Speaking of rebuilding, it might be instructive to dwell briefly on how the Braves were razed and/or disassembled in such a short time. It is somewhat disconcerting to note that there are exactly two players—count ‘em, two—remaining from the team, which opened league play a season ago, in the autumn of 1975: Randy Smith and Ernie DiGregorio.
Tag Archives: 1970s NBA
Pete Maravich: A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, 1972
“Maybe it’s the kid’s fate. Maybe it’s the way the ball bounces. But it looks like he’s had to do everything the hard way.”
Raymond Lewis: A Glimpse of The Phantom, 1989
Back in his living room, Lewis shifts in his chair and says, “I still don’t know who the Sixers thought they were kidding. I would never have left school unless I thought I was going to get the millions, not a lousy few grand.”
Dick and Tom Van Arsdale: Two of a Kind, 1971
The only major difference between them on the court now is that Tom plays forward and Dick is a guard.
Norm Van Lier: Stormy Weather, 1978
Even now, as he prepares to join the select circle of athletes who’ve lasted for a decade at the top, Van Lier treasures that advise. “First of all, I was taught to respect my coach and my opponent,” he says. “If a young player can’t learn to do that, he won’t respect himself.”
Norm Van Lier: The Boos and the Cheers, 1978
Van Lier talks about being in the twilight years, but he really doesn’t believe that. He still talks about playing another four years under his present contract agreement with the Bulls.
Joe Proski: Tales of an NBA Trainer, 1975
When the Suns are home, Joe gets to Veterans Memorial Coliseum three hours before gametime. If his wife Jan is going to the game, she’ll drive their Cadillac and he’ll ride the motorcycle, which former Sun Gail Goodrich gave him.
Warbling Over Rookie Otis Birdsong, 1978
Almost half a season is gone, and the interesting thing is that Birdsong, while suffering with the team through its losing ways, already has achieved the playing confidence that makes him a potential force for changing the Kings’ ways.
Bill Sharman: The Game I’ll Never Forget, 1972
“I don’t think there’s any way we could have won the title—or even gotten into the final round—if we had not defeated the Bucks in that second game. The last few seconds of that game were among the most unusual and dramatic I have ever seen in my many years in professional basketball.”
Dave Bing: Going Through Changes, 1970
Pain has become a constant in Dave Bing’s basketball life. Even in the 1968-69 season—his third NBA campaign in which he went through multiple changes—bodily ache remained a verity of his working hours.
From Way Downtown 