of advice that Erving gave to him at that time: "When you are the leader of the team, you are an amateur psychiatrist." 

Barkley said that he was a great player, but he did not earn a Farewell Tour the way that Erving did. Barkley knew it was time to retire when guys who could not play were outplaying him. Erving said that he had a story along those lines, recalling when rookie Ron Harper dunked on him. Erving was a shot blocker who was not used to players staying in the air longer than he did.

Barkley gave Erving several rapid-fire questions. Erving tapped Kevin Loughery as his best coach, recalling that when he played for Loughery with the Nets, "I had the green light. I had the freedom to express my gifts. That was the greatest feeling." Erving made a similar point years ago in an NBA TV show titled "The Last Night of the ABA": "That was the time when I had the most fun playing basketball. Between age 21 and age 26, I genuinely was empowered with this ability to do anything that I wanted to do on a basketball court and anything that I had ever dreamed of doing." 

Erving said that Moses Malone was the best player he ever played with, and that the teammate he was closest with was Steve Mix, who remains a close friend to this day. Erving's biggest basketball regret is "Not being a little bit more selfish." After Erving joined the 76ers, General Manager Pat Williams instructed Erving that the team wanted Erving, George McGinnis, and Doug Collins to each score around 20 ppg instead of Erving scoring 28-30 ppg like he did in the ABA. Erving went along with this, and the 76ers advanced to the 1977 NBA Finals before losing to Portland, but I agree with Erving that the best player should not have been sacrificing the most. 

Erving said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the best player that he ever played against: "If I'm starting a team tomorrow, I'm starting with Kareem."

Barkley and Erving ended their conversation by talking again about mortality, and also about legacy. Erving said that he does not focus on what he accomplished or where he ranks all-time: "I don't want to live in the past. I want the carrot out in front of me." Erving hopes that his accomplishments and honors are "inspirational" to his family.

Labels: ABA, Andrew Toney, Billy Cunningham, Charles Barkley, Julius Erving, Kevin Loughery, Moses Malone, New York Nets, Pat Williams, Philadelphia 76ers

posted by David Friedman @ 10:59 PM

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Pat Williams' "The Winning Combination"

When I interviewed Orlando Magic Senior Vice President Pat Williams about a month ago, he told me about his new book The Winning Combination: 21 Keys to Coaching and Leadership Greatness. He explained that he got the idea for this project after his son Bobby received the opportunity to become a manager in the Washington Nationals' minor league farm system. Bobby Williams asked his father for advice and Pat Williams in turn sought out the wisdom of 1500 coaches and managers who had enjoyed success in a variety of sports, in the process discovering that their advice could be divided into 21 categories or keys.

I have now read The Winning Combination and I wholeheartedly recommend it not only as a leadership training manual but also as a guide for how to live a meaningful and productive life. Although Williams has been a successful executive for multiple baseball and basketball teams, many NBA fans will always remember him most for being the man who built the Philadelphia 76ers into a powerhouse in the 1970s and a champion in the 1982-83 season, so it is fitting that the book's dedication focuses on that time period: "I served as the General Manager of the Philadelphia 76ers from 1974 to 1986. I dedicate this book to four sports leaders of that era, whom I greatly admire: Billy Cunningham, coach of the 76ers; Dick Vermeil, coach of the Eagles; Dallas Green, manager of the Phillies; and the late Fred Shero, coach of the Flyers."

In the book's introduction, Williams explains just how much the advice and guidance of several mentors helped him during his career and he describes how eager he was to return this favor to his son. Williams notes that self-help guru Maxwell Maltz believed that it takes 21 days to change a habit, so Williams suggests that readers study a chapter a day of The Winning Combination with the goal of changing their leadership habits: "If it takes 21 days to change a habit, then it takes 21 days to change your life and transform your career as a leader" (p. 12, The Winning Combination).

Each chapter provides many examples of how a particular key helped various coaches achieve success; here are a few quotes and/or stories that particularly resonate with me:

1) Chapter Three ("Build a Strong Work Ethic") includes a classic Vince Lombardi quote: "The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender." Working hard not only prepares you mentally, emotionally and physically to deal with the rigors of competition but the more sweat equity that you invest in a project the more tenaciously you will fight until the bitter end; if you invest nothing and sacrifice nothing then it is very easy to quit when things get tough.

2) Chapter Four ("Build Perseverance") relates the well known story of Paul "Bear" Bryant's "Junction Boys," the Texas A&M football team that became the subject of Jim Dent's book and later an ESPN movie. Williams notes the very important fact that Bryant's hard driving-ways did not lead to instant success; Bryant's 1954 Texas A&M team went 1-9. It certainly would have been easy for critics to say that Bryant's methods had failed--but Williams contends that Bryant had actually laid the groundwork for future success by weeding out players who were not committed and by instilling discipline in the remaining players. That turned out to be the only losing season in Bryant's 38 year career (he spent three more seasons at Texas A&M before moving on to Alabama).

Although Williams does not mention this, I am struck by the fact that Bryant did not win the first of his seven national championships until his 17th season as a collegiate head coach; similarly, John Wooden did not win the first of his record 10 NCAA basketball titles until his 18th season. In this day and age of saturation media coverage delivered by self proclaimed experts, coaches like Bryant and Wooden would have been fired, run out of their respective towns by writers and broadcasters who would have called Bryant "tyrannical" but charged that Wooden was "too laid back and philosophical."

3) Chapter Five ("Build a Disciplined Team") contains another Lombardi gem: "In a football game, there are approximately 160 football plays. And yet there are only three or four plays that have anything to do with the outcome of the game. The only problem is that no one knows when those three or four plays are coming up. As a result, each and every player must go all-out on all 160 plays." Lombardi also once said, "A good leader must be harder on himself than anyone else. He must first discipline himself before he can discipline others. A man should not ask others to do things he would not have asked himself to do."

4) In Chapter Six ("Focus on Preparation"), Williams quotes former Baylor football coach Grant Teaff explaining the importance of game planning: "I always say, 'You've got to plan like you're robbing a bank.' People always find that statement a little shocking but it's actually a good way to approach the challenge of preparation. If you want to be successful. you have to plan out every detail, anticipate every possible problem and leave nothing to chance. You have to ask yourself, 'If A happens, what's my Plan B?' In football, that's called an 'adjustment.' When your opponent throws something at you that you didn't expect, you have to adjust your plan. You have to have a fall-back plan, a Plan B. And you have to have it figured out in advance. That's what preparation is all about."

I emphasized the second to last sentence by placing it in bold print and attentive 20 Second Timeout readers will immediately realize that I made a very similar point in my article What is Wrong with the Cavs? I refuted the notion--popularized in Cleveland media circles--that Mike Brown is allegedly a great game planner but not good at making in-game adjustments: this is the kind of thing that writers say in order to sound sophisticated but it actually makes no sense, because--as Coach Teaff explained--a good coach goes into a game with a solid game plan that includes contingency plans for various scenarios; in-game adjustments actually consist of implementing contingency plans that were thought out (and practiced by the team) long before the game began. Therefore, a coach is either a good game planner or he is a poor one but it does not make sense to say that he made good game plans but was not prepared to make in-game adjustments; if he was in fact not prepared to make such adjustments then his game plans were not good. The reality is that Mike Brown proved his ability to game plan by turning the Cavs into an elite defensive team that advanced to the NBA Finals in 2007 and posted the best regular season record in the NBA in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons, accomplishments that are only possible when a team is very well coached; what went wrong for the Cavs versus the Celtics was not a failure in game planning or in-game adjustments but rather that LeBron James quit during the biggest game of the season (game five at home with the chance to take a 3-2 lead). Go back and reread point three: it is not possible to know in advance which plays will be most important so you have to play hard all the time--and a leader cannot demand anything of others that he himself is not willing to do. LeBron James is in no position to question the efforts of his coach or his teammates because James showed horrible leadership during game five; as I declared in the aforementioned article, "The bottom line is simple: even the best game plan in the world will fail if the team’s best player does not invest his mind, heart, body and soul in the process of trying to win a championship."

