Gus Johnson – From Way Downtown

Dave DeBusschere: The Man Who Filled Four Positions, 1971

DeBusschere is, without a doubt, New York’s Most Valuable Player.

Baltimore Bullets: All Blood and Guts, 1971

We visited the Bullets in their dressing room that night. The pungent odor of various liniments assailed the nostrils. Without Band-aids and painkillers, the Bullets might not have gotten this far.

Baltimore Bullets: Once Upon a Time in Madison Square Garden, 1971

The Bullets needed a change of luck in the Garden.

Big Lew—Already Great, 1971

Fast or slow, the game is usually Alcindor’s. He leads the NBA in scoring with 31-plus points a game, he ranks one-two in shooting accuracy, and he is among the leaders in rebounding. There really isn’t anything he can’t do.

Who Are the All-Time Greatest Slam-Dunk Artists? 1977

Dr. J. is the slam-dunk champ of the ABA. Won it fair and square at halftime of the league’s All-Star game last winter.

Remembering the Cincinnati Royals, 1979

Now, there are rumors floating around that the city again is being considered for an NBA franchise, what with the shiny new Riverfront Coliseum sitting almost idle downtown. Could the NBA make it in a different age, in a different building?

Gus Johnson: Will Erratic Star Become a Superstar?

Johnson, more confidently, concludes: “There’s no limit to what I can do out there.” True. The basketball world, and especially the Bullets, curiously await future developments.

Forward Thinking, 1971

Dave DeBusschere was a defensive stopper who could take the air out of opponents with his physical brand of ball.

The Sick, The Lame, and The Swollen

In March 1971, the Baltimore Bullets and Philadelphia 76ers met in the first round of the NBA playoffs. It would be the start of Earl Monroe’s final playoff run in Baltimore. It also would go down in NBA history as one of the league’s more-grueling playoff jousts. Not quite in the category of the Knicks-Heat clashes of the 1990s—but close. Having recently published the book Shake and Bake with NBA great Archie Clark, I have a clip file of the series from the Baltimore Morning Sun, Baltimore Evening Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Beloved bylines such as: Alan Goldstein, Seymour Smith, Bob Maisel, Mark Heisler, Alan Richman (yes, the food critic), Bill Tanton, Mike Janofsky, and Jack Kiser.