NBA Quotes & Anecdotes

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA Stories:

Maurice Stokes


- NCAA AP All-America Third Team (1955)
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1956)
- 3 volte All-NBA Second Team (1956, 1957, 1958)
- 3 volte NBA All-Star (1956, 1957, 1958)
- Miglior rimbalzista NBA (1956)

Maurice Stokes non fu il primo giocatore nero in NBA, onore spettato a Earl Lloyd nel 1950 ( Wat Misaka fu invece il primo giocatore non-bianco a giocarci nel1947). Non fu nemmeno il primo draftato al primo giro: Ray Felix fu la prima scelta assoluta nel 1953, e nemmeno il primo nero All-Star: Don Barksdale nella stagione 1952-53.
Maurice Stokes fu semplicemente il primo vero fuoriclasse Nero dell' NBA. Non un semplice buon giocatore..ma uno di quelli che ti permettono di fare la differenza, che ti prende la squadra e te la trascina in vetta..

Harold Brown(amico di Chuck "Tarzan" Cooper) : "Chuck would be arguing with them about how good (black players) were. When Mo came out of college, Chuck told them ahead of time 'this is a man who's going to show you how it's done.'"

Maurice crebbe povero vicino a Pittsburgh. I suoi genitori lavoravano nelle industrie d'acciaio tutto il giorno e Maurice passava gran parte del tempo ad allenarsi al campetto assieme all'amico Ed Fleming. Insieme portarono la Westinghouse hight school a ben due city championship consecutivi. Nonostante ciò, i grandi College lo snobbavano.. accettò quindi l'offerta di Saint Francis University , Pennsylvania.
Al College fu impressionante! Alla sua sola terza partita fece 32 punti e catturò 28 rimbalzi!!

Al Severance: "He's the greatest freshman player I've ever seen."

Sempre oltre i 20rpg nei suoi 4 anni di college, finì con una media di 22 points e 24 rebounds. Trascinò la Frankies in back-to-back NIT tournaments nel 1954 e 1955 a New York City.; e nel 1955 vinse l'MVP award NIT nonostante la sua squadra fu eliminata alle semifinali.

"Stokes had Dayton on the ropes throughout, totaling 43 points and playing like a man and a  half under the boards and on defense. If he doesn’t get the nod as the most valuable player in the tournament, it’s time for another investigation of college basketball."

Finito il college tutti lo volevano, gli Harlem Globetrotters gli offrirono $15,000 all'anno (cifra enorme per l'epoca); la AAU (lega di squadre delle industrie) lo tentarono con soldi e la possibilità di poter comunque andare alle Olimpiadi!

Ma lui, memore dell'incontro con Cooper, voleva la NBA. Fu scelto nella seconda posizione assoluta al draft NBA del 1955 dai Rochester Royals. Squadra di grande tradizione prima nella National Basketball League (NBL) poi nella NBA, guidati dalla stella Bob Davies che li condusse a ben due titoli uno in NBL nel 1946, ed uno in NBA nel 1953; con Davies NBL MVP nel1947. I Royals furono l'unica squadra a sconfiggere George Mikan ed i suoi Minneapolis Lakers in una serie di PO.. Davies si ritirò nella stagione 1954-55 lasciando una squadra vecchie e povera di talento..il Draft del 1955 aiutò a rifondare la squadra, oltre a Maurice furono presi l'amico d'infanzia Ed Fleming ed il grande amico nonché nativo di Pittsburgh Jack Twyman.

L'impatto di Stokes fu straordinario! Basti pensare che alla sua prima partita registro 32 punti 20 rb ed 8 as (oltre che un calcio nel viso.. episodi che si ripeterono per tutto il suo primo anno..era un Rookie..per di più nero..)!! Nelle sue prime tre partite collezionò 75 points,60 rebounds e 19 assists! Ovvio RoY condusse anche la lega in Rb, finendo secondo i due anni successivi (dietro Bill Russell).

Red Auerbach "Stokes is no rookie. He was ready for this league when he was in college. Nothing'll stop him."

Johnny Mos: “His quickness, passing ability, and court awareness were just unbelievable. When I first saw Magic Johnson play, it brought back memories of Maurice. You have to understand that Stokes was 6'7" and weighed 240 pounds. He could handle the ball like a point guard and rebound like a center. It was impossible not to rave about his abilities and potential. I'll always wonder just how great he might have become.”

Dotato di un fisico possente (poco più di due metri per 105 kg) ma abbinati ad una agilità straordinaria e grandi doti di passatore (4.9, 4.6 e 6.4 apg nelle sue tre stagioni, ovvero 8°,3° e 3° in un'era in cui gli assists non venivano dati generosamente come oggi..), era la cosa più simile ai successivi Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley e LeBron James.