5) Chapter 10 ("Care for Your Players as People") refers to the "33 Percent Rule" cited by former UCLA women's softball coach Sue Enquist, who divided people into three categories: the bottom third "suck the life out of you" with their constant whining and negativity, the middle third are people whose attitudes fluctuate depending on how well or how poorly things are going and the top third are people who have positive attitudes even when facing adversity. Enquist declared that top third people live in a "bubble" of high standards and they bring out the best in others. She sought to create that "bubble" on her teams. We all know bottom third people and one of the most important traits for a winner to develop is the ability to completely disregard what such people say or do; such people rarely if ever accomplish anything of significance but, like the cartoon character Pigpen could not shake off his dust cloud, they always bring with them a cloud of negativity that attempts to stifle the dreams of the few people who dare to be great when most of the world embraces mediocrity.

6) Chapter 13 ("Surround Yourself With Loyal People") deals with a very important issue. It is discouraging to realize how many people in this world will smile to your face and then stab you in the back when you turn around. Sadly, many people lack the integrity and/or courage to be forthright in their dealings with others, so Williams is quite correct when he stresses the importance of loyalty: a coach must have a loyal staff and he must have players who are loyal to each other and to that coaching staff. Problems should be dealt with in house and should be resolved in a way that is most likely to benefit the team. Success begins with getting rid of the bottom thirders and the potential traitors within your organization/inner circle.

Remember San Francisco Coach Mike Singletary's infamous rant? He had a player who was not fully committed to the process of winning and not loyal to the team, so Singletary declared, "I'd rather play with 10 people and just get penalized all the way until we have to do something else rather than play with 11 when I know that right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team. It is more about them than it is about the team. Cannot play with them, cannot win with them, cannot coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win." That player (Vernon Davis) later mended his ways and became a Pro Bowler but the point is that Singletary established that anyone who has the wrong attitude and is disloyal to his teammates will not continue to be part of Singletary's program.

7) Chapter 15 ("Unity of Purpose, Diversity of Skills") notes that Bill Russell once said of his Boston Celtics, "There were Jews, Catholics, Protestants, agnostics, white men, black men. The one thing we had in common was an Irish name. The Celtics." Williams comments (p. 165), "Every team should look like that--diverse yet unified. That's how America should look. That's how the world should look. Such a world would be a utopia." Fans of Star Trek will immediately think of the acronym "IDIC" (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations), a central theme in Vulcan philosophy.

8) Chapter 16 ("There's No Substitute for Talent") acknowledges that regardless of how well prepared a coach is and how well he relates to his players he will not win games unless he recruits/drafts/acquires talent and then figures out how to meld talented individuals into a cohesive unit. The second part of that equation is addressed in Chapter 18 ("It's Always About the Team") when Williams writes (p. 197): "You can't just throw a group of people together--even highly talented people--and declare them to be a team. They may be a group, a committee, a bunch of people wearing identical uniforms but they are not a team, not yet." Williams then offers this quote from Duke's Mike Krzyzewski: "You do not select a team, you select a group of people and then work together to develop into a team. In other words, teams don't instantaneously become, they evolve."

I have not written very much about the free agency circus that is currently going on in the NBA but I am amused by the idea that a "team" consisting of LeBron James, one or two max contract players and a bunch of minimum contract players will suddenly become the scourge of the league. For the past two years, James played for a well-balanced, deep and well coached team that posted the best regular season record in the NBA--and he did not make it to the NBA Finals once but now we are supposed to believe that he and one or two other stars will suddenly carry a roster of mismatched supporting players to a championship! I'll believe that when I see it.

If you think that what Boston accomplished in 2008 provides a model for the kind of success that James could have teaming up with another superstar or two, there are some important differences: the Celtics not only brought together three future Hall of Famers but they had a deep roster supporting those stars and the whole team was completely committed to winning a championship--and even with all of those things in their favor the Celtics were still pushed to seven games in two playoff series. Is James' primary goal winning or being an "icon"? I used to think that he was committed to winning but now I am not so sure--and I am sure that two or three stars plus nine or 10 role players hastily thrown together is not a likely championship recipe.

9) In Chapter 20 ("Develop Your Leadership Abilities Every Day"), Williams writes (p. 217), "Not all readers are leaders but I'm convinced that all great leaders are readers." That statement immediately brings to mind the dominant championship-winning NBA and NFL coaches of this era, Phil Jackson and Bill Belichick: Jackson is a reader and a writer who is renowned for annually selecting a different book for each of his players that he thinks will have particular meaning for that person, while Belichick has an extensive library of football books dating back to the sport's earliest days (and Belichick's father Steve wrote Football Scouting Methods, a book that has been called "the bible of scouting techniques"). It is hardly a coincidence that highly successful coaches like Jackson and Belichick are avid readers; my perspective is obviously shaped by being a writer/voracious reader, but I cannot imagine any well rounded person in any endeavor not surrounding himself with books, magazines and manuals: in order to achieve greatness you have to immerse yourself in the wisdom of those who came before you.

Errata

The Winning Combination is well put together both in terms of the structure of the ideas and also the aesthetic presentation (the text is printed in a large, easy to read font) but I found three errors:

1) The statement on page 106 that Bill Sharman coached the 1967 76ers to the NBA Championship is incorrect; Alex Hannum coached that squad to the title, while Sharman guided the 1972 Lakers to the NBA Championship.

2) On pages 114-115, Lenny Wilkens' last name is spelled "Wilkins."

3) On page 150, it is asserted that 1957-70 was "The Jim Brown Era"; Brown's NFL career actually ended in 1965.

I point out such things in my book reviews not to nitpick but in the hope that if a subsequent edition is published then the errors will be corrected; one of my favorite Vince Lombardi quotes is, "Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence."

Final Thoughts

The Winning Combination is well researched and well thought out but despite Williams' references to seeking out 1500 or so coaches and managers many of the quotes are actually culled from previously published material; the book is more of an anthology of great insights gathered from older sources than an original compilation. Obviously, Williams had no way to interview deceased coaches like Vince Lombardi and Knute Rockne but I had assumed that a higher proportion of the content would be original; that said, there is a good amount of original content in the book and there are 19 pages of footnotes that make it very clear where each older quote and anecdote originated. Though the book contains less new content than I had expected, Williams did an excellent job of going through a lot of sources to find many pertinent examples relating to each of his 21 keys. The book is written in a breezy, easy to read style and yet it contains some profound insights regarding leadership, human psychology, building relationships and competition.

Labels: Orlando Magic, Pat Williams

posted by David Friedman @ 4:44 AM

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Pat Williams' Quest to Understand the Winning Combination

Last year, I spoke with Orlando Magic Senior Vice President Pat Williams about a variety of subjects, including his book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inside Basketball. I published that interview in two parts:

Interview with Orlando Magic Senior Vice President and Co-Founder Pat Williams, Part I

Interview with Orlando Magic Senior Vice President and Co-Founder Pat Williams, Part II

You can find out more about Williams here and you can follow him on Twitter here.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Williams about his current writing projects, Dwight Howard's post game, the resurgent Boston Celtics and comparisons of LeBron James with great players from previous eras.

Friedman: "When we spoke last year, you mentioned that you were working on a couple books, one of which was titled Chicken Soup for the Soul: Athletes of Faith, and the other one being a second Chicken Soup book for basketball, though you weren't sure if they wanted to do a second basketball volume. What is the status of those two projects?"

Williams: "Quick update, the basketball version came out in February 2009. They are not doing a second version. The manuscript for the other Chicken Soup book has been submitted to the editorial people and it is called Chicken Soup for the Soul: Athletes of Faith. It is due to be published this September. We just finished putting the major pieces of it together earlier this week."

Friedman: "You had told me that you were gathering some material together--some more basketball stories--so do you think that you might publish those stories in a different format since the Chicken Soup people will not use them?"

Williams: "I can use some of them in different formats along the way, if they're applicable. My latest book, David, is coming out this week. It's called The Winning Combination: 21 Keys to Coaching and Leadership Greatness. That book is coming out even as we speak and that is my latest writing project. My son Bobby has had a career in professional baseball. He spent five years as a coach in the Cincinnati Reds farm system. In January 2005, the Washington Nationals hired him to manage in their farm system. He was 27 years old at the time, the youngest manager in organized baseball. I remember Bobby calling me with the news. His voice was up about three octaves and he said, 'Dad, what do I do now?' I remember thinking, 'I want to help my son.' So, I then began to ask coaches and managers, 'What are the four keys to being a good coach or a good manager?' That process has now gone on for about five years and I have asked that question to about 1500 coaches--current, future, past, I've tracked down everybody I could get to. I noticed in this process that there were repeated themes that kept coming up, there were principles that were repeated more often than others. After all that (information) came in, I noticed that there were 21 themes that were really predominant. I thought to myself that this is far more than just a coaching book; this is far more than help for my son as a baseball manager. This is a leadership manual from the greatest coaching minds of all time. So, that is the meat of the book, David. There are 21 chapters built around these 21 themes and I've had a marvelous time putting it together and I think that it can impact leaders at every level from the White House on down. We're excited that the book is ready."

