1960s NBA – From Way Downtown

I Was Wrong About Jerry West, 1966

He grinned his crooked, slightly gap-toothed grin, and the grin revealed gold bridgework. He’s left teeth on the floors of basketball arenas.

Don Ohl: For Ohl Lang Syne, 1962

Now, Don’s confidence has returned. Understandably cautious early in the 1964-65 season, his first in Baltimore, he finished with a rush and was named the Bullets’ most valuable player.

Guy Rodgers: ‘He’ll Get the Ball to You Somehow,’ 1965

To his teammates and NBA opponents, Rodgers ranks right up at the top of the list with Cousy and Robertson when it comes to passing and dribbling ability.

Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell: A Decade of Battle, 1969

Russell or Chamberlain? How do you like your steak—rare, medium, or well done?

Cazzie Russell: Cazzie’s Corner, 1969

It’s Cazzie’s Corner now, and the Knicks brass is so impressed that they are even experimenting with Bill Bradley in the corner.

A Tribute to Bob Cousy, 1962

Basketball is an endless search for the “open” man today. An orthodox pass will never find him. Cousy has practiced the no-look feed so expertly, there have been movements to frisk him for mirrors.

Bob Boozer and the Early Chicago Bulls, 1969

Last season was an even better one for Boozer. He scored 1,655 points, 13th-best in the league, and led the Bulls with a 21.5 average.

Pat Riley: Taking the Man Inside, 1994

Riley believes that the only way to make a team out of isolated players is “to get them to do what they don’t want to do.” Yet he knows, too, that there are things certain players can never do.

The NBA’s Five Most-Underrated Players, 1968

If we missed your favorite underrated player, we’re sorry. But it just proves that you’re right—he’s so underrated, even the experts never got to him!

Jimmy Walker: Play It Again Sam, 1968

“All I saw or heard was how inconsistent I was playing. But the only way I can play consistently is to have consistent time, and for the last two years, it hasn’t been.”