20 Second Timeout

Reflecting on Dick Barnett's Legacy

Dick Barnett, who passed away in his sleep yesterday at the age of 88, leaves behind a rich legacy not only as a basketball champion and Hall of Famer but also as an educator. Barnett was one of several stars from historically black colleges who told their inspiring stories in the must-see movie "Black Magic." When the Tennessee A&I team that won three straight collegiate national championships (1957-59) was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Barnett--the team's biggest star--narrated the video that put the team's accomplishments in historical context. By the time that Barnett was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame individually in 2024, he was in a wheelchair and unable to speak; his Knicks teammate Bill Bradley spoke on his behalf, and Bradley praised Barnett as a two-way player who was a key member of the Knicks' championship teams in 1970 and 1973. Barnett's trademark shot was his "Fall back, baby" jumper during which he curled up his legs underneath his body while saying his catchphrase, which meant that his teammates could fall back on defense because he knew that his shot was good.

Barnett began his NBA career with two solid seasons with the Syracuse Nationals before jumping to the American Basketball League (ABL) to play for his college coach John McClendon with the Cleveland Pipers, who won the 1962 ABL title. The ABL was the first professional basketball league to use the three point shot (the ABA was founded in 1967-68). After one ABL season, Barnett returned to the NBA as an L.A. Laker, and he played three seasons for the Lakers before being traded to the New York Knicks for Bob Boozer.

In his first season with the Knicks, Barnett averaged a career-high 23.1 ppg to rank sixth in scoring average (he finished seventh in total points, which is the method the NBA used to determine statistical leaders prior to 1970). He bounced back from an Achilles injury to earn his first and only All-Star selection in 1968. In the famous "Willis Reed game"--game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals, when Reed limped onto the court and scored four points despite being hobbled a painful leg injury--Barnett scored 21 points while also guarding Pantheon member Jerry West, the L.A. Lakers' star guard. Barnett's performance was overshadowed by Reed's heroics and by Walt Frazier's magnificent 36 point/19 assist/seven rebound stat line. Barnett averaged at least 12.2 ppg in each of his first 12 NBA seasons before his production dropped in his last two years.

After his playing career ended, Barnett earned a doctorate in education and communications from Fordham, and he wrote more than 20 books. He was an energetic and charismatic speaker, and a great role model not just for athletes but for all people.

Labels: Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett, John McClendon, L.A. Lakers, New York Knicks, Syracuse Nationals, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 4:57 PM

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Brunson Burner Singes Sixers as Knicks Win 97-92 to Take 3-1 Lead

In the 1980s, the New York Knicks featured the "BK Broiler": Bernard King won the 1985 regular season scoring title--averaging 32.9 ppg to beat Larry Bird and Michael Jordan--after a sensational 1984 playoff run during which he led the league in postseason scoring (34.8 ppg) while scoring at least 40 points in four straight games. During the middle of that 1984 playoff scoring spree, King scored 46 points in back to back games, setting a franchise playoff single game scoring record that stood for 40 years--until Jalen Brunson, who could be dubbed the "Brunson Burner," torched the Philadelphia 76ers for 47 points on Sunday as the Knicks won 97-92 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Brunson shot 18-34 from the field, and he also tallied 10 assists while committing only one turnover in 44 minutes. He nearly matched the combined scoring output of Philadelphia's All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, who scored 27 points and 23 points respectively.

With the game up for grabs, Brunson scored nine points in a bruising fourth quarter during which the Knicks scored 20 points on 6-21 (.286) field goal shooting while the 76ers scored 16 points on 6-24 (.250) field goal shooting. Brunson's shifty moves, deft ballhandling, and excellent footwork in the post make him very difficult to guard.

Maxey and Cameron Payne led the 76ers with five fourth quarter points each, while Embiid scored just one point and shot 0-5 from the field. Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse is rightly praised for his strategic acumen, but that fourth quarter will not appear on his career highlight reel: the 76ers looked disorganized, and Embiid spent most of the final stanza camped out behind the three point line. Although Embiid can make three pointers, he is most effective when he is operating in the paint, where he commands double teams, draws fouls, and converts high percentage shots.

Overall, Embiid shot just 7-19 from the field, and the dominant themes of his playoff career have not changed: in the postseason, he is often injured/out of shape, which contributes to his playoff numbers not matching his regular season numbers. Embiid's physical talent and basketball skills are undeniable, but there is no reason to believe that he will ever be healthy enough and well-conditioned enough to lead a team on a deep playoff run. As for Maxey, the sample size is small, but he seems to be better suited to the second option role than James Harden, who capped off his horrific elimination game resume with nine points and five turnovers while shooting 3-11 from the field as the Celtics routed the 76ers, 112-88, in the last playoff game of Harden's Philadelphia career. Harden then whined his way out of town and was traded to the L.A. Clippers, which elevated Maxey to the second option role behind Embiid.  

While Embiid and his 76ers have been treading water at best for the past several years, Brunson and the Knicks are rising. Brunson had a fantastic 2023-2024 regular season, ranking third in Knicks history in both total points (2212) and points per game (28.7). If he continues to play at his current level, Brunson will rank among the greatest guards in franchise history. The short list now, in chronological order, begins with Richie Guerin, who earned six All-Star selections and three All-NBA Team selections as a Knick. Walt Frazier was a seven-time All-Star, and a seven-time member of the All-Defensive Team who also earned six selections to the All-NBA Team. Frazier played an essential role for both of New York's championship teams (1970, 1973). Earl Monroe earned two of his four All-Star selections as a Knick, and he cemented his place in Knicks' lore when he was the second-leading playoff scorer for New York's 1973 NBA championship-winning squad. After participating in one of the NBA's greatest rivalries as members of the Knicks and Bullets respectively, Frazier and Monroe were dubbed the "Rolls Royce" backcourt after Monroe joined the Knicks in 1971. 

My default position is to be skeptical that an undersized player can be a dominant playoff performer, but Brunson may prove to be the exception to that generally applicable rule. After averaging just 8.0 ppg in his 2021 playoff debut as a third year player with the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson scored 21.6 ppg in a 2022 playoff run to the Western Conference Finals and 27.8 ppg as he led the Knicks to the second round last year. He is averaging 33.0 ppg in the first four games of the 2024 playoffs, and his 3-3 career playoff series record could improve to 4-3 as early as Tuesday if the Knicks beat the 76ers again. The similarly sized Damian Lillard--who was selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team--has posted a 4-8 career playoff series record that will be 4-9 as soon as the Indiana Pacers finish off his Milwaukee Bucks. Here are the playoff series records of several other prominent 6-4 and under guards from the past 40 years: 

• Isiah Thomas (16-7, with two championships and one Finals MVP)
• Joe Dumars (15-8, with two championships and one Finals MVP)
• Chauncey Billups (17-11, with one championship and one Finals MVP)
• Allen Iverson (6-8, with one NBA Finals appearance)
• Tony Parker (30-12, with four championships and one Finals MVP)
• Steve Nash (11-12)
• Derrick Rose (4-7)
• Stephen Curry (23-5, four championships and one Finals MVP)
  
• Russell Westbrook (11-11, with one Finals appearance)

Thomas and Dumars had great success playing alongside each other with a good supporting cast, though Thomas was clearly the superior player even though they each won one Finals MVP. Billups won his lone NBA title playing alongside four players who made the All-Star team at least once, plus four-time All-Defensive Team member Tayshaun Prince. Iverson carried the 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals but never made it past the second round in any other season. Parker won four titles playing alongside Pantheon member Tim Duncan, one of the greatest big men in pro basketball history. Nash won back to back regular season MVPs in a league featuring Pantheon members Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan, but he went 0-4 in the Western Conference Finals and just 7-5 in first round series. Rose led the Chicago Bulls to the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, but two years later he suffered a devastating knee injury that altered his career arc and ended his time as an elite level player, though he is still active. Curry has won four championships and made six NBA Finals appearances with the Golden State Warriors. Andre Iguodala won the Finals MVP for the first of those four championship teams, and then Kevin Durant won the Finals MVP the next two times Golden State captured the title, with Curry earning his lone Finals MVP in 2022. Westbrook teamed with Kevin Durant to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to four Western Conference Finals appearances and the 2012 NBA Finals.  

It will be interesting to revisit the above list in 10 years and see how Brunson stacks up, particularly if he can avoid serious injuries.

Labels: Bernard King, Earl Monroe, Jalen Brunson, Joel Embiid, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Richie Guerin, Tyrese Maxey, Walt Frazier

posted by David Friedman @ 1:50 AM

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Remembering Willis Reed, the Heart and Soul of the New York Knicks

Willis Reed, the spiritual and physical leader of the great New York Knicks teams of the early 1970s, passed away earlier today. Here is the scouting report on Reed that I wrote in one of my articles about the NBA's 50 Greatest Players:

Willis Reed is the first player to win the All-Star Game MVP, regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same season (1970). Michael Jordan (1996 and 1998) and Shaquille O'Neal (2000) are the only other players who accomplished this feat. Reed also finished second in the 1969 regular season MVP voting and fourth in the 1971 regular season MVP voting. His trophy case includes the 1973 Finals MVP and the 1965 Rookie of the Year award. Reed made the All-NBA Team five times, including one First Team selection (1970, the year he earned his only All-Defensive Team selection, also to the First Team). His New York teams advanced to the NBA Finals three times (1970, 1972-73) and won two titles (1970, 1973).

Reed never led the league in a major statistical category but he averaged at least 11.6 rpg in each of his first seven seasons and his career average of 12.9 rpg ranks 13th in ABA/NBA history. While Reed could post up and he had a good hook shot, his New York Knicks often ran an inverted offense featuring guards Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe attacking the hoop while Reed and forwards Dave DeBusschere and Jerry Lucas bombed away from outside. Reed did not display three point range--which, of course, was not necessary or desirable at a time that the NBA had not adopted the three point shot from the ABA--but he had a reliable shot in the 15-18 foot range. Reed was an excellent defensive player and he had great physical presence. He was not a great passer but he contributed offensively not only as a scorer but also as a screen setter.

While Reed put up impressive statistics during his prime, he is most famous for a game during which he scored just four points: in game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals versus the L.A. Lakers, a hobbled Reed limped on to the court after missing game six due to a hip injury and he made his first two shots from the field, providing inspiration as the Knicks rolled to a 113-99 victory. Walt Frazier had 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds in game seven but Reed received the Finals MVP after averaging a team-high 23.0 ppg plus 10.5 rpg during the series (Reed averaged 26.8 ppg during the first five games of the series before suffering the injury). 