Gene Shue: "Competitive, hard-nosed, tough, he was a coach's dream."

Jack Twyman: "Maurice... was Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan, before those guys came along, only Maurice was three inches taller and 50 pounds heavier. He was the first player to combine strength and quickness those guys had. ... He would have been one of the five best."

Dopo aver fallito l'approdo ai PO di 2 e 3 partite nei suoi primi due anni, finalmente ne1958 trascina i Royals ai PO! A fronteggiarli i Detroit Pistons.. i Royals furono sweppati 2-0 nella mini serie con Maurice che giocò solo la prima partita con un bottino di 12pt e 15rb.. magro bottino..
La ragione della prestazione sottotono va ricercata dell'ultima partita di RS contro i Lakers a Minneapolis.. durante la partita Maurice cadde a terra durante un contrasto di gioco contro Vern Mikkelsen sotto canestro battendo la testa.. rianimato tramite sali, terminò la partita portando i suoi alla vittoria grazie a 24 pt.
Nessuno aveva dato molta importanza all'accaduto.. ma dopo il primo game contro i Pistons si sentì male, disse che si sentiva morire. Cadde in coma e rimase paralizzato, gli diagnosticarono una encefalopatia, un danno al cervello dovuto alla caduta nella partita.

Maurice Stokes: "When we got back to the hotel, we went across the street to have some beer before we went to the airport. Although I had not played well, I never had any idea that there was something wrong. But when we arrived at the airport, I began to feel sick and weak. I remember some of the ballplayers saying, 'Try and make it back to Cincinnati.'"

Nonostante guadagnasse bene, i guadagni non bastavano a coprire le spese mediche.. gli venne in soccorso il compagno HoF Jack Twyman che si impegnò in ogni modo a cercare fondi per l'amico..quando i soldi stavano per terminare nel '58 organizzò anche una partita con varie stelle del Basket.. partita che si svolse ogni anno ed a cui parteciparono stelle come Russell, Embry, Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dr. J, Pistol Pete Maravich, Wilt Chamberlain (che per presenziare un anno prese un aereo da Parigi pur di non mancare..). Tutti accorsero per aiutare Maurice!

Billy Cunningham: "Playing in the Stokes games was like being asked to play in an All-Star game. Everybody was there. To see every player offering their services at their own expense was really special. It wasn't like guys were making a lot of money. But it was so important to help a fraternity brother."

Jack Twyman: "To see the way he conducted himself, I just stood in awe of him. It got so bad, when I would be having a bad day myself, I would go to see Maurice, selfishly, to say, I want to get pumped up. And he never failed to pump me up,"

Morì a 36 anni per infarto.

Nonostante soli tre anni con i PRO Maurice Stokes rimane uno dei giocatori più incredibili di questo sport! Un vero e proprio Elgin Baylor/Lebron James antelitteram considerando la sua massa, la sua visione di gioco, la sua tecnica e la sua agilità tutte combinate perfettamente! Nel suo anno da Rookie fini nella top10 delle tre principali voci statistiche: points (10th), rebounds (1st) e assists (8th). Nelle due successive stagioni Stokes finì 2nd in rebounding e 3rd in assists per ciascun anno!!

Red Auerbach: “Maurice Stokes was Magic Johnson before there was a Magic Johnson.”

NB: L'unico altro giocatore ad aver fatto simile, anzi meglio, è stato Wilt Chamberlain!

Said Twyman: "No one had seen a guy with that combination of strength, speed and size."

Bobby Wanzer: "If things had worked out differently, Maurice would have become one of the top 10 players of all time."

Milton Gross: “Stokes lived as a symbol of the best that a man is, despite the terrible things which can happen to him.”


Oscar Robertson: "Maurice Stokes was a moose of a man, the first star the franchise had. At six feet seven and 250 pounds, he was stronger and a better shooter than Elgin Baylor."

Bob Cousy: "The first great, athletic power forward. He was Karl Malone with more finesse."

Ed Fleming: "I can remember a reporter asking me on a plane, since I had played with Baylor and Stokes, which was better. My response was that I thought Maurice could stop Elgin but Elgin couldn't stop Maurice."

Jack Twyman: "Had Maurice lived and stayed healthy, people wouldn't be talking about the Celtics dynasty as they do now. With Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Wayne Embry and myself -- with Maurice -- the Cincinnati Royals would have been much more of a factor.”

