“If you let it happen, this game will pass you by,” Archibald declares in looking at his different roles with the Celtics. “They gave me a challenge, and I had to meet it.”
Tag Archives: 1980s NBA
World B. Free: The Artist Formerly Known as Lloyd, 1983
There is a maturity about Free that had been missing before, partly because his Gus Williams-style balding pate, gives him a look beyond his years. But that maturity largely is due to his growth as an athlete, as a leader.
Michael Ray Richardson: With Sugar on Top, 1981
“When I first came into the league, I thought everyone was Superman. I was shaky, but during the summer, I began to realize that the players are good and that I belonged here.”
Billy Ray Bates: Dunks & Downs of a Portland Legend, 1995
For all of the Bates’ mid-air poetry and last-second heroics, ultimately it was his endearing nature that made him a fan favorite and later a cult hero.
Michael Cooper: Two for Coop, 1980
By the time Cooper was a senior, his game had done a 180. He couldn’t wait to get back on defense. Offense was like a coffee-shop meal; he couldn’t wait to get it over with.
Dale Ellis: Shooting for the Stars, 1989
The fact is that Ellis is the closest thing to a shooting machine in the game today.
Red Auerbach: Welcome to the NBA, Patrick Ewing, 1985
The point is, if the Knicks think they’re getting a finished, polished ballplayer, they’re crazy. I just hope they don’t expect too much too soon.
Bernard King Takes New York, 1985
King has forged a good life for himself back home and, in the process, given New York basketball the transfusion it desperately needed.
Moses Malone: Capturing the Real Mo, 1981
Malone, in a characteristic bit of understatement, says, “I love to make my defensive man work.”
Eddie Johnson: A Country Boy in a Fast Town, 1980
Eddie’s mother asked me not to forget something about her oldest son: “You have to remember,” she said, “he’s just a country boy in a fast town.”
From Way Downtown 