Many current NBA players talk like they are tough and act like they are tough. Reed proved that he was tough through his actions, not through words or false bravado. He not only played through injury, but he never backed down from any challenge; not that fighting should be glorified, but during an era when real fighting--not the "hold me back" posturing that we see so much today--was common in the NBA there may not have been a more feared/respected player than Reed, perhaps best exemplified by a 1966 melee during which Reed took on multiple Lakers in succession "and just decimated this team," as his teammate Phil Jackson later put it. 

Reed made the All-Star team in each of his first seven seasons, but he fully hit his stride in 1969 after the Knicks traded Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives to the Detroit Pistons for Dave DeBusschere. The departure of Bellamy and addition of DeBusschere enabled Reed to shift from power forward to center while DeBusschere took over the power forward duties. In 1969, Reed earned the first of three straight top four finishes in regular season MVP voting as the Knicks went 54-28 before reaching the Eastern Division Finals for the first time since 1953. 

That set the stage for the Knicks' storied 1970 season, when they were the top overall seed in the NBA playoffs with a 60-22 record before defeating the Baltimore Bullets (4-3), Milwaukee Bucks (4-1), and L.A. Lakers (4-3) to capture the franchise's first NBA title. So much has been written and said about how tough Reed was to come back from a painful hip injury to play in game seven of the NBA Finals that it is often forgotten how dominant he had been in the 1970 playoffs before he got hurt. Reed averaged 21.3 ppg and 17.7 rpg versus the Bullets, who featured Hall of Famers Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson in their frontcourt, plus Hall of Famer (and future Knick) Earl Monroe in the backcourt. Reed then averaged 27.8 ppg and 12.2 rpg versus the Bucks while battling Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who also had an excellent series, averaging 34.2 ppg and 17.8 rpg); Reed may not have outplayed Abdul-Jabbar, but he was productive enough to balance out that matchup, which enabled the Knicks to exploit matchup advantages at other positions. Then, as noted above, Reed averaged a team-high 23.0 ppg in the NBA Finals versus Wilt Chamberlain despite scoring just four points in game seven while hobbling around with his hip injury.

The iconic call by Marv Albert--"Now here comes Willis--and the crowd is going wild!"--combined with the footage of Reed walking through the tunnel on to the court before game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals is one of the classic moments in NBA history. Reed's willingness to play through pain and to sacrifice his individual statistics to help his team win stand in marked contrast to the "load management" and veneration of individual statistics over team goals that characterize so many of today's most talented NBA players.

Reed later said, "This was something we all wanted very badly. It was so close you could touch it. It's one game. It was what I dreamed of as a high school kid. It was what I worked so hard in college for. Not only me, but everyone in that locker room. The coaches. Management. For me to not go out there to try and be a part of that, to try and give whatever I could--and I didn't know what it was--then I would be letting them down and letting myself down. If I tried and failed that's the way I wanted it. I didn't want to be a guy who didn't come out and show he had the guts and grit to be there...That was the moment to try."

In my chapter about the NBA in the 1970s in the anthology Basketball in America, I mentioned that it takes nothing away from what the Knicks accomplished in 1970 to point out that, contrary to the mythology that has developed regarding the 1970 NBA Finals, the Knicks were not plucky underdogs but rather a young team stacked with Hall of Famers facing an aging Lakers team whose three main cogs--Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor--were all in their 30s: "It is true that by the conclusion of the 1970 playoffs West (3708 points, 30.9 points per game) Baylor (3623 points, 27.0 points per game), and Chamberlain (2990 points, 25.8 points per game) were the three leading scorers in NBA playoff history. That is impressive and unprecedented, but it also reflects the fact that all three players were past their primes. Baylor's chronically bad knees would soon force him to retire and, as noted above, Chamberlain had not completely recovered from his early season knee injury. West still had plenty of great games left, but his body was also battered and bruised from so many years of battling deep into the playoffs. The Knicks were hardly an underdog team without a chance; there is a reason that they had homecourt advantage for game seven. None of these facts diminish Reed's courage, Frazier's clutch game seven performance and the overall greatness of the 1970 New York Knicks. Quite the opposite: the 1970 Knicks should be remembered as a great team, not as an underdog."

Reed was the undisputed leader of that great 1970 Knicks team. 

In 1970-71, Reed had another excellent season, but the Knicks' bid to win back to back titles ended with a seven game loss to the Bullets in the Eastern Conference Finals. Reed battled injuries in his final three seasons, but he won the 1973 Finals MVP while leading a balanced attack that defeated the defending champion L.A. Lakers, 4-1. Reed played in just 19 regular season games in 1973-74 before retiring.

After his playing career ended, Reed had a brief stint as the Knicks' head coach (1977-1979). He was Creighton University's head coach from 1981-85, and then worked as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings before becoming the head coach of the New Jersey Nets from 1987-89. During his time as the Nets' general manager in the 1990s, the Nets drafted Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson while also signing Drazen Petrovic. Those three players helped the Nets become a playoff team before Petrovic's tragic death in a car accident. Reed was the New Orleans Hornets' Vice President of Basketball Operations from 2004-07.

Reed received many honors after he retired, including induction in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, selection as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, and selection to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.

Labels: Marv Albert, New York Knicks, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 11:52 PM

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Justin Termine's All-1970s and All-1980s Teams

Justine Termine's website declares that he is "an entertainer, not a journalist," which is an admission that his player rankings are designed more to promote conversation/controversy than to actually evaluate greatness. Nevertheless, the All-Decade Teams that he announced on Sirius NBA radio last year* at least provide a foundation to discuss the subject of how one might best select an All-Decade team.

Termine chose Walt Frazier, John Havlicek, Rick Barry, Elvin Hayes and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for his All-1970s Team. Termine's All-1980s Team includes Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

It is important to establish two ground rules when selecting an All-Decade Team: (1) The minimum number of games played to qualify and (2) Determining what position a player played.

Generally, in order to qualify to be listed among career regular season statistical leaders in the NBA record book, a player must have competed in at least 400 games. Essentially, that constitutes a five year career. Since most great NBA careers begin in one decade and conclude in another, the 400 game standard is a bit too high for inclusion on an All-Decade Team, so I propose that the minimum number of games be 320. A player can significantly impact a decade by participating in at least four seasons.

Positional designations can be tricky. The modern NBA is almost position-less, comprising "bigs" who mainly play in the paint (a dying breed) and "smalls" (who often are 6-9 or taller) who play all over the court. In the 1970s and 1980s, though, positional designations were more meaningful and most teams had a point guard, a shooting guard, a small forward, a power forward and a center. The point guard handled the ball and ran the offense, the shooting guard was generally a scorer who had some ballhandling responsibilities, the small forward mainly played on the wing (though he could also contribute on the boards and perhaps occasionally post up on offense), the power forward rebounded and defended the hoop (and sometimes was a prime scoring option as well) and the center typically played with his back to the basket at both ends of the court. Obviously, these descriptions do not apply to all players from those eras, but an examination of the All-NBA Teams selected during those decades demonstrates that those squads almost always consisted of two guards, two forwards and one center. Sometimes, two small forwards were chosen instead of a small forward and a power forward but at the very least the broad designations of guard/forward/center were followed pretty consistently.

An All-Decade Team should comprise two guards, two forwards and one center who each played at least 320 regular season games during that decade. How should the players be selected/ranked? The answer to that question is inherently subjective to some extent; even people who claim to be using purely "objective" statistical tools are actually being subjective, because the statistical tools they choose reflect their subjective preferences/biases. I do not have a set formula but I place high importance (in no particular order) on (1) peak value, (2) versatility, (3) lack of a defined skill set weakness, (4) longevity/durability and (5) winning. Regarding the last factor, I do not "punish" a player for not winning if he never had a supporting cast that would have enabled him to win but I do "reward" players who win because, after all, that is why we keep score in the first place. Even when these factors are not explicitly mentioned below, they formed the basis for my selections.

Each member of Termine's All-1970s Team far exceeded the 320 games guideline suggested above but the designation of Havlicek as a guard is questionable at best. While it is true that Havlicek often played shooting guard (particularly early in his career) and he is renowned for his ability to swing between the frontcout and the backcourt, Havlicek made the All-NBA First or Second Team seven times during the 1970s and on each occasion he was listed as a forward. Havlicek ranked second in the decade in total assists (4185) but that does not justify listing him as a guard; Barry was right behind Havlicek in third place with 4093 assists and there is no question that Barry was a forward.

Termine's other selection at guard is right on target. Frazier averaged 20.2 ppg (26th in the 1970s), 6.1 apg (fifth in the 1970s) and 6.0 rpg (first in the 1970s among point guards) during the 1970s. He was the premier defensive guard of that era and a key member of two championship teams. A strong case could be made that Frazier was the best all-around guard of the 1970s.

Other top guards of the 1970s include Jerry West, Pete Maravich, George Gervin, Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Gail Goodrich. West played 320 games in the 1970s, so he just meets my games played requirement. He won one championship and participated in three NBA Finals during the 1970s. West ranks fourth in the decade in scoring average (26.1 ppg) and first in assists (8.7 apg) by nearly a full assist per game over Lenny Wilkens (7.9 apg). West made the All-Defensive First Team each year from 1970-73.

Maravich played 615 games in the 1970s, ranking sixth in scoring average (25.0 ppg), seventh in total points (15,359) and eighth in apg (5.7). Maravich made the All-NBA First Team in 1976 and 1977, when he won the scoring title (31.1 ppg) and finished third in the MVP voting. He was leading the league in scoring in 1978 when he suffered a season-ending knee injury--and he still made the All-NBA Second Team despite appearing in only 50 games. Two drawbacks for Maravich are that he was not a great defender and his teams had minimal playoff success (which is not necessarily his fault, but has to be weighed at least a little bit when comparing him to Frazier and West).

Gervin was a scoring machine in both the ABA and NBA, averaging 24.1 ppg overall (eighth in the 1970s) during the decade and winning two NBA scoring titles (1978, 1979). Gervin began his career as a forward but spent most of the 1970s playing shooting guard. Gervin finished second behind Bill Walton in the 1978 NBA MVP voting and he finished second behind Moses Malone in the 1979 NBA MVP voting.

