Harding still retains some of his arrogance, but it’s not offensive. Sure, he said, he misses playing basketball. “It’s part of me,” he said. But he added: “I’ve still got the ability, and they can’t take that away from me.”
Author Archives: bobkuska
Penny for Your Thoughts on Cleo Hill
Cleo Hill had certain remarkable talents as a player. He had fast hands, a wonderful asset for a basketball player. He was quick. But his quickness and his hand speed were wasted when they weren’t harnessed with the team effort of everybody else. It is something a man might learn in a minor league but has to be taken for granted in the majors.
Stan Stutz: The 1940s King of the Running One-Hander
One of the things that impressed me was the wild, one-handed shooting of Stan Stutz, “who had that sallow complexion and would comb his light hair straight back and take one-handers from all over the court.”
Meet the Father of the Three-Point Shot, 1979
When the NBA Rules Committee adopted its three-point play this summer, it didn’t pick the dimensions casually. Hobson had written several letters to NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien urging the NBA to adopt shorter distances.
Oscar Robertson: Picture of Consistency
It is true. Robertson is a perfectionist. Whenever the subject is basketball, the Big O wants to be the best, the absolute best.
Secret Plot to Make NBA Champs of Milwaukee Bucks, 1971
The man making the offer was Wes Pavalon, owner of the Bucks, a 36-year-old multimillionaire. “There’s nothing mysterious about paying tremendous salaries to tremendous athletes,” Pavalon insists, “or in making them happy in other ways.”
Dave Cowens Doesn’t Play Hard . . . He Kills Himself, 1973
For Cowens, the future in basketball seems unclouded. Outside of basketball, the future is—so far—simply uninteresting. Money does not appear to be the most-important thing in his life.
Dave Cowens: Farewell John Havlicek, 1978
People ask me who will replace John Havlicek this year. I tell them there will be another name on the roster, but that nobody will replace him—ever.
Sam Jones: Cha-Ching, 1966
Sam is 32 years old now, but there was no indication last year that his speed was diminishing, while his skills and confidence rose to new heights.
Bob Cousy: One Magical Night in Boston Garden, 1953
Cooz, the reason for the mass delirium, just sat on the bench, hunched over, trying to hide the tears. “Thanks for everything. Thanks fellas,” he said to well-wishers and his teammates. “There was a prayer going with every shot. I certainly needed them. But I don’t want to have to play a game like that again. Boy, it’s too much. I was lucky.”
From Way Downtown 