Maurice Stokes: "While we were in the air, they called ahead for an ambulance to be at the airport. I don't remember getting into the ambulance. At that time I would regain consciousness for a while and then I would black out."[/i]

.. venne anche girato un film sulla sua storia.. MAURIE..

"MAURIE is a true story of human magnificence-- The magnificence of Maurice Stokes. A routine fall on a basketball court -- a week later, unable to move, to speak, to chew. Victim of a traumatic encephalopathy, Maurie was faced with medical doubt that he would ever swallow except through a siphon, much less speak, or write, or stand, even if he lived at all. But live he did, with a richness that endowed all who knew him. And, after a decade of intensely painful therapy that would have killed lesser men, stand he did -- to receive the tumultuous ovation of the crowd attending Jack Twyman Night at the Cincinnati Gardens in March 1966.”

[lebronpepps]

che storia incredibile

[Hank Luisetti]

Pensate ad una squadra con:

Oscar Robertson, Jack Twyman, Jerry Lucas, Maurice Stokes, Ed Fleming e Wayne Embry!! Sicuri che i Celtics avrebbero vinto tutti quegli anelli!!

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA STORIES

The Lowdown: Don Buse

Campione ABA (1973)
All-ABA Second Team (1976)
2 volte ABA All-Defensive First Team (1975, 1976)
ABA All-Star (1976)
Miglior passatore ABA (1976)
Migliore nelle palle rubate ABA (1976)
4 volte NBA All-Defensive First Team (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
NBA All-Star (1977)
Miglior passatore NBA (1977)
Migliore nelle palle rubate NBA (1977)
Career Stats: 7.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 2.7 rpg, 2.0 spg, 44% FG, 33% 3PT, 77.7% FT

Don Buse: “Me being named to the team was something unusual. Most of the guys in here are averaging at least 15 points a game. And here’s me, averaging 8 or 9. It’s a switch for people to recognize my style.”

Don Buse fece parte dell'AS Team nel 1977 quasi per caso. Se non fosse stato per l'infortunio di Bill Walton non avrebbe trovato spazio..di fatti le sue stats non erano impressionanti, anzi: 4 points and 5 assists in 19 minutes.
Tuttavia Buse condusse il West assieme a Paul Westphal alla vittoria:entrato a 5:31 minuti dal termine ter terzo quarto con il West Team sotto per 83 – 75. Don immediatamente cambiò l'inerzia della partita con una strenua difesa ultimando la partita con 4 steals, portando l'east a vincere per 125 – 124!!

Nato e cresciuto nel sud dell'Indiana, Buse imperversava già all'Holland High School ricevendo e accettando una proposta da University of Evansville. Al College averaging 17 points e 6 assists conducendo i Purple Aces al 1971 NCAA Division II title. Nel '72 fu draftato sia da Phoenix Suns col pick n°34 in NBA e dagli Indiana Pacers in ABA, optando per ragioni di cuore per quest'ultima!

I Pacers di quegli anni erano una squadra estremamente talentuosa, guidati in panchina da coach Slick Leonard e con giocatori del calibro di Mel Daniels, Freddie Lewis, Roger Brown ed ancora Bill Keller, George McGinnis e Billy Knight.
Buse contribuì alla sua maniera: difesa (mani rapide, gran senso della posizione, ferocia agonistica), rubate (2.1 a partita nei suoi 4 anni ABA), ordine in cabina di regia (grande ball-handler e ben piazzato fisicamente tanto da non soffrire le guardie avversarie) e freddezza, tanto da perdere pochissimi palloni (1.2 di media)

La stagione 1975-76 fu la migliore per Boo sia in points (12.5), rebounds (3), minutes (40.2) e steals (4.1!!!). Quella stagione Buse condusse la lega sia in Assists sia in Steals!

Don Buse: “I was really moving tonight, i just tried to keep the ball alive as much as possible.”

Boo continua a mantenere il record di franchigia per i Pacers per assists in una partita: 19!

Coach Bobby Leonard: “Boy what a gutsy effort; the back injury sure didn’t keep Boo from having a game tonight, did it?”

Finì nell'All-ABA 2nd Team, fece parte del 1976 ABA all-star game e per la seconda volta l'ABA All-Defensive 1st Team.
Nonostante le sue indubbie qualità, Buse rimaneva sconosciuto in NBA:
A Boston, lo speaker chiesem a Busecome dovesse pronunciare il suo nome, a Milwaukee, un cronista criticò le guardie dei Bucks per essersi fatte abusare da uno sconosciuto chiamato Don Buse.