Archibald remains the only player in NBA/ABA history to win a scoring title and an assists title in the same season, averaging 34.0 ppg and 11.4 apg in 1972-73. He averaged 23.0 ppg (12th in the 1970s) and 7.6 apg (third in the 1970s) during the decade. Archibald only made the playoffs once in the 1970s before winning a championship with Boston in 1981.

Goodrich ranked 10th in both total points (14,692) and total assists (3769) during the 1970s, while finishing 27th in ppg (20.2) and 13th in apg (5.2). He was the leading scorer in the regular season (career-high 25.9 ppg) and playoffs (23.8 ppg) for the 1972 Lakers team that posted a then-record 69 wins en route to capturing the NBA title.

My All-1970s Team includes West at guard alongside Frazier. West led the decade's guards in scoring and assists and he was right behind Frazier as a defender even though West was at the tail end of his career while Frazier was in his prime. West performed at a high level at both ends of the court for teams that perennially contended for championships, so I give him the edge over Maravich even though Maravich put up gaudy numbers in nearly twice as many games. Frazier and West were the two best guards in the early 1970s, Maravich was the best guard in the mid-1970s and Gervin was the best guard in the late 1970s.

Termine's most glaring omission is not including Julius Erving at forward. Erving was clearly the best forward of the 1970s and a strong case could be made that he was the best player, period (the only other serious contender for that honor is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Erving ranked third in the decade in scoring average (26.2), 19th in rebounding average (10.4, second only to Billy Cunningham's 11.4 among small forwards), tied for 22nd-24th in apg (4.5, fourth among small forwards behind John Havlicek, Rick Barry and Billy Cunningham), tied for third-seventh in steals per game (2.1, tied with Rick Barry for best among small forwards) and ninth in blocked shots per game (1.7; steals and blocked shots became official statistics in 1972-73 in the ABA and in 1973-74 in the NBA). Erving won three ABA scoring titles, three ABA regular season MVPs (sharing one with George McGinnis), two ABA Playoff MVPs and two ABA titles. He also led the Philadelphia 76ers to the 1977 NBA Finals in the first season after the NBA-ABA merger.

The forward position was stacked during the 1970s (and the 1980s). A compelling case could be made for many players to join Erving on the All-1970s Team but when you look at versatility, durability and impact three forwards separate themselves from the pack: Rick Barry, John Havlicek and Elvin Hayes.

Barry played like Superman in 1974-75 when he led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA championship, the first and only title of Barry's career. He ranked third in the 1970s in total points (18,389) and assists (4093). He was seventh in scoring average (24.4 ppg) and tied for 10th-11th in apg (5.4, second only to Havlicek among forwards). Barry won five of his seven free throw percentage titles during the 1970s and he was the decade's leader in that department (.899). He was a solid rebounder (6.3 rpg in the 1970s, ranking 45th). Barry covered the passing lanes very well (like Erving, he averaged 2.1 spg during the 1970s) but he rarely blocked shots and overall he was an average defender at best.

I already mentioned Havlicek's status as a perennial All-NBA Team forward and his prowess as a passer. He also was a fixture on the All-Defensive Team (First Team member 1972-76, Second Team member in 1970 and 1971). Havlicek ranked sixth in total points (15,747) and 18th in scoring average (21.9 ppg) during the 1970s. Like Barry, he was a solid rebounder (6.4 rpg in the 1970s, ranking 44th). In the 1960s he was a great sixth man on the storied Boston championship teams led by Bill Russell but in the 1970s Havlicek took on a leading role as Boston won titles in 1974 and 1976. Havlicek earned the 1974 Finals MVP.

Hayes was a great college center at the University of Houston who had a tremendous rivalry with Abdul-Jabbar (who was known as Lew Alcindor when he played for UCLA). Hayes played center early in his NBA career but he spent most of the 1970s playing power forward for the Bullets alongside Hall of Fame center Wes Unseld. Hayes led the 1970s in total rebounds (11,565) and he ranked second in total points (18,922). Hayes averaged 23.2 ppg in the 1970s (11th) and his 14.2 rpg average ranked sixth. He was also an exceptional shot blocker (2.5 bpg, third in the 1970s). Hayes helped the Bullets reach the NBA Finals three times (1975, 1978, 1979) and he was a key contributor to their 1978 championship team. He did not have a great relationship with the media, which probably contributed to him getting stuck with a reputation as a malcontent who did not perform well in clutch situations, but Hayes was a dominant scorer-rebounder-shot blocker throughout the decade.

Hayes was the best power forward of the decade and Havlicek may well have been the best two-way forward but Barry had an extra gear as a dominant scorer, enabling him to win a championship with less help than either Havlicek or Hayes had. I cannot fault anyone for taking Havlicek or Hayes but Barry gets my nod as the other All-1970s Team forward alongside the spectacular Erving.

I agree with Termine's choice of Abdul-Jabbar at center but it is still worth looking at Abdul-Jabbar's resume, as he may be the most underrated great basketball player of all-time. He led the 1970s in total points (22,141, more than 3000 ahead of Hayes), ppg (28.6, 1.2 ppg ahead of Bob McAdoo) and bpg (3.5) while ranking second in total rebounds (11,460) and rpg (14.8). Abdul-Jabbar shot .551 from the field in the 1970s, third behind Bobby Jones and Artis Gilmore, two players who attempted significantly fewer shots per game than he did. Abdul-Jabbar led the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Finals twice (1971, 1974), earning the Finals MVP after a 4-0 sweep of the Bullets in 1971. He won five of his record six regular season MVPs in the 1970s. The only other player who won multiple MVPs in the 1970s is Erving, who picked up three straight (1974-76) in the ABA.

Other top centers during the 1970s include Bob McAdoo, Artis Gilmore, Mel Daniels and Dave Cowens. Moses Malone came on strong at the end of the decade, winning the first of his three regular season MVPs in 1979, but he did not accumulate a significant enough body of work in the 1970s to measure up with Abdul-Jabbar; similarly, Bill Walton played the position about as well as anyone has for a season and a half spanning 1976-78--leading Portland to the 1977 NBA title, winning the 1977 Finals MVP and then earning the 1978 regular season MVP--but he did not sustain his greatness nearly long enough to supplant Abdul-Jabbar from the number one spot on the All-1970s Team.

McAdoo spent a lot of time at forward--particularly later in his career--but in the 1970s he made his mark at center, earning a pair of All-NBA selections at that position in 1974 and 1975. McAdoo also won the 1975 regular season MVP. During the 1970s he ranked second in ppg (27.4), he tied for sixth-seventh in bpg (2.0) and he tied for eighth-tenth in rpg (12.2). McAdoo also ranked 11th in field goal percentage (.509) even though he shot a lot of long range jumpers. When Bill Russell was asked how McAdoo ranked among big men as a shooter, Russell responded that McAdoo was one of the great shooters of all-time regardless of size or position.

Gilmore was one of the few centers who had enough size and strength to cause problems for Abdul-Jabbar. These two titans had some great battles in the late 1970s and early 1980s after the NBA-ABA merger. Gilmore ranked ninth in total points (14,708) and fourth in total rebounds (10,353) in the 1970s. He won the 1975 ABA Playoff MVP after leading the Kentucky Colonels to their first and only championship. Gilmore had the 16th highest scoring average in the 1970s (22.1 ppg), the best rebounding average (15.5 rpg) and the second best blocked shots per game average (3.0 bpg).

Daniels was the man in the middle for the Indiana Pacers as they won three ABA titles (1970, 1972-73). He is the ABA's all-time leading rebounder and he earned one of his two regular season MVPs during the 1970s (1971). Daniels was not a huge scorer (17.0 ppg, 58th in the 1970s) but he tied for third-fourth in rebounding (14.6 rpg) and 10th-11th in blocked shots (1.5 bpg).

Cowens ranked fifth in total rebounds (9636) in the 1970s and he tied Daniels for third-fourth with a 14.6 rpg average. He tied for 35th-36th in the 1970s with an 18.6 ppg average. The undersized Cowens did not block many shots for a center (1.0 bpg) but he was a feisty defensive player who earned three All-Defensive Team selections. Cowens won the 1973 NBA regular season MVP and he finished fourth, second and third respectively in the 1974, 1975 and 1976 MVP voting. Cowens played a major role for Boston's 1974 and 1976 championship teams.

McAdoo, Gilmore, Daniels and Cowens are each Hall of Famers who hit their primes in the 1970s but none of them accomplished enough to warrant being ranked ahead of Abdul-Jabbar.

Thus, my All-1970s Team is Walt Frazier, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Rick Barry and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Termine did a better job with his All-1980s Team than he did with his All-1970s Team but at least three of the five picks are absolute no-brainers: Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan have to be the guards and Larry Bird has to be one of the forwards. Abdul-Jabbar is the best choice at center, though he had some competition from Moses Malone early in the decade and Hakeem Olajuwon as the decade closed. However, Termine's pro-Celtic (and perhaps anti-Julius Erving) bias shows a bit with his selection of Kevin McHale as the other forward. While McHale was a great player, he was not a better or more dominant performer in the 1980s than Erving.

Magic Johnson was the player of the decade. In the 1980s he won two of his three regular season MVPs (1987, 1989), he won three Finals MVPs (1980 as a rookie, 1982, 1987) and he led the Lakers to five championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) in eight Finals appearances. Johnson's Lakers defeated Bird's Celtics in two of their three Finals matchups, Johnson won two more championships than Bird and Johnson led the Lakers to the first back to back titles since Russell's Celtics accomplished the feat in 1968-69.

Johnson ranked first in apg by a country mile (11.2, 1.4 apg more than Isiah Thomas) during the 1980s and he led the league in that category four times. Johnson was not a great one on one defender but he used his size to good effect on the defensive boards and he played the passing lanes very well, ranking eighth in spg (2.0) during the 1980s while leading the league in that department twice. Although not known as a huge scorer for most of his career, he still ranked 26th in scoring average (19.2 ppg). Johnson was an exceptional rebounder for a guard, averaging 7.4 rpg in the 1980s to rank 28th, right behind Abdul-Jabbar and McHale. He was not a great outside shooter but he improved in that area as his career progressed and he also became an excellent free throw shooter (.834, 17th best in the 1980s) who won the free throw shooting crown in 1989. His basketball IQ was off the charts and don't let the megawatt smile fool you: he was a killer on the court.