Friedman: "You mentioned that there are 21 different keys or themes. Did you find one or two keys or themes that really recurred among the majority of the coaches you spoke with?"

Williams: "Yes, there was one that came up more than any other and in fact that is why it is featured in chapter one in the book. It is simply this: be yourself. I heard that more than anything else: be who you are. If you've got a personality like Billy Martin as a baseball manager, then be Billy Martin. If you've got a personality like Walter Alston, the great Dodger championship leader, then be Walter Alston--but don't try to be somebody you are not. The second one that came up more than any other is the importance of strong character, specifically honesty: tell your players the truth, never lie to them--if they catch you in a lie then you are in deep trouble, you are doomed. The third one that we wrote about is the amount of work that it takes; you cannot succeed in the coaching business unless you have an incredibly strong work ethic. Those are three that came up very often."

Friedman: "I am always interested to read about leaders and to read about coaches. One of the things that I find very interesting is a quote from Red Auerbach. I don't know if you've heard this quote or if it is mentioned in your book. Someone asked Red Auerbach about how he 'handled' Bill Russell and some of the other players when Auerbach was the coach of the Boston Celtics. Auerbach kind of took umbrage at the question and he said, 'You handle animals but you deal with people.' Auerbach felt that it was wrong for coaches to treat players like animals. You have to treat them like people and they are each individuals: you treat everyone fairly but you don't treat everyone the same way. Did that specific story come up in your research?"

Williams: "That is a great story. It fits in with the tenth chapter, 'Care for your players as people.' If you want them to play well for you, play hard for you, perform well then they have to know that you are interested in them and that you take time with them. They have to feel you every day, even if it is just for a few seconds, that you are a human being and not just a machine out there to help them be successful as a coach. That dovetails with what you are talking about with Coach Auerbach and I do vividly remember him talking about that: 'You handle animals, you don't handle people.'"

Friedman: "Right."

Williams: "That definitely is a key principle."

Friedman: "If you remember our last conversation, I asked you a lot of questions about your time with the Philadelphia 76ers. I was a big 76ers fan growing up and I think that I am the biggest Dr. J fan of all-time, though I am sure that there are a lot of people who also think that they are his biggest fan. Did you talk to Billy Cunningham for this project and, if so, can you summarize one or two points that he made?"

Williams: "Yes, I talked to Billy, Billy was certainly included. I think the thing that is so interesting about Billy is that as a player for the 76ers he was not a good practice player. Practice to him was more of a nuisance than anything. After he became a coach, practice became very important to Billy Cunningham--very important. One of the principles that came from him is make sure you are organized and prepared and have every practice planned out. Don't wing it. The players will know and that will absolutely unravel things. So Billy, as a coach, took a whole new view about the importance of practice."

Friedman: "The coach who is the Red Auerbach of this generation in terms of winning NBA championships is Phil Jackson. Did you have an opportunity to speak with him and, if so, what contribution did he make to the book?"

Williams: "Yeah, I talked to Phil. Phil is interesting, always fascinating to me. I am a huge admirer of Phil Jackson and he told me the story of his college coach Bill Fitch--the long-time NBA coach--and how Bill Fitch had to discipline Phil Jackson when Jackson was a college player--captain of the team--and had broken some rules. That, to this day, has left a deep imprint on Phil Jackson, so talked about the importance of having discipline on a team. He also talked about the importance of knowing each player individually because they are all different people and that you can't treat them all the same: you've got to work with them individually and study them and know them as human beings. That is very important to Phil Jackson."

Friedman: "That is interesting, because what you are saying about Phil Jackson is very similar to what we were just talking about concerning Red Auerbach, that you have to deal with each player individually--you don't treat them like animals and you don't treat them all the same, either. You can treat two different people fairly and yet you treat them differently based on what their personalities are, what their needs are, their roles on the team and so forth. It is interesting that Jackson's approach, in some ways, mirrors Red Auerbach's approach because they have been the two most successful NBA coaches in terms of winning championships."

Williams: "It has become very evident to me as I am working on all of this--I wrote a book last year about Chuck Daly called Daly Wisdom and my next writing project later this fall is Bear Bryant on Leadership--and really studying the lives of all of these coaches that at the end of the day it comes down to people skills and (taking) interest in other people. They may have done it in different fashions and had different personalities but they absolutely cared about people and they were interested in their people and they were loyal to their people--maybe even to a fault. That was a huge part of their success as coaches."

Friedman: "I'd like to shift gears a little bit and ask you some questions about the current NBA season. You know that this question is coming, we all saw the (first two) games (of the Eastern Conference Finals) and I know that it is not very pleasant for you but overall what are your impressions of the first two games of the series between the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics? What stuck out to you watching those games?"

Williams: "I am impressed with Boston. They have kind of been below the radar screen all year. They have not had a dominant season. People have not really taken them seriously as title contenders but I am impressed with how focused they are, how tough-minded they are, how determined they are. They came into our building--and it's a cauldron, believe me, I mean it's a hot box down here--and they weathered it and came out of here with two wins, which is almost unheard of. So, that's my immediate reaction. Secondly, we have not played well at all. We struggled in both games but, even with that, down the stretch of both games we had a chance to pluck two victories with a play here or a play there. So, after shooting 41% and 39% in these two games we still had a chance to win both games. So, I think that should be encouraging; at some point, I've got to think that we're going to play well--really play well: hopefully, it will be Saturday night in Boston. That would sure help."

Friedman: "I'm sure you remember--although the home/road situation was different--that your 76ers built a 2-0 lead versus Portland in 1977 and then Portland came back to win the series. It is not common in NBA history but from that unpleasant personal experience you know that it is possible for a team to do that."

Williams: "I remember it vividly. We beat Portland in those first two games in 1977 and it looked like we had that series under control and then we proceeded to lose four in a row. I remember in 1984, the year after (the 76ers won) the championship, we played the Nets in the first round and lost the first two games in our building, the Spectrum. Then we went to New Jersey, in the Meadowlands, and beat New Jersey twice on their court, so now it's 2-2. Then we turn around and come home for game five in the Spectrum. Guess what happened?"

Friedman: "You lost. Unfortunately, as a Dr. J fan I remember that well."

Williams: "We lose...Some weird things can happen in the playoffs but the bottom line is that we have to play better, we have to defend better and above all we have to shoot the ball better. A lot of the shooting woes, however, are because of the Celtics' defense. They have done a very good job with us defensively and made it very difficult to score."

Friedman: "Speaking of Boston's rise, I don't think that anybody--maybe even in their own locker room--saw this coming based on the fact that they were essentially a .500 team for the last two thirds of the regular season. I am interested to hear your impressions of the Boston-Cleveland series. How surprised are you that Boston won? I also want to hear your opinion on a much discussed topic: how LeBron James performed in that series, particularly in the home losses for Cleveland in game two and game five. How surprised were you by that series and what did you think, as a long-time NBA talent evaluator, of LeBron James' performance?"

Williams: "Like so many basketball fans, as it was all unfolding I think everybody thought that Cleveland would win but now, from this perspective at the back end of it, Cleveland had no business winning and they shouldn't have won. The series ended exactly as it should have. Boston is a better team. Boston is deeper. Boston has more weapons. Boston has more versatility. Boston deserved to win and they would probably win if they played that series five more times. That is my reaction. Secondly, LeBron was forced to--let me put it this way: the Celtics' defense had a lot to do with why LeBron did not play great in every game. Watching their defensive schemes, they're good. They have made life miserable for every one of our players--every one of them. So, there is a reason why Cleveland struggled in that series and why LeBron struggled. Defensively, the Celtics gave them fits and that is why they won the series. That is my capsulation of it."