Lou Hudson (veterano con 10 anni di esperienza NBA): “ I never heard of him”

Pete Maravich: “I heard of him but never seen him.” (Buse quella notte gli rubò 4 palloni!!)

Alla sua prima stagione in NBA Buse riprese da dove era rimesto in ABA, conducendo la lega sia in assists che in steals con una media rispettivamente di 8.5 e 3.5, e come detto sopra conducendo il West alla vittoria dell'ASG!
Nonostante lo status di Buse di ottimo Play e guardia difensiva i Pacers, in seri problemi finanziari, non potevano adeguare il suo contratto.. iniziarono a svendere Billy Knight , un giovane e promettente Adrian Dantley ( che stava mantenendo una media di 26.5) e Buse stesso fu inserito in una trade con i Phoenix Suns la stessa squadra che lo aveva draftato in NBA nel 1972.

Nelle tre stagioni successive Buse guidò i compagni Paul Westphal, Walter Davis, Truck Robinson e Alvan Adams ad un record di 49, 50 e 55 vittorie. Nonostante fosse il miglior passatore di squadra era la difesa il suo punto forte.
Nell'ultima stagione ai Suns Buse condusse i suoi alle Western Conference Finals perse solo al game 7!! In quella partita Buse segnò 16 points, prese 9 rebounds, distribuì 5 assists e rubò anche 4 palloni incluso uno a 23 seconds dal termine che avrebbe potuto sancire la vittoria…

Nel 1980 fece ritorno agli Indiana Pacers, dove ritrovò vecchi compagni come Billy Knight e George McGinnis! Ma la vecchia Gang..era ormai vecchia..insieme portarono i Pacers a vincere 44 partite nella stagione 1980-81, il miglior record NBA della franchigia fino a metà degli anni '90 (Reggie Miller edition). Furono facilmente eliminati 2-0 al primo turno da Philadelphia.
Con quella stagione, Buse arrivò alla 6° chiamata consecutiva per un All-Defensive 1st Teams (2 in ABA, 4 in NBA).

Boo Boo giocò ancora qualche altra stagione in NBA peregrinando fra Kansas City e Portland dove chiuse la carriera.
Tra le guardie che hanno giocato almeno 20,000 minutes, Buse si piazza 4th come minor numero di palle perse in totale, e 3rd per quanto riguarda la media: 1.1! Durante la favolosa annata 1976 mantenne un assist to turnover ratio di 4.33.

La sua media di 4.12 steals per game nella stagione 1976 rimane al primo posto all time nella storia fra NBA ed ABA. Al secondo posto si piazza Alvin Robertson con 3.67 del 1986. Non solo ma le 3.47 spg nella stagione 1977 si piazzano alla terza piazza all-time.

Insieme a Slick Watts, Michael Ray Richardson, John Stockton, e Chris Paul, è l'unico giocatore ad aver condotto la lega sia in apg che in spg nella stessa stagione. Lui e Paul sono i soli ad averlo fatto in un back-to-back seasons. La striscia di Buse di 6 All-Defensive 1st teams consecutivi lo fa rientrare nella ristretta lista di 3 PGs (Walt Frazier, Gary Payton) e di 12 players in tutto ad esserci riuscito

Per finire Buse è l'unico giocatore ad esser riuscito a vincere la classifica degli Assist e delle Steals sia ABA che in NBA!

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA History: First BAA/NBA Pick All Time

Clifton McNeely

..albori della lega..la Basketball Association of America aveva appena finito la prima stagiuone 1946/47 con i Philadelphia Warriors vincitori in finale 4-1 contro i Chicago Stags.

Il Commisioner dell’epoca, Maurice Podoloff, aveva deciso, sulla falsariga di quanto attuato sia dalla NFL che dalla MLB, di istituire un sistema di scelte dei migliori giocatori provenienti dal College. Il sistema, secondo Podoloff, doveva fare in modo che le squadre con i record peggiori nella stagione scegliessero i giocatori più forti.

Per cui nell’estate del 1947 si tenne il primo draft della NBA-BAA.

I primi a scegliere furono i Pittsburgh Ironmen, che avevano chiuso con il peggior record la prima stagione, 15-45, e scelsero il Clifton McNeely, primo giocatore proveniente da un College!