Jordan took the league by storm with his individual talents but in each of his first three seasons the Chicago Bulls were a sub-.500 team that lost in the first round of the playoffs. He won one of his five regular season MVPs in the 1980s (1988) and he won the Defensive Player of the Year award the same year, the first player to accomplish that feat (Hakeem Olajuwon did it in 1994, while David Robinson eventually won both awards but not in the same season). Jordan won three of his record 10 scoring titles in the 1980s and his 37.1 ppg average in 1986-87 is the record for players not named Wilt Chamberlain (Chamberlain exceeded that mark four times). Jordan averaged 32.6 ppg in the 1980s, 6.1 ppg more than second place finisher Adrian Dantley. Though Jordan was criticized for supposedly being selfish in his early years, he averaged 5.9 apg in the 1980s (12th best and just .2 apg behind Bird, who was lauded for his passing skills). Jordan ranked ninth in free throw shooting percentage (.848). Other than three point shooting, Jordan had no skill set weaknesses.

Bird won three straight regular season MVPs (1984-86), a feat only accomplished by Russell (1961-63), Chamberlain (1966-68) and Erving (1974-76 in the ABA). He led the Celtics to three championships (1981, 1984, 1986), winning two Finals MVPs (1984, 1986). As mentioned above, he was renowned for his passing skills--but he was also a top notch scorer, ranking sixth in the decade with a 25.0 ppg average topped only by scoring champions Jordan, Dantley, Dominique Wilkins, Gervin and Alex English. Bird was described as a pass-first player but he attempted 19.6 field goals per game during the 1980s, the fifth highest average behind only Jordan, Wilkins, English and Gervin. Bird ranked ninth in rpg (10.2) and tied for 13th-14th in steals (1.8 spg). Bird was a notoriously poor one on one defender who was routinely assigned to guard the weakest offensive threat on the opposing team's frontcourt but he inexplicably received a pair of All-Defensive Second Team selections early in his career. Bird was the best free throw shooter in the 1980s (.880).

Bird's teammate McHale was a great low post scorer who twice led the NBA in field goal percentage and who could guard all three frontcourt positions during his prime but he only made the All-NBA Team once (1987, when he finished fourth in MVP voting--the only time he placed in the top 12). He never averaged 10 rpg during a season, as Bird and Robert Parish annually ranked 1-2 on the team in that category. I am not bashing McHale at all, just stating the facts: he was a great player but even when one limits the comparison to 1980s statistics and accomplishments he must be ranked behind Erving.

It is unfortunate that even many so-called basketball historians have forgotten that the sport's marquee matchup for the first four years of the 1980s was the Erving-Bird rivalry. Erving and Bird made the All-NBA First Team each season from 1980-83 (in 1984, the 34 year old Erving slipped to Second Team status while Bird remained on the First Team). Erving and Bird faced each other in three Eastern Conference Finals during that period, with Erving's 76ers winning in 1980 and 1982, while Bird's Celtics overcame a 3-1 deficit to triumph in 1981 (a past his prime Erving lost to Bird 4-1 in the 1985 Eastern Conference Finals). Erving's "prize" for twice besting Bird was to face the L.A. Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the NBA Finals, while Bird won an NBA title against a sub-.500 Houston team in 1981. Moses Malone joined forces with Erving in 1982-83 and that tandem proved unstoppable, rolling to a 65-17 regular season record before going 12-1 in the playoffs, capping things off in style by sweeping the Lakers 4-0. Only the 2001 L.A. Lakers posted a better playoff record (15-1 in an expanded format) than the 1983 76ers.

Erving was not quite the same player in the 1980s as he had been in the 1970s but in 1981 at the age of 31 he won the regular season MVP, becoming the first non-center to win the NBA MVP since Oscar Robertson in 1964. Erving was the forerunner of a host of non-centers who subsequently won the award. The only 1980s forward who topped Erving's four All-NBA First Team selections is Bird (nine); the next players on the list are Bernard King and Charles Barkley (two each). Erving spent some time at guard in his final two seasons--when he was still an All-Star but no longer an elite player--but he still ranked 15th in the 1980s in scoring (22.0 ppg), 38th in rebounding (6.4 rpg, better than the similarly sized and much younger Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler and James Worthy), 28th in assists (3.8 apg, fifth best among small forwards), 13th-14th in steals (1.8 spg) and 10th in blocked shots (1.6 bpg, the best mark among small forwards). From 1980-84 at the ages of 30-34, Erving finished second, first, third, fifth and sixth in the regular season MVP voting. It is also worth noting that he captured All-Star MVP honors in 1983 and he finished second in the Slam Dunk Contest in 1984, demonstrating that he could match (and exceed) the aerial acrobatics of players significantly younger than he was. The All-Star Game MVP and the Slam Dunk Contest do not factor into All-Decade Team consideration but the point is that well into his 30s Erving was perceived as and performed like an elite player who was still a torch bearer for the league even with the emergence of Bird and Magic.

The 1980s was perhaps the NBA's golden age of small forwards, as Dantley (26.5 ppg, third in the 1980s), Wilkins (26.0 ppg, fourth in the 1980s) and English (25.9 ppg, fifth in the 1980s) each outscored Bird and Erving. King (22.6 ppg, 12th in the 1980s) gave Bird a run for his money for 1984 regular season MVP honors and then clinched the 1985 scoring title with an eye-popping 32.9 ppg average before a devastating knee injury almost ended his career. Other high scoring 1980s small forwards include Mark Aguirre (24.1 ppg, eighth in the 1980s) and Kiki Vandeweghe (22.8 ppg, 11th in the 1980s). However, none of those forwards won championships except for Aguirre and none of those forwards could impact a game in as many ways or as profoundly as Erving and Bird.

Two other forwards worth mentioning are Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, who began their ascents toward stardom in the 1980s but did not emerge as MVPs until the 1990s. 

Like Erving, Abdul-Jabbar was not as dominant in the 1980s as he was in the 1970s--and, like Erving, Abdul-Jabbar did more in the 1980s alone than most players do in their entire careers. Abdul-Jabbar was already 33 years old by the conclusion of the 1980 regular season but the arrival of rookie Magic Johnson seemed to lift his spirits. Abdul-Jabbar won five championships with Johnson and it is not like he was riding Johnson's coattails; Abdul-Jabbar won the 1980 regular season MVP (and probably would have won the 1980 Finals MVP if a sprained ankle had not forced him out of game six, setting the stage for Johnson's legendary 42 point, 15 rebound, seven assist performance) and at 38 years old he captured the 1985 Finals MVP. He made the All-NBA First Team four times during the 1980s, more than any other center (Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon each earned three First Team selections during the decade). He ranked 18th in scoring (20.6 ppg), 26th in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and third in blocked shots per game (2.6). Abdul-Jabbar was the focal point of the Lakers' offense until 1986-87 and even though he was no longer a dominant rebounder he was still a formidable rim protector.

Abdul-Jabbar's only serious challengers for pivot supremacy in the 1980s were Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon. Malone won a pair of regular season MVPs (1982, 1983) and he outplayed Abdul-Jabbar in the 1983 Finals. In the 1980s, Malone ranked seventh in scoring (24.5 ppg), first in rebounding (13.2 rpg) and 12th in blocked shots per game (1.4). His individual numbers were better than Abdul-Jabbar's and for a two year stretch (1982-83) he outplayed Abdul-Jabbar but Malone did not sustain that level, enabling Abdul-Jabbar to regain All-NBA First Team status. As first Malone and then Abdul-Jabbar faded, Olajuwon stepped to the forefront. In the 1980s Olajuwon relied more on pure athleticism than the nimble footwork which he perfected in the 1990s but even in his raw, early days he was a force to be reckoned with, ranking 10th in scoring (23.0 ppg), second in rebounding (12.1 rpg) and first in blocked shots (3.1 bpg) during the 1980s. Olajuwon was without question the best center in the NBA during the final three years of the 1980s. He actually finished fourth in the 1986 MVP voting, one spot ahead of Abdul-Jabbar, who was selected over Olajuwon as the All-NBA First Team center. Olajuwon captured All-NBA First Team honors in 1987-89, ranking seventh, seventh and fifth in the regular season MVP voting during those seasons. In the 1980s, Malone was more physical and relentless than Abdul-Jabbar, while Olajuwon was more athletic, but no center had a longer run at the top--both individually and from a team standpoint--than Abdul-Jabbar.

Thus, my All-1980s Team is Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

____________________

* One could argue that this is old news since Termine selected his All-Decade teams last year but this is the first opportunity that I have had to respond in depth and since the subject matter is historical the timeliness of the response does not matter; it is more important to address this subject thoroughly than it is to immediately fire something off in response.

Labels: All-Decade Teams, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Justin Termine, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Rick Barry, Walt Frazier

posted by David Friedman @ 3:21 PM

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Geometry, Art--and Doc

I wrote this free verse poem on November 8, 1988.

Labels: Bo Lamar, Earl Monroe, Johnny Neumann, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich, Walt Frazier, World B. Free

posted by David Friedman @ 3:59 PM

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When the Garden was Eden: A Nostalgic Trip Through the Golden Age of New York Hoops

New York professional sports experienced a golden age from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, with the Jets, Mets, Nets and Knicks each winning at least one league title. Joe Namath's Jets and Tom Seaver's Mets are fondly remembered to this day even though they were each basically one year wonders. Julius Erving's Nets won ABA championships in 1974 and 1976 but they never quite captured the imagination of New York, let alone the rest of the country; Erving eventually became recognized as an all-time great but his years in New York are still shrouded in obscurity because the Nets specifically and their league in general did not receive much national media coverage.

The Knicks were the crown jewel of that brief golden age of New York sports. The Knicks not only won the 1970 and 1973 NBA championships but they reached the Division (later Conference) Finals six straight years while having a memorable rivalry with the Baltimore Bullets that produced many classic individual battles, including Dave DeBusschere versus Gus Johnson and Walt Frazier versus Earl Monroe (the Knicks later acquired Monroe, pairing him with Frazier to form the "Rolls Royce" backcourt). The early 1970s Knicks featured five of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players (Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Earl Monroe and Willis Reed).