Friedman: "The Cleveland Cavaliers have had the best regular season record in the NBA the past two years. This year, they could have probably matched their win total (66) from 2009 if they had not shut things down for the last several games. They dominated the Lakers and they played well against you guys and against Boston. How could it be true that they are at such a talent deficit or depth deficit if they can go through a long regular season and be the best team? How could it be that all of a sudden in the playoffs they don't have enough talent? How is that possible?"

Williams: "David, if you could have been in our building last night (for game two of the Eastern Conference Finals) then you would not have asked that question. It was actually a cauldron here last night, so intense, so much noise, so much pressure you could hardly breathe--you could hardly breathe, let alone dribble or shoot a basketball. The difference between the regular season and playing this deep in the playoffs is the difference between grade school and college. That's my reaction. To play at this level at this time of year--not everybody can do it. Only the special players can survive at this level at this time of year and Boston has a bunch of grizzled old veterans who have enough left in their legs that they are rallying for one last shot (at winning a championship) and they're good. The regular season and this level of the playoffs--two different worlds. Cleveland, as it turns out, was structured beautifully for a long term pull--I mean, they really dominated the league--but they were not capable, their structure would not allow them, to function fully at this level. They were not good enough."

Friedman: "Following up specifically on what I asked you about LeBron, I was at Cleveland's home games in that series, so I had an up close and personal view and I agree with everything you said about how exceptional Boston's defense is but if you watched game five--if you really had a chance to see that game in particular--LeBron was very passive in that game; he spent most of the game not just behind the three point line but so far behind it that he wasn't even a threat if the ball had somehow been reversed back to him: he was too far behind the line to even shoot. He had a very, very passive approach--particularly offensively--and a lot of people have commented about that, particularly people who have frequently seen him play. Were you surprised by how passive he was? I don't know anyone who watched that game who was not struck by the obvious difference--LeBron played so much more passively than he played in other games throughout the year. He just did not look like himself and no one can figure out why he did that."

Williams: "David, I don't know if we'll ever know the answer to that. Obviously, with this elbow issue we don't know what the status of his health was or how he felt. Maybe that will just be a mystery but I think that in the long run it didn't matter because Boston was the better team. Maybe the Cavaliers sensed that. The players are not dumb; they know what's going on. Maybe they just sensed that Boston had too much for them. I don't know. We're struggling to figure out the psyche of our team as opposed to trying to figure out what's going through their heads right now."

Friedman: "I understand."

Williams: "I'm not privy to anything on the inside with Cleveland. You know, we expect LeBron to go get 40 every night with 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Anything other than that, he had a bad day. The same thing with Dwight Howard: he's got to get 30 points every night, 20 rebounds, five blocked shots or (people say) he didn't have a good game. When you are at that level of accomplishment that is a heavy burden, because nobody is happy unless you produce those gigantic numbers."

Friedman: "Speaking of Dwight Howard and in line with what you said about the difference between the regular season and the playoffs, how important do you think it is for him to develop the kind of low post offensive repertoire that would compel the top defensive teams to double team him? If you didn't double team Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1990s, he was going to score 35 or 40 points--and sometimes he would put up those kinds of numbers even if you did double team him. How important is it for Howard to develop that kind of repertoire or at least a more diverse repertoire than he has now?"

Williams: "He's working on it, David. He's 24 years old and he just finished his sixth year in the league so there is still a lot of growth left for him. He is primarily a defensive player, when you think about it: he was the Defensive Player of the Year, he made the All-Defensive First Team and Matt Guokas--who has been around the NBA (since the late 1960s)--would tell you, he's made the statement publicly, that he feels that Howard is a better defensive force than Bill Russell."

Friedman: "Yeah, I saw that quote."

Williams: "That's a pretty powerful statement from a guy who has been around the NBA (for decades) as a player, as a coach and as a broadcaster. Matty has seen it all. So the offense of Dwight has got some catching up to do but he's getting there and he's working on it. He works hard every day and he is adding a little more diversity to his game. Is he ever going to be an 80% free throw shooter? Probably not. Will he ever develop a deadly 15 foot jump shot from the baseline? Doesn't look like it--maybe he could but it doesn't look like it. But around the basket, he's getting a bit more clever and his footwork is improving. Each year he gets a little bit better and we probably will not see the best of Dwight Howard until his late twenties. I think that is when most big men mature. It is probably going to be another five years until we really know who he is."

Friedman: "I don't think that the issue is for him to develop a jump shot, though it would be nice for him to improve his free throw percentage, but what I meant specifically with my question is for him to have even an abridged version of the Kevin McHale low post repertoire--maybe no one else is ever going to have the full version of what McHale called 'the torture chamber'--something that he could really rely on in terms of, say, the jump hook is his move and then if that is stopped then he has a counter move with a spin (to the baseline) that he is confident in doing. During the game two broadcast Jeff Van Gundy said that Dwight is working on different moves but he doesn't have the confidence to use those moves at certain moments. Obviously, if you don't have confidence to use those moves versus the Celtics or at certain moments then that is a problem. It's fine to be able to do it in February or against the Clippers but in order for that to work against elite teams he would have to have confidence in those moves at that stage of the season. When I watch him, it seems like the top teams--the Lakers in the 2009 Finals and Boston now--feel like they can guard Howard by putting one big guy on him and then if he gets in foul trouble they'll just bring in another big guy but they don't feel like they have to double team him and that gums up the works for your three point shooters because they are not getting free now."

Williams: "There is no question that Boston is defending him the right way and they have the people to do it. (Kendrick) Perkins is a very good low post defender. He is big enough to muscle Dwight. Rasheed Wallace comes in and does his thing. 'Big Baby' (Glen Davis) is overmatched but yet he is strong enough physically. So they have some good pieces who can come in and duke it out with Dwight and I don't blame them. I'd single cover him, too, and put pressure on our three point shooters. Boston has the pieces right now to combat our offense, so we'll see what the coaches can come up with and hopefully we can overcome this."

Friedman: "The makeup of your team is interesting. Historically, teams that have won championships with dominant centers, most of them have been able to pair that dominant center with a rebounding power forward. If you look at the teams that your 76ers played (in the late 1970s and early 1980s), Portland's Bill Walton had Maurice Lucas, Washington had Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, Boston had (Robert) Parish and (Kevin) McHale, the Lakers had Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and A.C. Green. More recently, fans would remember Tim Duncan and David Robinson. There are more teams in the NBA now and it seems like there are fewer back to the basket big men than there were in previous eras. Is that model somewhat obsolete--that you have to have that kind of power forward alongside the great center--or would you say that your team is built in a little bit of an unorthodox manner compared to the traditional manner?"

Williams: "Obviously, we would love to have the true prototype power forward, the kind of guy who gives you double figure rebounds and double figure points. There are not a whole lot of them out there. I'd be grateful to find one. That is kind of a dying breed as well. The Paul Silas-type, the Bill Bridges from another era, I remember them well--Dave DeBusschere. They are great guys to have but they are hard to find. So, yes, we are a little bit unorthodox; (Hedo) Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis would probably not be your ideal (power) forward rotation (on last year's Magic team) and we probably don't have it now but you take what you've got, run with it and adjust from there."

Friedman: "What you are saying is that it is basically a matter of trying to maximize the personnel that you have; it's not necessarily that someone at some point had the idea of breaking the mold and doing things differently but rather you looked at the personnel that you have and the personnel that are potentially available to acquire (via the draft, trades and free agency) and decided that this makes the most sense."

Williams: "This was not us sitting down and saying that we are going to be absolutely off the charts here. When Rashard Lewis became available as a free agent we got him and after you get talent you slot people in from there. There are certain pieces that are hard to get and power forward seems to be a very dying breed. I don't know where they are. Where are the Maurice Lucases of another day? I guess they are Carlos Boozer or Pau Gasol. They are very difficult to find, just as centers are. Where are all the great big men? I'm looking at this draft coming up; there are no big men in this draft."

Friedman: "You're right, absolutely."

Williams: "Where have they gone? What's happened to the gene pool?"

Friedman: "I think that there are still players of that size but their mentality is different. They all want to shoot jumpers, they all want to do crossover dribbles. They don't want to be the somewhat anonymous guy on the weak side getting 10 rebounds like A.C. Green."

Williams: "Good concept; I guess we'll never really know. Those guys are awfully valuable and hard to find."