McNeely era una guardia ala piccola conosciuto come un grande attaccante, scoring leader nel 1947 nella nazione a livello universitario. La sua storia universitaria e di vita è stata davvero particolare. McNeely decise di andare alla Texas Wesleyan University dopo una grande carriera alla Slidell High Scholl, sempre in Texas. Oltre ad essere un grande attaccante McNeely era considerato già in giovane età come una sorta di allenatore in campo. Diligente tatticamente, sapeva guidare perfettamente dal campo le giocate dei suoi compagni di squadra, tanto che nell’ultimo anno di High School venne messo a fare anche il vice allenatore. Nel 1941 il Texano approda all’università e si distingue subito come un attaccante di tutto rispetto. Ed anche il 1942 si rivelò come una grande stagione cestistica per McNeely, ma il destino aveva in serbo ben altre strade che non un campo da basket per l’allora ventiduenne guardia di Texas Wesleyan.

Nel 1942 era in pieno svolgimento la seconda guerra mondiale, gli Stati Uniti d’America erano entrato in guerra dal dicembre 1941 e l’impatto di quell’evento aveva scaldato le coscienze di molti giovani americani. Tra cui McNeely, che decise di arruolarsi nell’aviazione e conseguentemente partì per la guerra in Europa. Rimase operativo fino alla fine delle ostilità, nel 1945, combattendo su più fronti. Al ritorno a casa in attesa di ritornare all’università per finire i due anni che gli rimanevano, decise di tornare alla High School d’origine per ricoprire nuovamente il ruolo di vice allenatore. Così nel 1946 McNeely si ripresentò a Forth Worth Texas, al campus della Wesleyan University per terminare il periodo di studi e per riprendere dal basket laddove quattro anni prima aveva lasciato.

Il 1946 fu un anno discreto per McNeely, il talento e la mano non erano fortunatamente per lui rimasti sul campo di guerra e Texas Wesleyan University ritrovò il suo realizzatore principe, oltre al leader dentro e fuori lo spogliatoio.
E nel 1947, nell’ultimo anno al college riuscì nell’impresa di diventare il miglior realizzatore universitario nella nazione, e vinse il premio come giocatore All American per il 1947. Tutto pronto, come abbiamo detto, per il salto nel mondo professionistico.

A 28 anni McNeely venne scelto da una franchigia NBA-BAA. I Pittsburgh Ironmen avevano bisogno di un grande attaccante vista la pessima stagione offensiva, 61.2 ppg peggio di loro solo i Boston Celtics, per cui la scelta di McNeely fu abbastanza scontata.

A Pittsburgh aspettarono con ansia, immaginiamo, l’arrivo della loro prima scelta assoluta, del giocatore che doveva rappresentare una garanzia per l’attacco degli Ironmen. Solo che lo aspettarono invano. A stretto giro di posta Clifton McNeely annunciò il suo ritiro dal basket giocato in quanto deciso ad accettare la proposta di Pampa High School per restare nel Texas ed allenare a livello scolastico. Quello che era il suo sogno. Se poi qualcuno a Pittsburgh si fosse annotato la risposta data alla domanda cosa pensi rispetto al tuo futuro da professionista nel mondo del basket, non ho nessuna intenzione di giocare a basket a livello professionistico, sarebbe andato molto meglio anche per loro. E così, ironia della sorte, la prima scelta assoluta nella storia della NBA non ha mai giocato nemmeno un secondo da professionista.

Anni dopo alla domanda su come mai avesse deciso di rifiutare la proposta degli Ironmen, McNeely rispose che intanto a Pampa riteneva di avere maggiori sicurezze e chiarezze economiche, e che anche il livello di gioco delle High School Texane gli sembrava più elevato. Per la cronaca in tredici anni da allenatore vinse quattro volte il titolo di stato. E non rimpianse mai per un momento la scelta fatta.

[rodmanalbe82]

Bill Simmons su Artest

These anecdotes just bounce off people now. Artest is a benevolent crazy. Or so we think. Being around this nuttiness every day is a little different from merely hearing about the nuttiness in secondhand anecdotes. I know for a fact he routinely broke plays on offense and is still a handful behind the scenes, and the Rockets buried every 2008-09 story that would have made this patently clear. For instance, Artest routinely walked around in his underwear in public places: the Rockets’ team bus, hotels, you name it. People around the team barely flinched after a while. Before Game 7 of the Lakers series — only the biggest game of the entire season — they finally flinched.

Here’s what happened: Artest missed the first two team buses (the ones for players, coaches and team personnel) from Houston’s hotel to the Staples Center and barely made the third and final bus, which was reserved for business staff, sponsors and friends of the team. These stunned people watched Artest sprint to the bus right before it left, jump on and take one of the remaining seats … yes, wearing only his underwear. Owner Leslie Alexander happened to be sitting on the bus and witnessed the whole thing. And you wonder why the Houston Rockets didn’t make any effort whatsoever to bring back Artest.