The Knicks have not won an NBA championship since 1973 and--even if the lockout "nuclear winter" ends soon--it is exceedingly unlikely that the Knicks will win the NBA championship in the near future. Memories, nostalgia and hope are all that sustain Knicks' fans today; whether or not the hope is well founded is a subject for another day but plenty of wonderful memories and nostalgic glimpses back to the golden age can be found in Harvey Araton's When the Garden was Eden: Clyde, the Captain, Dollar Bill, and the Glory Days of the New York Knicks. Araton rooted for the Knicks as a teenager and he has covered the New York sports scene for more than three decades, starting just after the golden age ended.

Araton begins his story with a brief prologue that poignantly contrasts the beautiful, teamwork-oriented game played by the 1970s Knicks with the disjointed and lifeless efforts of the 2010 Knicks, a patchwork group of players assembled not to win but to serve as placeholders until the franchise made its ultimately fruitless run at wooing LeBron James, who later infamously decided to take his talents to South Beach--a narcissistic and solipsistic phrase that represents the antithesis of how the golden age Knicks thought about and played basketball: when Monroe joined the Knicks he did not take his talents to Madison Square Garden in a self-aggrandizing manner but rather sacrificed individual glory to achieve team success. Monroe made a choice that would be almost unthinkable for a modern superstar: he willingly sacrificed his numbers (and even, for a time, his starting role) for a chance to win a title. Monroe took it as a challenge to prove that he could fit in with the Knicks' team concept, while far too many modern superstars would only view such a situation as a disrespectful challenge to their egos (and their paychecks). Frazier--now a Knicks' broadcaster--confided to Araton that, although he tries to keep his feelings in check as he provides commentary about the bumbling Knicks, "Man, sometimes it's like watching a different sport."

Araton does not limit himself to describing the details of the Knicks' glory days but instead takes a leisurely stroll through the nooks and crannies of Knicks' history, exploring diverse topics ranging from Willis Reed's Louisiana roots to the reason that Madison Square Garden is known as the "Mecca" of basketball (Araton reports that the "Mecca" designation for a New York sports venue originated with the Shriners' Mecca Temple, an old boxing arena). Much of this territory has been explored before both in first person accounts by the participants as well as recollections by various sports writers but Araton's account is neither a straight history of the team nor strictly a personal memoir; Araton writes in the first person and interjects himself--appropriately, not excessively--into the narrative, creating a text that is both intimate and informative.

Red Holzman played for the Rochester Royals' 1951 NBA championship team before serving the Knicks as a scout and a front office executive--but he made his biggest mark as a Hall of Fame coach, compiling a 696-604 record in 18 seasons on the bench while leading the Knicks to the franchise's only two championships. Holzman's daughter Gail granted Araton exclusive access to Holzman's old scouting reports, the only proviso being that Araton not directly mention any critical comments that Holzman made about various players; Araton explains that Gail, like her father, was "unwilling under any conditions to publicly share anything that might be construed as negative...Her father would not have approved." One gem from those files is Holzman's comment after seeing Cazzie Russell's Michigan Wolverines defeat Bill Bradley's Princeton Tigers on a last second jumper by Russell: "Guts to take the last shot." The willingness to take a clutch shot is not something that can be quantified but, as Araton puts it, Holzman knew that a championship team cannot be built around guys who are "conscientious objectors" when the game is on the line.

Holzman's teams achieved a rare harmonious balance: the roster was stacked with Hall of Fame talent but each great player kept his ego in check and the group worked together to achieve a collective goal without fussing over who would receive the credit and the glory. Sure, Frazier may have griped at times that he, not Reed, should have been awarded the 1970 Finals MVP, and Monroe no doubt wonders what his individual career numbers would have looked like had he finished his career as a Bullet; such thoughts are only natural but they never interfered with the team's performance on the court and they pale in comparison to the ego explosions that have undermined so many other squads that contained multiple superstars.

Not surprisingly, the book's longest chapter focuses on game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals--known to most casual basketball fans as the Willis Reed game but remembered by students of basketball history as the game in which Walt Frazier produced one of the greatest clutch performances ever (36 points, 19 assists, seven rebounds) as the Knicks defeated the L.A. Lakers 113-99. Araton deftly weaves together his personal impressions of that 1970 Knicks team with the thoughts and recollections of various players, broadcasters (most notably Marv Albert) and fans (including Spike Lee, who attended game seven at Madison Square Garden as a 13 year old).

Although the Knicks' victory is commonly viewed as the triumph of an underdog over the star-studded trio of Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West--an impression that Araton neither aggressively propagates nor definitively rejects--in the interest of historical accuracy I will briefly share the nuanced description of that series that I wrote a few years ago:

It is true that by the conclusion of the 1970 playoffs West (3708 points, 30.9 points per game) Baylor (3623 points, 27.0 points per game), and Chamberlain (2990 points, 25.8 points per game) were the three leading scorers in NBA playoff history. That is impressive and unprecedented, but it also reflects the fact that all three players were past their primes. Baylor's chronically bad knees would soon force him to retire and, as noted above, Chamberlain had not completely recovered from his early season knee injury. West still had plenty of great games left, but his body was also battered and bruised from so many years of battling deep into the playoffs. The Knicks were hardly an underdog team without a chance; there is a reason that they had homecourt advantage for game seven. None of these facts diminish Reed's courage, Frazier's clutch game seven performance and the overall greatness of the 1970 New York Knicks. Quite the opposite: the 1970 Knicks should be remembered as a great team, not as an underdog.

Placing that matchup in proper historical context does not diminish the unquestioned impact that the Knicks' victory had on the franchise, the city and pro sports history; the images of Willis Reed walking out of the tunnel prior to the game and then hitting his first two jumpers are an indelible part of American popular culture. Hall of Fame forward Bill Bradley, a Rhodes Scholar before becoming a Knick and a U.S. Senator after his Knicks' career ended, told Araton why the Knicks' 1970 championship resonated so deeply at that time and still has a special place in fans' hearts decades later:

In life, it's very difficult to get to the mountaintop, because one day leads to another day and leads to another day. There are small wins and losses in the process. You win an election or lose an election. You can close a deal or not close a deal. But in sports, what you can do as a team, and with your fans feeling part of it, is show what's possible for human beings to achieve if they work together, if they care about each other. Winning the title gave resolution to people who didn't have much resolution in their lives, at a time when resolution was something they really needed.

The Knicks lost to the Bullets in seven games in the 1971 Eastern Conference Finals and then fell in five games to the Lakers in the 1972 NBA Finals. By 1973, Reed was not just temporarily hobbled but rather permanently limited by an accumulation of ailments; he was two years removed from his final All-Star selection and a shadow of his former self, averaging just 11.0 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Frazier was at the top of his game and he was clearly the Knicks' best player. The Boston Celtics cruised to the NBA's best record (68-14) but after a shoulder injury restricted John Havlicek the Knicks took out the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals to earn their third NBA Finals appearance in four seasons, the final chapter in their trilogy of battles against the Lakers. The Knicks defeated the Lakers in five games but, as Reed mentioned to Araton, it sometimes seems like people do not even remember that the Knicks won a second title; the 1970 team has been elevated to legendary status, while the 1973 squad has receded somewhat into the mist.

The flipside of Bradley's poetic rendering of what the 1970s Knicks mean to their fans is that the camaraderie the players felt for one another did not necessarily extend to how the franchise treated them as their respective careers wound down: the Knicks banished Frazier to Cleveland, fired Reed after barely more than one season as Holzman's successor and informed Monroe of the end of his tenure with the team via a newspaper article written by none other than Araton himself. The Celtics and Lakers historically have taken care of their great players--bringing them back as coaches, scouts or front office members--but that is not always the case with other NBA teams (Julius Erving, who usually measures his public words quite carefully, noted during his Farewell Tour that this tribute was an exception for the Philadelphia 76ers and that many of his former teammates had just been unceremoniously cut or had drifted away without much fanfare or recognition from the team). Monroe told Araton, "The history of what's been here: that should be what every organization is about. If you don't honor your history, then how can you plot your future? If you history has been clouded, it sends a bad message. You haven't won the championship in almost 40 years; karma-wise, that may be the reason why. I mean, how long did it take to retire Dick Barnett's number?" Barnett, the third leading scorer on the 1970 championship team behind only Reed and Frazier, played the last nine seasons of his 14 year career with the Knicks and made the All-Star team as a Knick just prior to the beginning of the Knicks' golden age.

Ironically, a role player for those Knicks teams eventually won five of his record 11 championships coaching the Lakers; Phil Jackson sat out the 1970 season because of a back injury and he averaged just 8.1 ppg for the 1973 NBA champions but his later success in Chicago and L.A. can very much be traced back to his time in New York, specifically the mentoring he received from Holzman; Jackson's description of Holzman's demeanor indicates the genesis of Jackson's laid-back coaching style: "Kind words when they were needed, but mostly a matter-of-fact guy. It was the middle of the road--not too high, not too low." Jackson told Araton that Holzman offered Jackson some simple advice about coaching winning basketball: "It's not rocket science. It's see the ball on defense, hit the open man on offense." Araton commented, "Zen philosophy stripped away, Jackson was much like Holzman: he allowed his players to succeed through self-discovery."

When the Garden was Eden mostly hits the right notes, though the concluding passages comparing the character traits of various golden age Knicks to President Obama are a bit discordant; America is a country consisting of roughly 40% Democrats, 40% Republicans and 20% swing voters, so an extended love letter dedicated to one side of the political spectrum is sure to seem odd--if not completely misplaced--to at least nearly half of the readership of the book (it could also be safely argued that the Knicks' place in history is a lot more secure than President Obama's, as the reputations of politicians are apt to rise or fall very swiftly). Despite the odd ending, When the Garden was Eden makes a positive impression overall: it is an easy and enjoyable book to read, a heartfelt and personal portrait of the golden age Knicks.

Labels: Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe, Harvey Araton, Jerry Lucas, New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 7:55 PM

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The NBA in the 1970s: The Rolls Royce Backcourt Drives Off With The Title

I wrote the chapter about the NBA in the 1970s for the 2005 anthology Basketball in America: From the Playgrounds to Jordan's Game and Beyond. This is the fourth of 12 installments reprinting that chapter in its entirety.

I have removed the footnotes that accompanied the original text; direct quotations are now acknowledged in the body of the work and I will post a bibliography at the end of the final installment. I hope that you enjoy my take on one of the most fascinating and eventful decades in NBA history.