Friedman: "I don't know if you saw or heard about this, but there is a prominent writer who, after the Boston-Cleveland series, compared LeBron James to Julius Erving--not entirely in a favorable or, in my opinion, even an accurate way. His message was that people have been trying to compare LeBron to Magic or to Jordan but maybe LeBron is Dr. J--maybe LeBron is too nice or too deferential to be the lead guy on a championship team. One flaw that I find in his argument is that to buy his premise you have to ignore the first part of Dr. J's career when he led two ABA teams to championships; Dr. J also led the 76ers to three NBA Finals before you added Moses (Malone) and the problem that Dr. J had (in the NBA) is not that he was being deferential but that he ran into teams that had Hall of Fame centers and he did not have a Hall of Fame center (before playing with Malone). However, disregarding for a moment the obvious flaws in what this writer is suggesting, I am interested if you even agree with his basic premise that you cannot win a championship with a quote unquote nice guy as a leader--a LeBron or a Dr. J--and that you have to have a guy who is a quote unquote killer the way that Jordan was and the way that Kobe is. Do you buy that premise, do you agree with that or not? What is your overall take on that whole idea?"

Williams: "Listen, you get those guys, you get Michael Jordan, you get Kobe, you get Larry Bird--they were killers: they wanted to embarrass you, they wanted to step on your throat, carve your heart out. Bill Russell, the same way. Those are wonderful attributes of the winners--they actually are--but I don't think you can implant that or transplant that into somebody else. It's a great quality, if you want to win ball games you take those kinds of talented people who want to carve you to pieces as well--whoa, you'd give anything to find them, that kind of mentality. So, Bill Simmons' piece, he's great at trying to figure out who slots where and who belongs in what category, so he linked LeBron and Julius with one word: 'amaze.' The word that captured them is 'amaze,' that every day they want to do something that would amaze people--which they did. I spent a decade with Julius in Philadelphia and there was no finer person, no better teammate, no better ambassador for the league--but to say that he didn't have a Michael Jordan personality or a Kobe personality: probably not. We are who we are as people and what you see with LeBron at this point, that's who he is."

Friedman: "Do you agree with Simmons' premise that a player with that personality cannot be the best player on a championship team? Do you agree with his premise or do you disagree?"

Williams: "Well, I'm not sure I'd say that. If you want to have a dynasty, you try to find the best players that you can. What are you going to say, 'We're not going to take LeBron because he doesn't have a Michael Jordan killer instinct'? No, you get a franchise player and then you try to surround him with the best supporting cast you can. That's why we went out and got Moses Malone in the summer of 1982. We always needed somebody to do the dirty work inside. They've done that in Cleveland. They've done everything they can to surround him with the best pieces they can. I don't fault Cleveland management at all but, David, it is hard to find good players. There is a limited pool of them. It is very hard to find them."

Friedman: "You brought up the point with Moses and I think that the piece of analysis that is missing from what Simmons wrote is that the time period when you were the General Manager of the 76ers was really a different era. At that time, unlike now, you could not win a championship if you did not have a Hall of Fame caliber center who was an all-around player. Recently, we have seen teams like the (2004) Pistons and different teams in recent years win championships or get to the Finals without necessarily having the best big man in the league or a Hall of Fame center; you can win the way that the Bulls did (in the 1990s) with Jordan or the way that the Lakers did (in 2009) with Kobe. The 'flaw' with Julius Erving had less to do with him and more to do with the fact that he was going against teams that had Hall of Fame centers--the Blazers, Bullets, Celtics and Lakers--and he didn't have one. I think that Simmons missed the larger picture--it's not a matter so much of Dr. J's personality being like LeBron's personality but rather that Dr. J played in a different era in terms of the pieces that you need to win a championship.

I'm sure that you have heard the rumors of what might be going on with LeBron and John Calipari and I am not going to ask you to address that specifically but I want to ask you a hypothetical, generalized question about when you were involved in player personnel decisions as a General Manager. If you had been in a situation where you had the opportunity to get an MVP caliber player and that player came to your team saying 'If I'm going to sign with you, you have to hire this coach and/or bring in that player,' what kind of reaction would you have to that kind of scenario?"

Williams: "Oh, I don't know. It's happened, I guess, obsessionally. Let me just say this, David, this whole free agency thing is so tender and the league has made it very clear that they don't want NBA people to comment on it and there is such risk involved. The only thing I can say to you is that the summer of 2010 is almost upon us. For this much-anticipated summer, teams have been rearranging contracts, they've been trading players, they've been clearing cap room, they've been getting ready for this tumultuous summer of 2010--and here it is on our doorstep! The most gigantic game of musical chairs in NBA history will start to be played--or, will it?"

Friedman: "Right, or will those players stay with their original teams?"

Williams: "We have no idea. Nobody has any idea, other than it's going to be a very, very intense summer and when the game of musical chairs ends the question is, 'Who will be sitting in which chair?' You guys will have plenty to cover this summer, that's for sure."

Friedman: "I just want to say that I wasn't trying to get you fined or get you in trouble; I phrased the question as a hypothetical one dating back to when you had been a General Manager and it also obviously does not apply to your current team in terms of cap space or in terms of coaching. I wasn't trying to back door a LeBron question but I just wanted your perspective on a larger issue because, since you were a General Manager and a player personnel executive for so many years, you are one of the few people who actually could have been in that kind of hypothetical discussion. For all we know, that story that was reported may not even be happening at the moment--"

Williams: "That is a rumor right now."

Friedman: "Right."

Williams: "I think that right now the teams that are coach-less, as I am following it, are having intense interviewing sessions with many kinds of coaches and they seem to be on top of everything. I think that they want to hire a new coach as soon as possible, across the board. That's my sense. They don't want to wait. Free agency doesn't start for another seven weeks and I don't think that they would want to be coach-less all the way through June."

Friedman: "I agree. That's a risk."

Williams: "I think that you are going to see a lot of coaches get hired pretty quickly."

Labels: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwight Howard, Julius Erving, LeBron James, Orlando Magic, Pat Williams

posted by David Friedman @ 4:44 PM

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Interview with Orlando Magic Senior Vice President and Co-Founder Pat Williams, Part II

Pat Williams has been involved with the NBA since 1968, working for several different franchises. As the General Manager for the 76ers, he acquired the talent that helped the Sixers reach the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980 and 1982 before winning the title in 1983. In 1989, Williams helped to launch the Orlando Magic and he is currently a Senior Vice President with that organization. Williams has written more than 50 books and he is the co-editor of the recently released Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inside Basketball. The Chicken Soup books generally contain 101 uplifting stories but--as he explains in my interview with him--Williams successfully lobbied the publisher to include 15 bonus stories in the basketball edition. You can find out more about the Chicken Soup series and order a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inside Basketball here:

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Part I of this interview covered the Chicken Soup basketball book, Williams' collegiate/minor league baseball career, the grace of Julius "Dr. J" Erving and some stories about the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers championship team. Part II will discuss similarities and differences between Julius Erving and Michael Jordan, the Julius Erving-Larry Bird rivalry, Andrew Toney and Williams' take on the proper use of basketball statistics.

Friedman: "Even though Julius Erving could score just about as well as anyone who ever played, his desire to be the top scorer or to maintain a certain scoring average did not seem to be the same as Michael Jordan's. I don't think that one player wanted to win more than the other but it seemed like it was also very important to Jordan to maintain a certain scoring average and that he had the right coach in Phil Jackson, who acceded to that and structured the team for that to happen. From your experience with Julius, would you say that of all the star players who had the ability to average 28 or 30 ppg that scoring was probably less important to him than it was to most of those guys? He would score 28 or 30 if the team needed him to do that but it just wasn't that important to his ego."

Williams: "Sure. I think that your question relates to the two personalities. Julius is a little more mellow, he has a gentler personality. Michael was a savage. Michael would absolutely carve your heart out and then hold it in his hands watching it beat its last beat. He would just humiliate guys. I wrote a book a few years back called How to be Like Mike. I did about 1500 interviews, David, to try to get to the heart of Michael. I talked to everybody I could get to and that is what came through to me, that he was just a savage--great guy, great persona, great with people, great with media, he was absolutely charming, but once he walked between those lines it was a war and he was going to do whatever he had to do to absolutely beat you and humiliate you."