- Also what was that story about Ben Gordon cooking frozen pizzas right on the stove without a pan? "What are you doing Ben?" "Cookin' sut'in" Thought that was kinda funny. Or the Darius Miles quote after hearing about a $300,000 fine: "It would take my mom a whole year to make that". -

il migliore Qyntel Woods, fermato dalla polizia: fornisca patente e libretto... gli da la sua basketball card e due carte di credito

ahahahah John Salley about his year in Toronto

So, we open the door, and Isiah asks B.J. what he thinks. Now, B.J. and Isiah are both from Chicago, got the same tone, and B.J. says: "Thanks, I appreciate it, Zeke, but you gotta get me outta here. I can't play here." So he works a deal and gets rid of B.J.

So, Isiah goes to to me, "Hey, Sal, what are you thinking?"

I'm like, B.J. knows something I don't know. I need to get out of here, too. So I tell him, "Hey, if you can hook it up, I'd love to leave."

But Zeke is like, "Well, there's three things with that. Orlando wants to give me Anthony Avent and this other white player [Brooks Thompson or Jeff Turner]. I'm not doing that."

And I'm thinking, "C'mon, I wanna play with Shaq and Penny! I won't even play, just get a check and sit in the sun. C'mon, man."

And he tells me: "Chicago wants to give you a gig, but they've got Dennis Rodman and James Edwards. And you know Detroit wants you back, but you know I'm not negotiating with them. Listen. This is going to be a great place for you."

I'm looking at him like, please, please, massa, let me go. And he doesn't trade me. He's got three offers for me, and he still won't trade me.

But he says that Toronto's going to be a spot. That I'll be able to own the town. I buy into it.

I had no idea what I was getting into. Every day in the newspaper was a full page explaining a referee's call. They had to explain basketball to these people.

The team was full of these characters, too. There was Carlos Rogers, Oliver Miller—people forget because of the weight thing, but the Big O could play—and Alvin Robertson. Alvin Robertson was the scariest player I ever played against. He would beat the **** out of anybody. If you told me to put together a team of all the old-timers, it would be Alvin Robertson and Sidney Moncrief—just tough dudes.

Now, Alvin Robertson gets arrested the night before our first game for kicking a naked prostitute out of his hotel room after deciding he didn't want to pay. He gets bailed out the next day at like 3 in the afternoon and our game is at 7. He goes out and leads the team in scoring and we win the first game. That's when I knew that season was going to be weird.

Jayson Williams

Loose Balls: Easy Money, Hard Fouls, Cheap Laughs, and True Love in the NBA - Jayson Williams

Before signing me up, the Sixers' top guys met with me in a Midtown hotel in New York City. They heard I was fat, out of shape. They were worried about the broken foot, too. It was Harold Katz, then the owner, and Gene Shue, then the general manager. They wanted me to run up and down the hotel ballroom. They thought I might be damaged goods. I told 'em I understood their concerns, but I had a better idea. Instead of running up and down in a damn ballroom, why didn't I run up and down on a basketball court for them? I said, "We can go to a park by my house." They thought it was a great idea and we agreed to go on down there.

Harold and Gene didn't know it, but the park we were going to was down on the Lower East Side, right next to the school I went to, P.S. 137. And before we drove down there, I called the principal, and I told him what's happening.

So when we got to the park, he's let the whole school out early, and there's nine hundred kids in the park, surrounding the court, hanging on the chain-link fence, screaming and yelling and cheering, "Williams! Williams! Williams! Williams!."

And I'm running and dunking and jumping, up and down and up and down. I'm flying! It's like one of those bad made-for-TV movies. I mean, I'm two feet above the rim, scraping my elbows on metal. And the kids are screaming and Harold and Gene are happy about the whole thing. They're talking to each other.

"Holy smokes!" they're saying. "We got a steal with this guy!"

Harold and Gene spent the next two years watching me miss layups, stumble around, saying, "What the heck happened at that park? Was that an optical illusion or what?"

They told Charles Barkley they were confused, because they'd seen me playing about two feet above the rim.

Charlie says, "You seen who? Doing what? When?"

What Harold and Gene and Charlie didn't know is that the basket at that park is only nine feet high.

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA Videos:

Bill Russell Jumps over a Player

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWelUNrJUMM[/youtube]

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA Videos:

Giants of The Game: Russell and Chamberlain

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7awwwHcjQU8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=173M7ApCNKw[/youtube]

[Hank Luisetti]

.. è riportato da giocatori e cronisti dell'epoca che Wilt sia riuscito in una sola partita a fare ben 26 Blocks!!