The Rolls Royce Backcourt Drives Off With The Title

The Celtics were the class of the league in the 1972-1973 season, racing to a 68-14 record, only one game off the Lakers' mark set the year before. Dave Cowens was selected MVP, Paul Silas added rebounding and toughness, and John Havlicek had yet another outstanding season. The Bullets (52-30) won their third straight Central Division title behind the 21.2 points per game and 14.5 rebounds per game of Elvin Hayes, acquired in the offseason from the Rockets. The Philadelphia 76ers represented the opposite end of the spectrum. They hit rock bottom in 1972-1973 after a steady free fall since Wilt Chamberlain led the team to the 1967 championship. Sixers' star Billy Cunningham signed a deal to play with the ABA Carolina Cougars and although he later decided that he wanted to remain with the Sixers, a court ruling forced him to honor the contract with the Cougars. Without the "Kangaroo Kid" the 76ers collapsed to a 9-73 record, worst in NBA history; Cunningham won the ABA MVP that season. While the Sixers got the short end of the stick, the NBA did get a superstar forward to replace Cunningham: Rick Barry was compelled by court order to return to the Warriors after playing out his contract with the ABA's New York Nets.

Rick Barry's arrival in Golden State brought his career full circle. In 1965-1966 he was the Rookie of the Year for the then San Francisco Warriors and the next year he won the scoring title (2775 points, 35.6 points per game) while leading the Warriors to the NBA Finals. After that season he became the first big NBA star to jump to the ABA, signing with the Oakland Oaks, but a court ruling stated that he either had to play out his option year with the Warriors or sit out a season before joining the Oaks. Barry chose to sit out. The next year Barry won the ABA scoring title (34.0 points per game), becoming the first and only player to capture scoring crowns in both leagues. The Oaks won the championship, but Barry missed a sizeable portion of the regular season and all of the playoffs due to injury. The Oaks moved to Washington, D.C. for the 1969-1970 season and Barry signed with the NBA Warriors, contending that his deal with the Oaks included an escape clause if the team left the Bay area. Again the courts ruled against Barry and he averaged 27.7 points per game for the Washington Capitols. In the offseason the Capitols became the Virginia Squires, but Barry complained so vociferously about this move that the team dealt him to the Nets. Barry enjoyed two successful seasons with the Nets and decided that he wanted to remain with the team, but there was the issue of the contract that he had signed with the Warriors in the wake of the Oaks move to Washington. The courts ruled that he could not remain with the Nets after his contract with the club expired in 1972, so after five eventful years Barry ended up right back where his career began. He held the dubious distinction of being the one player in this time period who repeatedly lost his court cases, in contrast to Connie Hawkins, Spencer Haywood, and others who eventually ended up with the teams for which they wanted to play. Nevertheless, Barry's legal travails opened the way for numerous other players to jump leagues, including Zelmo Beaty, Joe Caldwell and Cunningham.

In his return to the Bay Area, Barry averaged 22.3 points per game, made the All-NBA Second Team and led the Warriors to a 47-35 record, good enough for second place in the Pacific Division. The Lakers and Bucks again stood at the top of the Western Conference, winning the Pacific and Midwest Divisions respectively with identical 60-22 records. The Chicago Bulls, a tough, defensive minded team paced by high scoring forwards Bob Love (23.1 points per game) and Chet Walker (19.9 points per game), grabbed the other playoff spot, winning 51 games and finishing second in the Midwest Division.

One of the biggest stories of the season turned out to be one of the smallest players in the league. Coach Bob Cousy of the Kansas City-Omaha Kings (formerly the Cincinnati Royals) knew that his squad did not have the horses to make the playoffs, so he granted tremendous freedom to third year guard Nate "Tiny" Archibald, who measured 6-1, 160. Archibald became the only player to ever lead the league in scoring (34.0 points per game) and assists (11.4 assists per game) in the same season. He joined Jerry West on the All-NBA First Team. The Kings finished last in the Midwest Division with a 36-46 record but attracted many fans to watch Archibald perform.

"Pistol" Pete Maravich of the Atlanta Hawks was another flashy guard who fans flocked to see. He joined the Hawks in 1970-1971 after setting the all-time NCAA Division I career scoring record by averaging an astounding 44.2 points per game. He averaged 23.2 points per game in his rookie year and 19.3 points per game in an injury marred second season but the Hawks, which had seemed to be a team on the rise, slumped in the standings. Maravich's fancy ball handling and passing skills caused many critics to label him a "showboat" and "hot dog."

Some of the criticisms of Maravich were muted, at least temporarily, by his performance in the 1972-1973 season, when he ranked fifth in scoring (26.1 points per game) and sixth in assists (6.9 assists per game) and made the All-NBA Second Team. Maravich knew that he was ahead of his time: "You're going to see forwards and centers throwing the ball behind their backs, just like I do. The time will come before we know it." In fact, he was literally a decade ahead of his time, because Magic Johnson later became a beloved superstar doing similar things. Johnson came along at the right time and had teammates who caught his passes instead of fumbling them out of bounds.

Maravich's competitive fires burned as fiercely as those of the other greats of the game and he was not satisfied with individual statistics or achievements: "I'm not pleased with anything I've done so far...All I want to do is win the title and I'll quit. A title would be the highest level you can attain. They'll say 'He was a hot dog--but he was a champion.'" He also understood that fans paid good money to watch professional athletes and deserved to be entertained: "(Fans)…should get total satisfaction from watching a game." While some of Maravich's success in 1972-1973 came from increasing maturity, George Vecsey noted, "…there is more evidence that he was finally playing with teammates who could cope with his ability." Johnson later assessed Maravich's impact on basketball history: "Maravich was unbelievable. He was ahead of his time with the things he did." Isiah Thomas concurs: "The best showman of all time? I'd have to say Pistol Pete."

Maravich's Hawks played the powerful Celtics to a standstill after four games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but the Celtics won the next two to close out the series. Maravich averaged 26.2 points per game and 6.7 assists per game in the playoffs. The Knicks obliterated the Bullets in the other Eastern Conference series, taking the first three games en route to a four to one decision. In the Western Conference, Barry and the Warriors pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history, defeating the Bucks in six games. The Bulls extended the defending champion Lakers to the limit, losing 95-92 in game seven. The Lakers overpowered the Warriors four to one in the Western Conference Finals, while the Knicks savored a gritty seven game triumph over the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals; Havlicek was severely hampered in the latter part of the series with a painful shoulder injury.

By this time the Knicks were peaking and their "Rolls Royce" backcourt of Frazier and Monroe was in full flower. "There's never been two players together that were so good in the same backcourt. They were the best ever," raved teammate DeBusschere. The Lakers narrowly took game one of the NBA Finals but the Knicks reeled off four consecutive wins to claim their second title in four years. Willis Reed's numbers were up and down throughout the season and the playoffs due to his injuries, but he was again selected as the Finals MVP. A dissenting vote on the Finals MVP later came from Frazier: "They (the media) always jerked me around. When I didn't get the MVP that year (1970) they told me it was because they judged by the season; and when I didn't get it in 1973 they said it was because they judged by the series..."

Labels: Earl Monroe, Nate Archibald, New York Knicks, Pete Maravich, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 1:30 AM

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The NBA in the 1970s: The Hawk Soars Into the NBA; Willis Reed Limps Into Immortality

I wrote the chapter about the NBA in the 1970s for the 2005 anthology Basketball in America: From the Playgrounds to Jordan's Game and Beyond. I will now publish that chapter in a series of 12 installments.

I have removed the footnotes that accompanied the original text; direct quotations are now acknowledged in the body of the work and I will post a bibliography at the end of the final installment. I hope that you enjoy my take on one of the most fascinating and eventful decades in NBA history.

Introduction: The Sport Of The Seventies

The 1969-1970 NBA season did not merely mark the end of the 1960s in a chronological sense; the league was in a state of transition on a number of levels. Bill Russell, the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics' dynasty, retired in 1969 after claiming his eleventh championship in 13 seasons. Six of the titles came at the expense of the Los Angeles Lakers, who featured the superstar duo of forward Elgin Baylor and guard Jerry West. The 1969 loss was particularly galling for the Lakers. That season Baylor and West were joined by Wilt Chamberlain, who was already the league's all-time leading scorer and had been the driving force on the 1967 champion Philadelphia 76ers, who set the mark for best regular season record (68-13). A Lakers' championship seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Prior to the game seven showdown in L.A., Lakers' owner Jack Kent Cooke hired the USC marching band and had hundreds of balloons placed in the rafters of the Forum. The band would perform amid descending balloons after the Lakers won the game. Player-coach Russell and his veteran teammates drew great inspiration from the Lakers' blatant disrespect and won, 108-106. West performed so valiantly in defeat that he became the only player from the losing team to win the Finals MVP.

Russell's retirement appeared to open the door for the Lakers to finally win the title in 1970, but they still had to deal with several worthy challengers. Young guns such as Milwaukee Bucks' rookie Lew Alcindor (soon to be known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), the New York Knicks' Willis Reed, and the Baltimore Bullets' Wes Unseld eagerly awaited the opportunity to prove themselves in championship play.

While the league's greatest players battled to claim the ultimate prize, the NBA found itself in bitter competition with the upstart American Basketball Association. The NBA and the ABA fought to sign players, to attract fans, and to win court cases that would change the shape of sports (not just basketball) forever. Lucrative television deals vaulted the National Football League (NFL) to prominence in the 1960s and pro basketball seemed ready to enjoy the same good fortune in the 1970s. Pro basketball was promoted as the "Sport of the Seventies."

The NBA in the 1970s was not short on action. Eight different franchises won championships. Showmen such as Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, Connie Hawkins, "Pistol" Pete Maravich, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, George "Iceman" Gervin and many others performed dazzling acts of wizardry. Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins dismayed purists by entering the NBA straight from high school, gained notoriety by shattering two backboards, and amused fans by naming his sensational dunks (he also frustrated his coaches by his frequent indifference to rebounding and defense…). By the end of the decade the groundbreaking court cases were resolved, the leagues had merged and the NBA was about to enter into a golden age--although no one would have predicted that at the time considering the league's declining television ratings and problematic public image. The NBA went through some rough patches during the 1970s but it was seldom dull--on court or in court. Our story begins with a Hall of Fame player who played in both rival leagues but whose greatest challenge was a lengthy legal battle with the NBA.

