This is not the way Hal Greer had wanted to start his professional coaching career. Not with a defeat, not in the near anonymity of the minor leagues. He had wanted to coach the 76ers when it was ordained last year that his playing days were over. He had wanted to stay in the limelight he had known so well.
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Luther Rackley: Reserve Power for the Knicks, 1972
Now even the cynics know Luther Rackley can play.
Kevin Stacom: An NBA Career in Five Newspaper Clips
He is the last of the true ones left, the only Celtic who knows the difference between Galway and Waterford, and who wouldn’t ask for a frosted mug for his Guinness.
Walt Hazzard: ‘Rook’ as in Rookie, 1965
Walt Hazzard takes it in stride. He is sure he will be one of the stars of the game.
Elgin Baylor: Record Book Worst Enemy, 1965
Elgin Baylor is a basketball player—and horse player—who announces in the car on the way to the airport, “I will give Jerry my nose any day for his knees. I need two good knees. My nose can take care of itself.”
Elgin Baylor: The Irreplaceable Laker, 1973
Little kids across the country dribble and shoot the Elgin Baylor way. On playgrounds, future basketball stars don homemade jerseys bearing the famous number 22.
Stan McKenzie Makes Case for NBA Defense, 1970
McKenzie: “It makes me mad to hear some fans complain that we don’t play defense in pro basketball. That’s a lot of bull. If we didn’t play defense, teams would be scoring 200 points a game.”
Julius Erving: The Greatest Show on Earth, 1973
Did Erving need the big-time to feed his ego, feeling perhaps that he’d suffer the sort of way Henry Aaron did by playing in towns where he didn’t get much national publicity? “No, I don’t feel that way,” said Erving. “All during my basketball career and life, the acknowledgement of me has been in a very limited sense.”
Mel Daniels Itching for Shot at NBA Stars, 1971
[In late 1967, about two weeks into his rookie season, Mel Daniels and his Minnesota Muskies were in Teaneck National Guard Armory to face the New Jersey Americans. A young reporter named Ira Berkow ambled over to Daniels and asked, “What do you think of playing in the ABA?” The ABA was brand-spanking-new, and DanielsContinue reading “Mel Daniels Itching for Shot at NBA Stars, 1971”
John Shumate’s Roughest Opponent is Death, 1976
[When John Shumate played for the Phoenix Suns, fans chanted, “Shu . . . Shu . . . Shu . . . Shu,” But the chant lasted only briefly. Shumate’s rookie season was delayed for health reasons. Then, after Shumate made an impressive comeback during the 1975-76 season, the Suns brass dealt “Shu”Continue reading “John Shumate’s Roughest Opponent is Death, 1976”
From Way Downtown 