1970s NBA – Page 3 – From Way Downtown

Jerry West: Reflections on ‘The Perfect Season,’ 1972

I remember sitting on the bench in the Forum in the last quarter of the last playoff game against the Knicks and looking at the clock and finally realizing that there is no way we could lose it.

Gail Goodrich: Stumping the NBA, 1972

Goodrich says his blossoming into a superstar is due to many things, not the least of which is the confidence that coach Bill Sharman has instilled in him.

Elmore Smith: The Other Big E: 1972, 1977

Everything seemed to be fine at first for Elmore Smith in Buffalo. Then it was Los Angeles. Then it was Milwaukee. Now it is Cleveland. Elmore Smith has been an enigma no matter what the team.

Bill Bradley: The Reeducation of Princeton Bill, 1970

Bradley himself doesn’t think this game is much work. He thinks it’s fun, and older men will tell you those who feel that way about it—and who have the necessary and special talent—get to be the great ones.

Willis Reed: The Game I’ll Never Forget, 1970

I had some nerve going up against the greatest all-around center in NBA history in my condition, but I’m glad I made the effort. It was worth it.

Ed Ratleff: Easy Does It, 1975

Coach Johnny Egan says Ratleff’s presence in the Rocket lineup “became a great stabilizing factor. He is the complete team basketball player. Offensively, he is totally unselfish. He just does whatever it takes to win.”

Gary Brokaw: Potential for Magic, 1974-78

As a youth, Brokaw tried to pattern his play after Walt Frazier and Dave Bing. Little did he know that several years later, it would be Frazier and Bing that would be his workaday opponents.

Maurice Lucas: Roughing It in the NBA, 1977

Lucas plays aggressively, and critics say he plays dirty. “I play very aggressively. I play with intelligence,” he said. He paused a moment and added a footnote. “I play rough.”

Mitch Kupchak: The Game’s Best Sixth Man, 1979

Because Kupchak is so versatile, he poses monumental problems for opposing teams. “He creates favorable mismatches for us,” says Bullet coach Dick Motta, who likes to compare Kupchak with Jerry Sloan, the hellaciously tough guard Motta coached with the Chicago Bulls some years ago.

It’s a New Year for Elvin Hayes, 1971

It’s a new year for a new Elvin, really. It’s all a selfless campaign, hard to imagine for the once-brooding rookie who caused so many problems for himself and his team two years ago.