The Hawk Soars Into The NBA; Willis Reed Limps Into Immortality

Connie Hawkins, an immensely talented freshman at the University of Iowa, was falsely implicated in the 1961 college basketball point shaving scandal. Although he was never charged with or convicted of any crimes, his college career ended in disgrace and the NBA blackballed him from the league. In 1961-1962, Hawkins won the MVP as a 19 year old rookie in the new American Basketball League. Unfortunately, the ABL folded early in its second season. He then traveled the world for four years with the Harlem Globetrotters but he did not enjoy all the clowning around that was part of the job description; Connie Hawkins wanted to play serious basketball against the best players in the world.

When the American Basketball Association was founded in 1967-68 as an American Football League-type rival for the NBA, it was eager to attract name talent. The ABA welcomed many players unfairly shunned by the NBA, including Hawkins, Roger Brown and Doug Moe. By this time Hawkins was already pursuing legal action against the NBA. When he signed to play with the ABA's Pittsburgh Pipers his representatives inserted clauses in his contract that enabled him to become a free agent at the conclusion of his two year deal or in the event that he was traded. This was very unusual, because up until that time pro basketball teams retained the option to re-sign or trade players as they saw fit. Hawkins needed these provisions because a key element in winning or successfully settling his lawsuit with the NBA would be his prompt availability to play in the league. Hawkins finished first in the ABA in scoring (26.8 points per game), won the MVP, and led the Pipers to the championship. A knee injury cut short his second season with the Pipers.

Meanwhile, Hawkins' case against the NBA picked up steam. Shockingly, it soon became apparent that the NBA had never thoroughly investigated his guilt or innocence before blackballing him; in essence, he was banned on the basis of his name being mentioned in a newspaper article about the scandal! The NBA did not want to publicly admit this but it also realized that taking the case to trial would be a losing proposition. In the summer of 1969 the NBA reached an out of court settlement with Hawkins worth over $1.2 million. This total included damages (for lost wages), a five year no-cut contract with the Phoenix Suns (who owned Hawkins' rights after losing the coin toss for Alcindor), deferred compensation, and payment of legal fees. Hawkins immediately transformed the Suns, a 16-66 expansion team the previous year, into a contending team. Despite still being slowed by his injured knee, he averaged 24.6 points per game, ranking sixth in the league in scoring. Hawkins earned a spot on the All-NBA First Team.

While Hawkins made the most of his opportunity to play in the NBA, several of the league's elite teams eagerly awaited the start of the playoffs. For the first time since 1949-1950 the Celtics did not qualify for postseason play; the two-time defending champions fell to 34-48 without Russell. Chamberlain sustained a devastating knee injury early in the season, further raising the championship hopes of the other contenders. Chamberlain contradicted the pessimistic evaluations of his doctors and vowed to return before the end of the season. Meanwhile, the New York Knicks roared out of the gates, winning their first five games, losing one and then setting a league record with an 18 game winning streak. They finished the season with a league best 60-22 record. Rookie Alcindor carried the second year Milwaukee Bucks to a 56-26 record and a second place finish behind the Knicks in the Eastern Division. In the West, a talented Atlanta Hawks team led by Lou Hudson finished first with a 48-34 record. Baylor and West guided the Lakers to second place with 46 wins; Chamberlain kept his word and returned to the lineup with three games left in the season.

The Lakers faced Hawkins and the Suns in the Western Division Semifinals. The Suns shocked the Lakers by taking a three to one lead in the series, but the Lakers regrouped behind Chamberlain's rebounding and West’s scoring to win the series in seven. Hawkins averaged 25.4 points per game, 13.9 rebounds per game and 5.9 assists per game.

Atlanta defeated Chicago 4-1 in the other Western Division Semifinals, while Milwaukee advanced to the Eastern Division Finals by knocking off Philadelphia four to one. The Knicks won a thrilling seven game series against the Bullets, their archrivals. The Knicks took the first two games, including a double overtime affair in game one, but the Bullets evened the series after four games. After that the teams traded wins, with New York advancing after a 127-114 game seven win at home. Considering that the series went the distance, it is interesting that the game scores were not particularly close, including a 21 point Knicks' win in game five and a 14 point Bullets' win in game three. Both Conference Finals proved to be anticlimactic: the Lakers swept the Hawks, while the Knicks dispatched the Bucks four games to one.

The balanced and deep Knicks were favored to defeat the Lakers in the Finals. They did not disappoint in the first game, winning 124-112 behind Reed's 37 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. Chamberlain tallied 17 points and 24 rebounds, while West scored 33 points and Baylor contributed 21 points and 20 rebounds. The Lakers bounced back to win game two, with Reed scoring 29 points and Chamberlain 19. Game three featured one of the most famous shots in NBA history. The Lakers trailed 102-100 with three seconds left. Chamberlain inbounded to West, who took a few dribbles and nailed a shot from three quarters court. The shot was amazing not just because of the situation and distance but the way that West released the ball, followed through and casually walked to the sidelines as if nothing remarkable had happened. Meanwhile, stunned Knicks forward Dave DeBusschere fell to the ground under his own basket. Unfortunately for West and the Lakers, the NBA did not adopt the three point shot for another decade and the Knicks recovered to win in overtime, 111-108. Baylor had a triple double (13 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists), West scored 34 points and Chamberlain added 21 points with 26 rebounds. Reed dominated with 38 points and 17 rebounds. In game four the Lakers evened the series behind West’s 37 points, 18 assists and five rebounds.

The momentum seemed to turn in the Lakers' favor early in game five when Reed tore a muscle in his right thigh while driving around Chamberlain. The Lakers led 25-15 at that point. With Reed out, Chamberlain possessed a decisive advantage over anyone the Knicks used against him in the post, but the Lakers tried so hard to force the ball in to him that they got out of rhythm and turned the ball over repeatedly. The Knicks stormed back to win 107-100. The Lakers finished with 30 turnovers; West did not make a field goal in the second half and Chamberlain managed only four second half points. Back home in L.A. for game six the Lakers made the appropriate adjustments and destroyed the Knicks 135-113. Reed was unable to play and Chamberlain rang up 45 points and 27 rebounds.

Game seven has become an integral part of the lore not just of pro basketball but of all American sports. Reed took painkilling injections in his injured leg and limped out onto the court. He only managed four points and three rebounds but his inspired teammates rolled to a 113-99 victory. Walt Frazier was magnificent for the Knicks with 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds. Like Reed, West took painkilling injections before the game, as he had suffered injuries to both of his hands earlier in the series. He still managed to score 28 points, while Baylor added 19 and Chamberlain had 24 rebounds to go along with his 21 points. Reed, who already had won the regular season and All-Star MVPs in 1970, was selected as Finals MVP; he became the first player to win all three awards in the same season, a feat later matched by Michael Jordan (1996 and 1998) and Shaquille O'Neal (2000).

While Chamberlain posted good numbers in the decisive game, it is somewhat puzzling that the Lakers did not do a better job of exploiting the fact that Reed was basically playing on one leg. A possible answer may be found in Chamberlain’s frequent lament: "Nobody roots for Goliath." He felt that his achievements were dismissed because of his size and he took great pride in accomplishing things that did not depend on physical dominance, like becoming the only center to lead the league in assists (702 in 1968). He did not want to be perceived as the bad guy and consequently he did not look at a limping Willis Reed like a shark would look at blood on the water.

Chamberlain certainly did not react the way that Michael Jordan did during a similar situation in a December 31, 2001 game versus the Nets (as recounted in Michael Leahy's March 3, 2002 Washington Post article titled "For Jordan, Insatiable Drive Yields Heavy Toll"):

He [Jordan] had been astounded, earlier in the season, when the New Jersey Nets' Kenyon Martin, in the midst of trying to guard him, jocularly confessed that he was playing with a back injury that hampered his movement. Jordan went on to score 45. Why, why, why had Martin been so naïve to tell him that? he asked later. Didn't Martin know he was a predator who 'went for the kill' against weakened quarry? It illustrated, he said, why you never let on about the severity of an injury.

Jordan's heroics that night were not in game seven of the NBA Finals or against a Hall of Fame player like Reed but the point is that Jordan eagerly pounces on any weakness that he detects in his opponents; given the same set of circumstances that Chamberlain faced, it is easy to picture Jordan going right at the hobbling Reed (in a similar vein, Russell once commented that he would have taken it as an insult if someone had played against him on one good leg). Of course, a major difference between Jordan and Chamberlain is that Jordan can bring the ball up the court and free himself for the shot, while Chamberlain depended upon his teammates to feed him the ball in the post; perhaps in game seven the Lakers were not effective or persistent enough in isolating Chamberlain versus Reed.

It should be emphasized that this comparison between two of the greatest players ever is not meant to suggest in any way that Chamberlain was not a winner; after all, he was the dominant player on the 1967 76ers and the 1972 Lakers, each of whom won the championship and posted the best regular season records in league history at the time. Chamberlain could not have had the individual and team success that he did without possessing tremendous drive. The fact that he was even playing in the 1970 championship series only months after suffering a serious knee injury testifies to his desire and intensity.

As the years passed a certain mythology arose that the 1970 Finals matched a team of stars (the Lakers) versus a well balanced team that emphasized passing and defense (the Knicks). DeBusschere commented: "The feeling that we were a team heightened most at the finals because they set Chamberlain, Baylor and West--best center, best forward, best guard--against a team of just guys. We weren’t supposed to have a chance." Calling the Knicks a "team of just guys" is a bit disingenuous considering that the Knicks had a Hall of Fame coach (Red Holzman) and four Hall of Fame players on their roster: Reed, DeBusschere, Frazier and forward Bill Bradley. What's more, none of the Knicks' stars were older than 30, while Baylor (35), Chamberlain (33) and West (31) were all past their thirtieth birthdays. It is true that by the conclusion of the 1970 playoffs West (3708 points, 30.9 points per game) Baylor (3623 points, 27.0 points per game), and Chamberlain (2990 points, 25.8 points per game) were the three leading scorers in NBA playoff history. That is impressive and unprecedented, but it also reflects the fact that all three players were past their primes. Baylor's chronically bad knees would soon force him to retire and, as noted above, Chamberlain had not completely recovered from his early season knee injury. West still had plenty of great games left, but his body was also battered and bruised from so many years of battling deep into the playoffs. The Knicks were hardly an underdog team without a chance; there is a reason that they had homecourt advantage for game seven. None of these facts diminish Reed's courage, Frazier's clutch game seven performance and the overall greatness of the 1970 New York Knicks. Quite the opposite: the 1970 Knicks should be remembered as a great team, not as an underdog.

