All three of them, in fact, avoid the spotlight whenever possible, whatever the circumstance.
Tag Archives: Don Nelson
Phil Ford: Have You Driven a Ford Lately? 1983
Ford never has taken a nap on the basketball floor. Loose balls? He’d dive for them. Draw a charge? It didn’t matter if the player was 6-10, 300 pounds.
NBA Rebels: Are They Worth the Trouble? 1995
On national television, Charles Barkley kicks in folding chairs, Scottie Pippen throws them. And these furniture guys are the Jordan Heirs?
Larry Steele: Portland’s Man of Steal, 1975
The only problem with Steele gaining a reputation for ball thievery is that some of his other attributes are overlooked.
Together Forever: Chris Webber and Penny Hardaway, 1994
Chris Webber and Anfernee (Penny) Hardaway might try to juke comparisons to each other much as they would an overmatched defender, but there’s no dribbling around it.
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.
Otis Thorpe: Pure Power, 1995
You watch him on the court, and it can be like watching a machine. He doesn’t do everything. He never tries to do everything. But what Thorpe does, he does well. Filling the lanes on the break. Shooting the baby hook close to the basket. Rebounding and playing defense. No wasted motion.
Chris Webber’s Growing Pains, 1996
They slap hands, and Webber heads for the locker room, where he straps on an ice pack, sits by his locker, and talks about his ultimate goal in life, the one above basketball, the one above everything. “I want to be a man of the people,” he says.
The Fabulous Fifth, 1976
What do you say after you’ve seen the greatest game of professional basketball ever played? That there should’ve been two winners?
Marques Johnson: Wanting into the Dream Showcase, 1984
Former great forward Rick Barry, asked to compare Marques Johnson and Julius Erving, replied, “That’s difficult. It’s like comparing Mantle to Mays.”
From Way Downtown 