Friedman: "I asked that same question to Rod Thorn, who was an assistant coach with the Nets when Dr. J played there and then he ended up drafting Michael Jordan with the Bulls. Thorn told me that Dr. J's competitiveness is underrated or not appreciated, that when he was on the court he was extremely competitive but he just expressed this or conveyed this in a different manner than Jordan. Doc was obviously not the type of player who would yell at his teammates or be demonstrative but he was competitive in his own right.

This question fascinates me, because when Julius needed to take over, like in the last season in the ABA when his team was not as talented as the first Nets team to win a championship, the numbers he put up in the ABA Finals were astronomical--and he did something similar for the Sixers in the 1977 Finals to a lesser extent, even though you lost to the Blazers. It is interesting to me that he did not seem to have his ego tied up in scoring quite the way that Jordan did, not that either approach is bad, but it is interesting that the competitiveness of two of the greatest players in the NBA found expression in such different ways. That fascinates me."

Williams: "Julius, obviously, was a great competitor and had an intense desire to win but, like I said, he was a little kinder between the lines than Michael. Michael would absolutely chop your head off. He wanted to beat you, he wanted to annihilate you, he wanted to turn you into dust. That was Michael. Then, off the court, they tell the story--and I used it in the book--about how they bring handicapped kids to meet him, Make-A-Wish kids, kids that might not live another week. He'd meet them before the game, the p.r. people around him would be absolutely distraught, they'd be in tears, just wiped out emotionally from these kids and Michael would do his thing and the kids would be thrilled and then Michael would run out on the court and go get 40 and just destroy you. That always fascinated me about Michael."

Friedman: "Yes, the focus that he had was just amazing.

I sent you the article that I wrote about Julius Erving and Larry Bird and their rivalry. I think that their rivalry is overlooked now because it took place before the big TV contracts and because Magic and Bird were closer in age and they eventually met in multiple NBA Finals. You were the Sixers GM at that time, so I have to ask you what memory sticks out for you of their rivalry, of Erving and Bird and the Sixers-Celtics rivalry. That was really a tremendous rivalry and I think that it was seen that way at the time--and it should not be forgotten because it is an important part of basketball history."

Williams: "Bird arrived in 1979, so they competed against each other for eight years--Julius retired in 1987. That would have taken Larry Bird to age 31, through the meat of his career. The Philly-Boston rivalry then as always was the most intense in sports, I felt. I understand Duke-Carolina and Alabama-Auburn and the Cowboys and the Redskins and the Yankees and the Red Sox--I understand all of that but for my money Philly-Boston was the top. It started of course with the Wilt-Russell era and then it moved into the 70s; before Doc got there we were starting to get better. Then Bird came along and took it to new heights. We go from the Russell-Chamberlain era to the Bird-Erving era and there was nothing like it. You know, the old Spectrum and the old Boston Garden--two relics. The thing that fueled it, David, was we ended up playing each other in the playoffs seemingly every year."

Friedman: "In the Eastern Conference Finals (in 1980-82, 1985), no less."

Williams: "Yeah. We played them several times in the playoffs and that is always where rivalries are built in the NBA. I think that the two of them had great respect for each other but, let's put it this way, Chamberlain and Russell would go out for dinner the night before a game and Wilt would have Russell over for Thanksgiving dinner--I don't think that the Birds and Ervings were dining together the night before a game. I think that there was a respect there but there was also a distance. They competed and they admired each other but they were not the best of friends."

Friedman: "Did you see the show that was on NBA TV on Wednesday night about the last night at the Spectrum?"

Williams: "No, I missed that show and I was sorry that I could not go to that game. I was invited to go but I just couldn't make it. I had a speaking engagement that night and I regret that but they tell me it was quite a wonderful evening."

Friedman: "I did a post that recapped what happened on the show. The show covered the last game that was played at the Spectrum when the Sixers beat the Bulls but they also brought Julius back and they had him going through the Spectrum talking about his reverse layup against the Lakers and his memories of his first game there. I put almost everything that he said verbatim into the post, so anyone who missed the show can read what Doc had to say about his Spectrum memories. It was a real trip down memory lane.

I think that there is a similarity between the way that LeBron James attacks the basket--the one footed leap that he takes, the full extension of the one arm in the air, the elevation that he gets--and the way that Julius Erving attacked the rim, particularly in his prime. Do you agree with that comparison?"

Williams: "Yeah, except that LeBron probably is even more ferocious because he is so much bigger. What is he, 6-9? Julius was 6-6. LeBron is like 270; Julius was nowhere near that, so LeBron is probably even more physically imposing but, yeah, there are some similarities--minus the Afro (that Erving had in his prime). I think that the Afro had a lot to do with Julius' persona in those days. That just added to the mystique, the way that he wore his hair.

There has never been an acrobat like Julius. That would be my argument. Even Jordan, as fun as he was to watch, nobody in his prime did it like Julius. David, we never saw Julius in his prime, because from age 21 until he got to the NBA at age 26--those five years in the ABA when physically he was absolutely at his zenith--he was invisible. He was literally a creation of the dark. Nobody ever saw him, unless you were a diehard ABA fan--and there weren't many of them. You weren't going to see him on television, you weren't going to see him on SportsCenter--nobody saw him."

Friedman: "I've written about that and tried to bring that point out. In the 1976 ABA Finals, he led both teams in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocked shots and steals. He was going against Bobby Jones, the best defensive forward in either league. The Nuggets had Hall of Famers David Thompson and Dan Issel plus Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown. The ABA All-Star Game that year consisted of the Nuggets versus the best players from the rest of the league--and the Nuggets won. Dr. J went in there with a Nets team that was depleted compared to the 1974 championship team and just completely dominated. Sports Illustrated's John Papanek called it 'the greatest individual performance by a basketball player at any level anywhere--ABA, NBA, BAA or UCLA.'

I know that you have said that if Doc were playing in the current era he would be a bigger media sensation that anybody, including Jordan."

Williams: "Oh, yeah. If he were coming along today in his prime, the LeBrons and the Kobes and the Jordans would be second page stuff. Julius would be Tiger Woods-ish; he would be at a level of focus and clamor and gawking like nobody else. As good as these guys are, they just don't have his flair. They don't have his flair."

Friedman: "Some people seem like they are destined for greatness but then something happens and they get sidetracked. Of course, I'm speaking about Andrew Toney, who seemed to have Hall of Fame talent and seemed to be on that path but it just didn't work out. What are your memories of Andrew Toney, particularly what he was able to do in his prime?"

Williams: "I wrote a book last year on the 25th anniversary of our championship, Tales from the Philadelphia 76ers."

Friedman: "I have that book. It's a great book."

Williams: "I had a great time putting it together. I got to everybody, trying to get their thoughts and memories and when I talked to the former players--opponents from that era--I was just blown away, David, by the awe and the wonder and the fear that they had to this day of Andrew Toney. You talk to these guys and they're still afraid of him. Danny Ainge said that his two most sleepless nights were before he had to guard Jordan and Magic but that a close third was Andrew. Close third was Andrew! Yet, today, David, nobody remembers him. He's all but forgotten except in Philly or Boston. Players and people from that era will never forget him. It is a tragedy, because he basically had a five year career. He had Hall of Fame talent, he had that kind of greatness about him. He definitely earned that 'Boston Strangler' nickname. I think about him a lot, just what he meant. We got him as a result of a first round pick that we got in a trade that I had made many years before. We had Indiana's pick and that was the one that produced Andrew."

Friedman: "Was that part of the World B. Free trade or am I confused?"

(Note: the Sixers actually traded Free in 1978 for the draft pick that became Charles Barkley in 1984)

Williams: "No, that was Melvin Bennett. We had drafted Mel Bennett out of the ABA and Slick Leonard in Indiana wanted him and gave up a future first round draft pick to get him. That 1980 pick turned out to be Andrew. I remember that the night before that draft, Charlie Theokas, the General Manager of the Nets, had two straight first round picks and he whispered in my ear, 'You're going to get Toney. We've just handed you a championship.' I wasn't quite sure what he meant but to make a long story short, they took Mike Gminski and Mike O'Koren back to back."

Friedman: "I take it that was not his decision."

Williams: "Well, I think that they felt that they needed a center and O'Koren was a local Jersey guy. Both of them were very highly touted, big time ACC players, Duke and Carolina--they were hot. He said, 'We've decided to take O'Koren and Gminski, so you are going to get your guy. We've just handed you a championship.' That was the 1980 draft. Sure enough, there was Andrew and we took him. He could play right away. He was a good player right away. That's one other thing I've learned, David, what you see in the first day of training camp--if your guy can play, generally you know he can play the first day."

