[By the mid-1970s, the clock was ticking on Cazzie Russell’s NBA career. The former top overall pick in the 1966 NBA draft, Russell had bounced from New York to Golden State and onward to Los Angeles. It was a 10-year run that hadn’t lived up to expectations, mainly because those expectations were too high and unrealistic. Russell was an outstanding scorer, but he wasn’t a franchise player as advertised coming out of college.
During his NBA twilight years in Los Angeles, Russell still believed he could crack the Lakers’ rotation and put up a cool 15 to 20 a game. Knee surgery sidelined him during the 1974-75 season, his first in Lakerland. But with unshakeable faith in his basketball skills, Russell returned ready to go the next season and stayed ready, training non-stop and watching his diet like few others. By the 1976-77 season, he’d finally get his chance to shine as a full-time Laker playing all 82 games at small forward and averaging 31 minutes and 16 points per outing. In October 1977, there was a brand-new coach in town, Jerry West, and he waived the 32-year-old Russell to make room and ample minutes at small forward for the younger Jamaal Wilkes. Forever confident, Russell played one last season with his hometown Chicago Bulls, then called it a career.
This story, published in the March 1976 issue of the magazine Hoop, makes the case for Russell to dazzle NBA arenas one last time with the Lakers. Doug Ives, a veteran Laker beat reporter with the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram, provides the narrative. It’s a tale of where there’s a veteran will, there’s got to be a way.]
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Herb tea. Milk and honey. Apple and orange juice, mixed. Teaspoon of wheat germ oil. Or tiger milk. Raw eggs. Strawberries and/or bananas. Is this the Breakfast of Champions?
It is for Cazzie Russell, the veteran Los Angeles Lakers forward, who ranks as one of the National Basketball Association’s most superbly conditioned athletes, not to mention one of its greatest outside shooters. “I’ve been a health-food freak for years,” says Russell, who has overcome knee surgery which sidelined him for much of the year.
“Now that I’m getting up in years [age 31] as NBA players go, I find that careful attention to my diet has enabled me to remain in far better shape than most players who abuse their bodies with the wrong foods,” Russell says.
No one will dispute that Cazzie is a perpetual motion man, that he can travel the 94 feet of hardwood as quickly as any 215-pounder, and that the style and form on his jump shot, plus the quick release, is the envy of his contemporaries.
“I’m programmed,” says Russell, referring to his diet. “I know what’s good for me, and I don’t stray. For example, a lot of players have a steak for their pregame meal. They don’t know that it won’t give them the quick energy they need that night. They should have eaten that steak the night before.
“My meals differ on game days than on off days. I start with hot or herb tea, maybe milk and honey, taken slowly. I also have an apple or orange juice mixed in, plus a teaspoon of wheat germ oil. Liquids, nothing solid—that’s all I have before our morning shoot-around.
“I don’t eat again until 3 p.m. I have hot soup, usually chicken rice, a slice of beef, maybe salad, and fresh fruit. I never have steak and potatoes on a game night, and I often skip the beef altogether. After the game, I have another bowl of soup and a light sandwich, like tuna or maybe a club,” Caz says.
Asked his idea of splurging, he responds, “A big prime rib and a baked potato. Sometimes I take B-12 as a booster, but I generally don’t take pills. Sometimes I have tiger milk, raw eggs, strawberries, and/or bananas mixed with wheat germ oil for stamina.”
The former University of Michigan All-America, now in his 10th season, often is needled about his eating habits. But he also converts others to his way of eating, especially when they watch him run and run and run without ever showing fatigue.
“I’ve seen guys eat themselves out of the league,” says Cazzie, “although more pay attention to eating habits today than years ago. Players are finding they can’t fluctuate 10 or 20 pounds and still be effective. It’s naïve for a player not to know what weight is comfortable for him and stick to it. Some guys gobble pills for quick energy, and that’s no good. You must study, like I do, to find out what’s good for you. I’m always going to health food stores and reading about the nutritional value of food.”
What is good for Russell could be good for the Lakers. “Cazzie is one of the great shooters of all-time,” says his coach, Bill Sharman, once a sharpshooter in his own right and a practitioner of proper shooting form.
“I call him ‘First National,’” says Laker guard Lucius Allen. “When he shoots, it’s like money in the bank.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has labeled the 6-foot-5 forward “Sudden Death.” When he goes on a shooting spree, Kareem reasons, it’s sudden death for opponents.
Mostly, Cazzie is called “The Machine,” and for good reason. During a workout last fall while his teammates were doing stretching exercises, he picked up a ball on the baseline and, from 20 feet, arched it through the net. Jogging to the opposite side of the court, he executed a quick turn and again sailed the ball through the hoop. Then it was off to the other side. Swish. And back again. Swish again.
By now, heads were turning. When Cazzie poured through two more, rippling only the threads, someone started counting out loud.
“Six. Seven.”
All eyes were riveted on the graceful forward as he stalked the basket like a lion in search of food.
“Eight. Nine.”
“Ooooh, wheeee,” someone yelled, breaking the numerical countdown but not denting Russell’s powerful concentration.
“Ten. Eleven.”
That’s when it ended, at 11. Boos followed, but the point had been made. When Cazzie goes on one of his sprees, even in practice, even athletes who normally are indifferent to the skills of a fellow player stop to applaud.
“The most I’ve ever hit in a row in a game was nine,” Cazzie recalls. “But I’ve made 22 or more in a row in practice. We have a drill which starts with a lay-in, then you gradually move out and around the perimeter. I’ve gone the full cycle, about 22 or 23 shots, several times without missing.”
Russell’s shooting skills are a vital part of Los Angeles’ attack. “You can’t sag on Kareem when Cazzie is shooting well, which is most of the time,” says Coach Sharman. “Kareem inside and Cazzie outside gives us tremendous offensive punch.”
Russell, who enjoys golf (4-handicap), reading, and working crossword puzzles, says he wants to be “a pain in the you-know-what” to the man he is guarding, and Sharman likes that kind of enthusiasm from a veteran who is not noted for his defense. But primarily he wants Cazzie to put points on the board.
“He can break open a game in a hurry, making four, five, or six shots in quick fashion,” says Sharman. “There aren’t many players in this league that have those capabilities.”
And Cazzie’s the best commercial for wheat germ and tiger milk.
From Way Downtown 