[Blackswitcher]

Complimenti per il topic, Hank

[Nas]

.. è riportato da giocatori e cronisti dell'epoca che Wilt sia riuscito in una sola partita a fare ben 26 Blocks!!

da quando hanno iniziato a conteggiare le stoppate?

[Hank Luisetti]

.. è riportato da giocatori e cronisti dell'epoca che Wilt sia riuscito in una sola partita a fare ben 26 Blocks!!

da quando hanno iniziato a conteggiare le stoppate?

Ufficialmente stagione '72/'73 in ABA e dalla successiva in NBA.

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA Anecdotes:

Wilt Chamberlain Streight

Meadowlark Lemon: “Chamberlain was the strongest athlete who ever lived”

Gary Pomerantz: “He'd run the 440 in forty-nine seconds, leaped nearly 23 feet in the broad jump, and put the shots more than 53 feet. He could clean and jeark 375 puonds and dead-lift 625 pounds. If athleticism may be defined exclusively as a combination of size, strenght,speed and agility, then the young Wilt Chamberlain, at 7-foot-1, 260 pounds, might have been the twentieth century's greatest athlete. He would transform his sport, and its geometry, more than anyone ever did: He led the movement that took a horizontal gam and made it vertical.”

Bill Russell: “I still remember the time when one of our strongest men, Gene Conley, decided to fight Chamberlain for the ball. He grabbed it and hung on and Chamberlain just lifted him and the ball right up towards the rim.”

Art Spander, Oakland Tribune: “Remember when he signed to box Muhammad Ali? The Bout never came to pass, but my pick would have been Chamberlain. I saw him lift up two NBA hand, in a successful attempt to break up an on-court fight.”

Sonny Hill: “Wilt had the tremendous speed to go along with all the gift that he had. There's no question he's the strongest player never played the game, but people never think pf how quick and fats he was. He was an athlete besides being a basketball pèlayer”

Al Attles: “I would talk to Wilt about all the players pounding on him. Sometimes he said he didn't notice it – he was so strong. But i also belive that there was two sets of rules, By that, i mean because Wilt was so strong, the officials let the man guarding him get away with more – almost trying to equalize the game. I also belive that Wilt just took it because he didn't wwant to get throw out, and because it had always been like that with him. But i'd watch it and i get mad. It takes me a while to get my temper going, but when it does—look out. I'd seen whatthe others players were doing to Wilt and what the officials were allowing, and i'd get more upset than if it were happening to me. So i jumped in there. It wasen't that Wilt coulden't defend himself. If he ever got really hot, he'd kill people, so he let the things pass. But i didn't have worry about that. I was strong for my size, but i was not about to do anything like the kind of damage he would”

Sport Illustrated 1964: “The St. Louis Hawks 6-foot-9, 240-pound Zelmo Beaty, for example, found out recently that he can no longer take Chamberlain's great strenght for granted. Unable to slow Wilt down with conventional maltreatment, Beaty tried to yank his shorts off. Chamberlain, who can press 400 pounds without breathing hard, makes it a point to control his temper, primarily because he is genuinely afraid he might kill somebody. Beaty's unethical yank, however, was too much. Wilt flicked an arm, and Beaty flew across the floor like a man shot out of a cannon. Referee Mendy Rudolph rushed over to him and said: "For God's sake, stay down, man. Don't even twitch a muscle." Beaty didn't twitch, and he is still active in the NBA.”

Jerry Krause: “I remember Wilt from my Baltimore (Bullets) days when i come into the league (as a scout). He was the strongest human being who ever lived. Nobody was stronger than Wilt. I saw Wilt pick up Gus Johnson by the armpits. Gus was 6-6, 225 and not an ounce of fat on Him”

Lynda Huey: “It was a long day of driving and boating an skiink, and when we go back to the house, Wilt totally took my breath away with an incredible feat of strenght. Instead of going though the difficult maneuver of backing the boat trailer into the carport, Wilt simply unhitched the boat from his station wagon and single.handedly pushed tah heavy boat trailer into place”