Friedman: "Some scouts and some personnel guys have said that kind of thing to me. You can see--even if a guy needs coaching or needs to polish certain things--whether he has the basic requirements to play at the NBA level. If he doesn't have it, unfortunately, you are going to see that, also. You can improve every year and refine your game but at some level you either have it or you don't."

Williams: "Yes and you know right away. That first day at practice, we knew that Maurice Cheeks was going to be really good and we knew that Andrew Toney was very special. In 1971, we drafted Howard Porter and after the first practice (Coach) Dick Motta came up to me--after all we went through to get Porter--and said, 'Howard Porter can't play.'"

Friedman: "That's discouraging."

Williams: "He said, 'You saw it. He can't dribble twice--'"

Friedman: "This is when you were with the Bulls, right?"

Williams: "Yes. 'He can't pass it from here to the wall. He can't guard anybody. He can shoot from out there, he can jump and he can run.'"

Friedman: "That is why he was successful in college, right, those attributes?"

Williams: "Yes. Howard had a seven year career and I don't mean to speak poorly of the deceased but I'm just telling you that what you see is what you get. If they can play on the first day, then they are players. If they can't, generally they are not going to make it or at least not make it big."

Friedman: "Since you have been in front offices for so long and been involved with drafting and evaluating players, what is your take on the whole basketball statistical revolution and the use of 'advanced' stats and the whole question of whether you should rely more on stats or on what you see visually when evaluating players? Where do you sit on that continuum or what is your take on that issue?"

Williams: "I guess the Bill James school has moved into basketball, huh? There is certainly nothing wrong with advanced science but I am still a firm believer in judging horseflesh, you know? Dollar Sign on the Muscle, the old baseball scouting book. You've got to line guys up, you've got to evaluate, you need tons of experience from doing it for many years. You have to go into the gym and you have to study the product. Given a choice of the modern way or the old fashioned way, David, I'll go with the old fashioned way."

Friedman: "Without giving away any trade secrets, would it be fair to say that the way the Magic have been currently built and currently constructed is based more on that old school approach that you are describing as opposed to the new school? Would that be a fair statement or not?"

Williams: "Probably so. I would say that our guys are probably more old school, yes. We would be more traditionalist. That doesn't mean that one way is right or wrong. I certainly know that in baseball, David, you have to have both. There is nothing wrong with the modern approach but in the baseball world those old grizzled scouts still have to get in their cars and drive. They have to get to the games early and they have to watch batting practice and infield practice and study it in person."

Friedman: "Also, I think that you can appreciate this because you played baseball at a high level: baseball is more of a station to station, individual encounter game of pitcher versus batter with stoppages of play but basketball is continuous motion of multiple players and when you are trying to derive stats to explain what is happening with 10 moving parts that is a lot different than trying to quantify what is happening when a pitcher throws the ball, the batter hits it and then the fielder plays it. Those are discrete, separate actions that are stop/start and can be quantified; basketball is a totally different game."

Williams: "That's right."

Labels: Andrew Toney, Boston Celtics, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Orlando Magic, Pat Williams, Philadelphia 76ers

posted by David Friedman @ 2:18 PM

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Interview with Orlando Magic Senior Vice President and Co-Founder Pat Williams, Part I

Pat Williams has been involved with the NBA since 1968, working for several different franchises. As the General Manager for the 76ers, he acquired the talent that helped the Sixers reach the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980 and 1982 before winning the title in 1983. In 1989, Williams helped to launch the Orlando Magic and he is currently a Senior Vice President with that organization. Williams has written more than 50 books and he is the co-editor of the recently released Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inside Basketball. The Chicken Soup books generally contain 101 uplifting stories but--as he explains in my interview with him--Williams successfully lobbied the publisher to include 15 bonus stories in the basketball edition. You can find out more about the Chicken Soup series and order a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inside Basketball here:

Chicken Soup for the Soul

I recently spoke with Williams about a wide range of subjects. Part I will examine the Chicken Soup basketball book, Williams' collegiate/minor league baseball career, the grace of Julius "Dr. J" Erving and some stories about the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers championship team; part II will discuss similarities and differences between Julius Erving and Michael Jordan, the Julius Erving-Larry Bird rivalry, Andrew Toney and Williams' take on the proper use of basketball statistics.

Friedman: "How did you become affiliated with the Chicken Soup for the Soul project and end up doing the book about basketball?"

Williams: "I got a call about two years ago from the publishers of Chicken Soup and the message was pretty much this: We've done close to 200 versions of the Chicken Soup brand over 17 years but for some reason we've never gotten to the basketball version, so would you be interested in taking it on? That was the extent of the discussion. I said immediately that I would, because I have been a Chicken Soup admirer from afar. It truly is the publishing brand phenomenon of all-time I'd guess; when you've sold well over 100 million books in a series that is pretty good. I accepted it and I had no idea how I was going to get into it or how the thing was going to unfold but I decided the best way to attack the process to come up with 101 stories would be to send a letter of invitation out to everybody in basketball at the college and pro level: every coach, every women's coach, every player, every former player, every NBA player, every executive, referees.

So off go the 15,000 letters and you are kind of hoping for a one or two percent response. That is pretty much exactly what happened. Chicken has about 15 readers who critique every book and they've developed an eye for what is a Chicken story and what isn't. We had to go through that screening process. Then I had a thought about a year ago from my 40-plus years in basketball; I guess I've always been a story reader and a story collector. I thought that there are a lot of germs of stories that I know about, like Chris Paul's grandfather being murdered at the service station in Winston-Salem and that incredible story about Chuck Daly and how he became a college coach at Duke. I began to think that I could run down some stories here--Moses Malone and the lunch box salute. Towards the end I came across the Jim Jones, Jr. story, which ended up being the first story in the book. So I began to track down some stories individually. Then, when we got to the 101 mark there were 15 stories that I just couldn't let go of. I pleaded with the editor to let us have a bonus section because I couldn't cut them. So, the Chicken Soup people let us have a bonus section for the first time in history; we prevailed and people get 15 more spoonfuls of soup."

Friedman: "Which story in the book inspired you the most? I know that is a difficult, open ended question but if someone would ask you about the book and you could only tell them about one story which one would you single out?"

Williams: "I told you about that mass mailing that we sent out to everybody in basketball. I had no idea if we'd hear from anybody but very quickly thereafter--in probably no more than a week--I got my very first response, in an email. I read the story and before I got to the end of it I was crying. It was sent in by the women's coach at UNC Asheville, Betsy Blose. The story just broke me down and I was in tears before I got to the end of it. I thought to myself if they are all like this then I am going to be a basket case. That story really encouraged me because someone cared enough to respond to the mailing and it was an awesome story that made me cry. That is what the Chicken Soup thing is all about. A little footnote to that, David, the next week I was scheduled to speak at a convention in Asheville, North Carolina. I got a hold of this woman--the basketball coach who sent me the story--and I told her where I was going to be. I said that I would like to meet her. She came over for breakfast that morning before the convention started, so within a week of getting this story that absolutely touched me deeply I met the author. The worst case here, David, would be if the 15 person board did not like the story that made me cry. Fortunately, they all loved it and Betsy Blose's story is in there."

Friedman: "Yeah, that would not have been good if you met her and had that interaction and then did not include her story in the book."

Williams: "Oh, my, I've broken down and sobbed and then I go meet her and tell her what a great story that is and then the 15 person board says it doesn't pass the test. Fortunately, it passed the test."

Friedman: "Is there any possibility that there will be a volume two and if there would be are there certain stories that were left out of this book that you would want to include or certain individuals who didn't respond who you would like to hear from and get their stories?"

Williams: "David, perfect question. As a result of doing this and learning on the run the bottom line is we are a hell of a lot shrewder and know a whole lot better how to do this. The Chicken people have asked me to do another book and I've agreed to do it--Chicken Soup for the Soul: Athletes of Faith. That is the next one they've asked me to do."

Friedman: "So that extends beyond basketball, obviously."