Labels: Connie Hawkins, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Michael Jordan, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 1:50 AM

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Running a One Man Fast Break: Pro Basketball's Greatest Rebounding Guards

A slightly different version of this article was originally published in the December 2002 issue of Basketball Digest.

Last season Jason Kidd provided an eloquent demonstration of the value of a guard who is an excellent rebounder. He frequently grabbed defensive rebounds and pushed the ball full bore up court, creating open shots for his teammates. His ability to be a one man fast break placed tremendous pressure on opposing defenses and played a large part in transforming the New Jersey Nets from a hapless team into the Eastern Conference Champions.

Kidd is one of 11 guards in pro basketball history who averaged at least 6 rpg in five or more seasons (minimum of 60 games played or 350 rebounds each year). Bob Cousy was the first guard to do this, averaging a career-high 6.9 rpg as a Boston Celtics' rookie in 1950-51, and following that with 6-plus rpg averages in four of the next five years. During this period the fast breaking Celtics were consistently the leading scoring team in the league, but their lack of defensive presence in the paint always proved to be fatal in the playoffs.

Not surprisingly, the end of Cousy's run of 6-plus rpg seasons coincided with the arrival of Bill Russell, who became the second leading rebounder in the history of pro basketball. Cousy never averaged more than 5.5 rpg in a season after Russell joined the Celtics, but Boston won championships in six of the seven years that the two were teammates en route to an unprecedented 11 titles in 13 years. Cousy finished his career with 4786 rebounds (5.2 rpg), an impressive total for a 6-1, 175 pound point guard.

Tom Gola played forward in college and is still the NCAA Division I career leader in total rebounds (2201). In the NBA the versatile Gola switched primarily to the backcourt and averaged at least 6 rpg in eight seasons (1956; 1958-64). In 1958-59 he averaged a career-high 11.1 rpg and narrowly missed becoming the first guard to rank in the top ten in the NBA in rebounding. The 6-6 Gola played in five All-Star games and was a member of the 1956 NBA Champion Philadelphia Warriors. His career average of 8.0 rpg is the best ever by a guard.

Richie Guerin averaged 6 or more rpg for five straight years (1958-62), starting in his second season. In 1960-61 he posted a career high 7.9 rpg. Next season the 6-4 Guerin averaged career bests in points (29.5 ppg) and assists (6.9 apg) in addition to posting his final 6-plus rpg season (6.4 rpg). His rebounding dropped dramatically after that year and he finished his career with a 5.0 rpg average.

In 1961-62 Oscar Robertson became the only player to average a triple double for a season (30.8 ppg, 12.5 rpg and 11.4 apg). He ranked first in the NBA in assists, third in scoring and eighth in rebounding, the only guard to ever crack the top ten in that category; his 12.5 rpg average that season is easily the best ever by a guard. Robertson narrowly missed averaging a triple double in several other seasons and actually averaged a triple double for the first five years of his career (30.3 ppg, 10.6 apg and 10.4 rpg). He averaged 6-plus rpg in each of his ten seasons (1961-70) with the Cincinnati Royals before finishing his career with the Milwaukee Bucks, teaming with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win the only championship of Robertson's career in 1970-71. Robertson's 7804 rebounds are the most ever by a guard and his 7.5 rpg career average trails only Gola, who had a significantly shorter career. At 6-5, 220 pounds, Robertson combined the size and strength of a forward with the quickness and ball handling of a guard.

Jerry West entered the NBA with Robertson in 1960-61 and averaged at least 6 rpg in each of his first six seasons. Like Robertson, he posted his best rpg average in 1961-62 (7.9 rpg) and he also matched Robertson's 30.8 ppg average that season (West played four fewer games than Robertson and ranked fifth in scoring, which at that time was determined by total points, not average). The 6-2, 185 pound West was significantly smaller than Gola, Guerin and Robertson, the other top rebounding guards of his era, but he finished his career with 5376 rebounds (5.8 rpg).

Utah Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan did not receive much playing time as a Baltimore Bullets' rookie in 1965-66. The Chicago Bulls acquired him in the expansion draft prior to 1966-67 and Sloan averaged at least 6 rpg for the next nine years, along the way earning a reputation as one of the best defensive guards ever. His 7.4 rpg career average ranks behind only Gola and Robertson among guards. Sloan (6-5, 200 pounds) averaged a career best 9.1 rpg in 1966-67 and he averaged over 8 rpg two other times.

Like Sloan, Walt Frazier played sparingly as a rookie before having a breakout second season. Frazier averaged 4.2 rpg in 1967-68 as a New York Knicks' rookie before averaging at least 6 rpg during his next eight seasons with the team. He peaked at 7.3 rpg in the 1973 championship season. Frazier slumped to 3.9 rpg in 1976-77, his last season with the Knicks, and played three subpar seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring. The 6-4, 205 pound Frazier totaled 4830 rebounds (5.9 rpg) in his career.

Magic Johnson made a run at averaging a triple double for a season in 1981-82, his third year in the league. Magic scored 18.6 ppg, ranked second in the league with 9.5 apg and grabbed a career high 9.6 rpg. In the first 12 years of his career he averaged at least 6 rpg 10 times; in 1980-81 he averaged 8.6 rpg but only played in 37 games and in 1985-86 he averaged 5.9 rpg. Magic averaged 5.7 rpg in his brief 32 game comeback in 1995-96 and finished his career with 6559 rebounds, the third highest total for a guard, and a 7.2 rpg average, trailing only Gola, Robertson and Sloan.

Clyde Drexler is the all-time leader for 6-plus rpg seasons among guards, accomplishing this feat 11 times in his 15 year career. The only seasons that he missed the mark were his rookie year (2.9 rpg in 1983-84), his third year (5.6 rpg) and his last year (4.9 rpg); he failed to qualify in 1992-93, when he averaged 6.3 rpg but only played in 49 games due to injuries. Drexler's best average was 7.9 rpg (1988-89) and he only had one other season above 7 rpg but he consistently stayed above 6 rpg for the bulk of his career. Drexler totaled 6687 rebounds (6.1 rpg).

Michael Jordan entered the NBA one year after Drexler and posted similar career rebounding numbers--6175 rebounds (6.2 rpg), including his 2001-02 totals as a swingman for the Washington Wizards. Jordan has averaged 6-plus rpg seven times. His career best average is 8.0 rpg in 1988-89, a year in which he also averaged a career high 8.0 assists and won his third scoring title with a 32.5 ppg average. Injuries limited him to 18 games in his second season and two retirements further restricted his opportunities to add to his total of 6-plus rpg campaigns. In his last two seasons with the Bulls he averaged 5.9 rpg and 5.8 rpg respectively. In his first season with the Wizards, Jordan averaged 5.7 rpg.

Kidd has averaged 6-plus rpg in six of his first eight seasons, including a career high 7.3 rpg in 2001-02. His career average stands at 6.4 rpg entering the 2002-03 season, so it does not seem likely that he will overtake Gola, Robertson, Sloan or Magic in that category. His ability to amass triple doubles makes him the closest player in today's game to Robertson and Magic, although both of those players scored more and shot much better than Kidd does.

Several other outstanding rebounders deserve mention. The best rebounding guard in ABA history was undoubtedly Warren Jabali (formerly Armstrong). Jabali, powerfully built and an exceptional leaper, posted three seasons of 6-plus rpg, including a career-high 10.4 rpg in 1969-70 for the Washington Capitols, a season in which he also averaged 22.8 ppg and 4.3 apg. Coach Al Bianchi used him extensively at forward that season, but a 6-2, 200 pound guard averaging over 10 rpg as a forward simply has to be included on any list of great rebounding guards. Jabali averaged 6.7 rpg in his seven year career.

Lafayette "Fat" Lever of the Denver Nuggets averaged 6-plus rpg for four straight seasons (1987-90) despite being only 6-3, 180 pounds. Amazingly, he exceeded 8.0 rpg in each of those years, including a career-high 9.3 rpg in 1989-90 (plus 18.3 ppg and 6.5 apg ). The next season he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, blew out his knee after only four games and was never the same. He finished his career with a 6.0 rpg average.

Other guards who had at least three 6-plus rpg seasons include Michael Ray Richardson, T.R. Dunn, Darrell Walker and Alvin Robertson. George Gervin had two 6-plus rpg seasons as a small forward and one after shifting to shooting guard. Among active guards, other than Kidd and Jordan only Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady have achieved 6-plus rpg more than once. Both posted career highs in 2001-02: 7.0 rpg for Francis and 7.9 rpg for McGrady. Kobe Bryant averaged a career-high 6.3 rpg in 1999-00 but his averages have dropped the past two seasons (5.9 rpg and 5.5 rpg respectively).

Pro Basketball's Greatest Rebounding Guards

Player	6 rpg	Best season	Career	Career	Career
	seasons	rpg average	reb.	gms	rpg
Clyde Drexler	11	7.9 rpg/1989	6687	1086	6.1
Magic Johnson	10	9.6 rpg/1982	6559	906	7.2
Oscar Robertson	10	12.5 rpg/1962	7804	1040	7.5
Jerry Sloan	9	9.1 rpg/1967	5615	755	7.4
Tom Gola	8	11.1 rpg/1959	5617	698	8.0
Walt Frazier	8	7.3 rpg/1973	4830	825	5.9
Michael Jordan	7	8.0 rpg/1989	6175	990	6.2
Jerry West	6	7.9 rpg/1962	5376	932	5.8
Jason Kidd	6	7.3 rpg/2002	3653	573	6.4
Bob Cousy	5	6.9 rpg/1951	4786	924	5.2
Richie Guerin	5	7.9 rpg/1961	4278	848	5.0

Notes: This chart lists all NBA/ABA guards who averaged at least 6 rpg in at least five seasons (minimum 60 games or 350 rebounds in each season).

Labels: Bob Cousy, Clyde Drexler, Fat Lever, Jason Kidd, Jerry Sloan, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Richie Guerin, Tom Gola, Walt Frazier, Warren Jabali

posted by David Friedman @ 4:21 PM

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