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In Search of . . . Ralph Sampson, 1988

Sampson said soon after the trade, the best piece of advice he received upon entering the NBA was never to unpack your bags.

Clair Bee: The Busiest Bee in Baltimore, 1954

But things have been happening in Baltimore lately. Pro Football came back for another try. Major league baseball returned after an absence of half a century. And a 53-year-old gentleman with squinting eyes and an athlete’s shuffle came to town.

Baltimore Bullets: All Blood and Guts, 1971

We visited the Bullets in their dressing room that night. The pungent odor of various liniments assailed the nostrils. Without Band-aids and painkillers, the Bullets might not have gotten this far.

Baltimore Bullets: Once Upon a Time in Madison Square Garden, 1971

The Bullets needed a change of luck in the Garden.

Wes Unseld: Most Valuable Player, 1970

In one season, this miniature oak tree, who stands 6-foot-7 ½, transformed Baltimore from Humpty Dumpties to the Cinderella team of the National Basketball Association.

Joe Caldwell: Can I Get a Witness, 1975, 1993

The boycott of Caldwell was an extreme form of intimidation because it destroyed the career of an established, star player.

Dawning of the Age of Ralph Sampson, 1984

Now, like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and, to a lesser extent, Bill Walton, Sampson is expected to usher in an era of his own—“The Age of Sampson.”

Wilt Chamberlain: The ‘Shape’ of Things to Come, 1967

The big man, who once scored 100 points in one game and averaged over 50 for a full season, all of a sudden has become a so-so offensive player.

Lucius Allen: A Career Almost Up in Smoke, 1971

“The way I look at myself now, I’m really proud of the way I evolved. If all the things that happened to me hadn’t, then I don’t know what kind of person I would be.”

Sidney Wicks: Getting Under Rick Barry’s Skin, 1974

When Wicks’ love-taps continued and grew in intensity, Barry blew up and blasted the refs. Apparently, he didn’t phrase his complaint in delicate language, because the refs offered Rick a comfortable seat on the bench for the rest of the night.