Williams: "That will be all sports, all levels--an athlete or coach or somebody in the sports world who shares their faith journey. Answering your question, I have a full file and I am well on my way to basketball version two, which at this point is not anything that they are interested in because they are focused on basketball version one. I've got a manila folder full of stories that would absolutely pass the test. I probably don't have 101 of them at this point but I'll bet you I've got 50.

In answer to your other question, I would be more aggressive this time chasing down stories on my own. I did some of that this past year. I chased down, for example, Sam Smith to give me a Michael Jordan story. I chased down Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News and he shared a Julius Erving story. At this point, I would chase down Terry Pluto--the Cleveland writer--to give me a LeBron James story. He covered LeBron growing up in Akron. I would chase down Bob Ryan because he is one of the world's great storytellers and I know he's got a story somewhere."

Friedman: "What did you learn from your baseball career at Wake Forest and the time that you spent in the minor leagues that helped you to become successful in your endeavors as an executive, author and speaker?"

Williams: "I think that as a result of playing in college and then playing two years of minor league baseball riding the buses, learning the life of a professional athlete, that gave me such a foundation to at least have some understanding and awareness of the emotions of a pro athlete: what they think, how they interact. I think that having that experience was a huge, huge break for me. That gave me much better insight into the mindset of an athlete.

The other thing that hit me was how hard it is, how difficult it is to be good in sports. We have a tendency to sit and watch and think it's easy or should be done 100% every time, but whether it is hitting a 95 mph pitch or maneuvering your body to get a shot off in the NBA with some super athlete in your face--it takes an enormous amount of skill and endurance and effort to do it. These guys we are watching are freaks of nature, I fully believe that, to move their bodies on the basketball court like that or take the pounding of a pro football season or wing your way up on a sheet of ice, maintain your balance and hammer a puck all over the place or try to keep up with a Kobe Bryant or a LeBron James. That really has hit me over the years.

The other thing is, it's meant to be fun."

Friedman: "Sports should be fun."

Williams: "Yeah, it's meant to be fun."

Friedman: "Would it be accurate to say that in high school and college you were a star athlete? I'm not asking you to toot your own horn but I'm trying to make a point that in high school and college you were a star on your team or at least one of the better players but in the minor leagues you were more of a role player. If that is an accurate statement, then talk about what you learned about sports from seeing that from both perspectives--of being the best or one of the best players on a team and then being a role player--and how that affects you as a team executive in your interactions with players and coaches. You have had the opportunity to see both sides, whereas some people were only stars or only role players."

Williams: "In high school, I did have success and was one of those stars, I guess. In college I played every game for four years. I caught every game just about for four years and then I got to the pros and I was definitely a journeyman. I was a backup catcher for the two years that I played in the minor leagues. I guess what it taught me, David, was that if you are going to have any success in life we all have to play a role. Not everybody can score 30 points a night. Not everybody is going to be the cleanup hitter. Not everybody is going to get all the playing time. If you are going to have any success as a unit--be it a family unit, a business unit or a sports team--everybody has to know their role and they have to accept it. That doesn't mean that you don't work to try to improve your lot in life, but everybody has to understand where they fit in the overall scheme of things. If you don't, if you can't get that established, then you have absolute chaos, total chaos, in any endeavor in life. I guess that's what I learned going from a regular, play every day guy in college to a backup guy in the pros: you better accept your role--and be grateful for the opportunity; I think that also hit me. I was thrilled to be part of a team, thrilled to be part of a professional athlete's life. It's what I dreamed about since I was seven years old and it became a reality. Enjoy what you are doing, David, I think that is the message here. We can't all be Kobe Bryant or Junior Griffey or Ben Roethlisberger, so enjoy where you are and enjoy what you are doing."

Friedman: "Unselfishness and teamwork are essential parts of success, whether it is your own individual success or the success of the team. I'd like to ask you about a specific example of this from your time as the Sixers' General Manager. Right after you brought in Julius Erving--you've talked about this, Erving has talked about this and I've even spoken with him about it--you conveyed the message to him that the philosophy of the team was that it is better to have three guys averaging 20 ppg each--obviously, Erving, McGinnis and Collins--than to have one guy averaging 30 ppg while the other guys average much less than that. Erving immediately and without hesitation embraced that idea, even though he had been a 30 point scorer in the ABA. Talk about Erving's willingness to do that as a star player and how that contributes to the chemistry of the team and the success of the team."

Williams: "Julius was probably the most gracious, sharp and humble superstar who I've ever been around, David. I think that's one of the reasons everyone admired him so much. He was in the limelight, he had an enormous level of skill and he had great flamboyance and great flair. His public persona was Dr. J but the private Dr. J was Julius Erving. He cared about his teammates and he cared about the sport. He always had time for people, including the media. He would stay as long as it took to make the media members happy and it didn't matter whether it was the columnist for the New York Times or the editor of a high school paper. He treated them all the same. He gave them as much access; he didn't differentiate at all.

When he joined us, we had a three ring circus--you add Julius to McGinnis and Collins who were All-Stars, plus a young Darryl Dawkins and a young Lloyd Free and a young Joe Bryant. Oh boy, we were a traveling circus. As Chuck Daly has said many times, NBA players only want three things: 48 minutes, 48 shots and $48 million. If they get those three things they are fine but it obviously doesn't work that way. It's impossible.

A little footnote to that, David, is that in 1982 when we added Moses Malone prior to the championship season there was great concern about how Moses was going to fit in and whether we would end up with just chaos but when Moses was asked about that in the first press conference he responded, in his inimitable way, 'This Doc's team. This Doc's team. It's not Moses' team, this Doc's team. I'm just here to help Doc win a championship.' That was true. That was Moses' mission."

Friedman: "The flip side of that is that prior to that season, for most of his career Julius had operated a lot on the low left block in the half court offense. He basically ceded that area to Malone and he relied more on his outside shot and he attempted fewer shots per game. Just like he accepted going from 30 ppg to 21-22 ppg when he came from the ABA--and then his average increased again later--he accepted that when Moses came instead of averaging 24-25-26 ppg he would go back to averaging 21-22 ppg."

Williams: "Yeah, there is no question that the two of them had to make some adjustments. But, David, at that point in their lives and their careers they were so focused on winning a championship. Julius had been frustrated ever since he joined us, starting in the spring of 1977, then in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982--disappointment after disappointment. Moses had never been able to get over the hump, either. He had gotten to the Finals once with Houston against Boston but that didn't last long. He was at that point, also, where he was desperate to win. Those two guys at that point in their careers were very amenable to doing whatever it took to work with each other.

For that one year, David, we were pretty much flawless. That was as close to a perfect season as you are going to see, from the first day of training camp with enormous focus and great confidence. They knew almost from the get go that this was the year. Other than a little slip at the end of the year when (Coach) Billy (Cunningham) started resting guys, we could have won 70 games."

Friedman: "I remember the SI cover that said, 'The Sixers are Going for Seventy' and you were on that pace for most of the year."

Williams: "We were on target for that and that would have been something but at that point Billy started resting some guys and backed off a little bit preparing for the playoffs."

Friedman: "The Bulls team that won 72 games had Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who had already won championships, whereas Doc and Moses had not won an NBA title. Coach Jackson kind of rode Jordan and Pippen all the way to the end and they reached that target. For the Sixers, if you guys had won 70 games but gotten fatigued and lost in the playoffs it would have been a disaster."

Williams: "That's true--or if somebody had gotten hurt. Moses was having a little tweak in his knee and that was a concern, so Billy backed off and started gearing up for the playoffs. Then, of course, Moses made his famous 'Fo, fo, fo' pronouncement and we came close. That was as close to perfection as you'll see in a pro sports season. We thought that it was going to go on and continue but as it turns out those guys--all of them--peaked at the right time for that one year. The next year there was just enough slippage. They weren't quite as hungry and they weren't quite as driven and they were one year older and they weren't quite as good athletically and we failed to ever get back to those heights."

Friedman: "I talked to Billy Cunningham and Bobby Jones separately about that. You had expended so much energy, you had an older team and a lot of different factors came into play during that next season."

In Part II, Pat Williams will compare Julius Erving and Michael Jordan, talk about the Julius Erving-Larry Bird rivalry, reminisce about Andrew Toney and give his take on the proper use of basketball statistics.

Labels: Andrew Toney, Boston Celtics, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Orlando Magic, Pat Williams, Philadelphia 76ers

posted by David Friedman @ 12:08 AM

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