Willie Wise is one of Salt Lake City’s best-kept secrets: A three-time ABA all-star, bull-shouldered, 6-foot-6 forward with a pro career average of over 20 points per game, a man whom Dave DeBusschere calls one of the finest two-way ballplayers in basketball.
Tag Archives: K.C. Jones
Farewell to Bob Cousy, 1963
A couple of players were in one corner, autographing basketballs. Auerbach was sitting alone, reading mail. We shook hands, and I said, “What about Cousy?”
“What can you say when you know you’re going to lose the greatest backcourtman who ever lived?” Red said. “Nobody will ever take his place. There’s only one Cousy.”
Golden State Warriors: We Are The Champions, 1975
The Warriors were not favored to win. Little, if any attention was given to the club’s determination and progression of improvement.
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.
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.
Oscar Robertson: As Bob Cousy Sees Him, 1965
“Oscar is the greatest,” Cousy states. “There are none better.” That’s the word from the man who wrote the book on the position that both play so well.
Shawn Kemp: A Young Star on the Rise, 1991
Kemp didn’t wilt under the pressure of playing in the NBA. In fact, he regrets not joining the league sooner than he did.
The NBA’s Five Most-Underrated Players, 1968
If we missed your favorite underrated player, we’re sorry. But it just proves that you’re right—he’s so underrated, even the experts never got to him!
How the Boston Celtics Established a Dynasty, 1976
The guiding hand behind those brilliant personnel decisions was, of course, Auerbach, the feisty, little, self-proclaimed “dictator” of the Celtics, who is still the club’s general manager and still producing winners. There is no longer a dynasty in Boston simply because no new Bill Russell has come along—and probably never will.
From Way Downtown 