The Good Natured Giant Wasn't Belligerent, Sports of the Times; Oct 13, 1999; Dave Anderson: “Several years after Wilt stopped playing, he toyed with the idea of a comeback. On the day he visited the Knicks' offices in Madison Square Garden, he talked to Red Holzman, then strode out to the elevator. When it opened, two deliverymen were struggling with a dolly piled high with boxes of office supplies, mostly letterheads and envelopes. The load was so heavy, the elevator had stopped maybe four inches below the floor level and now the deliverymen were huffing and puffing, but they couldn't raise the dolly high enough to get it on the floor level. After maybe two minutes of the deliverymen's huffing and puffing, Wilt, his biceps bulging in a tank top, peered down at them and intoned, "Gentlemen, maybe I can help." They stepped back, he stepped into the elevator, grabbed each end of the rope slung under the dolly and without much exertion, quickly lifted the dolly onto the floor level. Looking up in awe, the deliverymen said, "Thank you." Wilt said, "You're welcome." Wilt stepped into the elevator and rode down to the street level as another witness followed the two deliverymen toward the Knick offices and asked, "How much does all this weigh?" They quickly surveyed the stack of big boxes of office supplies. "Close to 600 pounds," one said.”

K.C. Jones: "He stopped me dead in my tracks with his arm, hugged me and lifted me off the floor with my feet dangling," Jones said. "It scared the hell out of me. When I went to the free-throw line, my legs were still shaking. Wilt was the strongest guy and best athlete ever to play the game.”

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: “You think Shaq is strong? Tou think Shaq is unstoppable? Let's put it this way: If Wilt was a battleship, Shaq is a rowboat.”

Johnny Kerr: “Peolple talk about the strenght of Shaq. I think Wilt could have picked up Shaq and thrown him the hoop.”

Gene Selznick, Volleyball HoF: “He did a good job and continued to get better and better and he become a pretty good volleyball player. His blocking ability was the best that i have ever seen. He was so big and powerful that he could intimidate anybody in the world, while he was up at the net. The thing about Wilt was that he did not use this ability all the times, but when he got mad he went to the next level, and nobody could get the ball by him.”

Pat Powers, 1984 Olympic Volleyball Gold Medalist: “I once was sitting on the steel fence at Rosecrans taking in the Rosecrans open with Wilt and several cochorts back in the late '70s. A player from Muscle Beach was standing beneath us and told us he was going to walk around so he could come join us up on the rail. Wilty told him there was no reason to walk, and reached down and picked him up by one arm and hoisted him over the bar. Mike weighed about 240lbs! I have been around some athletes in my day. But nobody and i mean nobody was stronger than Wilty. He was a man's man!”

Dr. Stan Lober, Harlem Globetrotters: “They started playfully pusching and shoving him. And finally one of his teammates hit Wilt a little too hard. He took these two guys, twisted each of their shirts, and lifted both of them off the ground. Each of these guys weighed over 200 pounds. It looked like he had two little crackers in his hands. I thought he was going to hit their heads toghether. It was an amazing demostration of strenght.”

Johnny Kerr: “Once Wilt got upset with me and dunked the ball so hard it went through the rim with such force that it broke my toe as it hit the floor.”

Connie Hawkins: “Wilt dunked it every way you could go. In the schoolyards, they have the baskets with no nets on them. And one time, he dunked the ball so hard, the ball went through the basket, hit the ground and it went over the 15-foot fence. Somebody went to go get the basket was still shaking. That's how strong this guy was. He was just a dominating guy”

Willis Reed: “He was just the opposite (To Kareem) in terms of stamina, just tremendusly strong. He could play 48 minutes, suck down one of those giant 7-Ups he used to drink during games and play another 48”

John Havlicek: “In my rookie year, Wilt was involved in a pick and roll play suddenly Bill Russell was off Wilt and guarding someone else, and i had Chamberlain. Wilt took me down near the basket and caught a pass. Being the bright kid out of Ohio State i thought i was, i figured, “No problem. Wilt isen't a good foul shooter. I'll grab him.” Well, Wilt didn't like being held. I reached around from behind and held both of his arms. He wasn't going to let some rookie stop him, so Wilt took the ball- and me- up. He dunked the ball and i hung there on his arms, both of my feet off the ground and hanging on to Wilt's arms for dear life untile he put me down.”

Paul Silas: “All of a sudden, I felt an enormous vise around me. I was 6-7,235, and Wilt had picked me up and turned me around. He said, 'We're not goind to have that stuff.' I said, 'Yes sir.' ”

Sport Illustrated 1986: “Bob Lanier, 6 ft 10 in. , 270, one of the hugets men anywhere, filled out a questionnaire recently that asked him to cite the most memorable moment in his entire athletic career. Lanier wrote: 'When Wilt Chamberlain lifted me up and moved me like a coffee cup so he could get a favorable position.' ”

Sonny Hill: “The only man that's been to the top (of the backboard), that's Wilt. I asket Kareem if he ever did, and he could jump a little bit. He told me, 'Sonny, no.' ”

Wayne Embry: “People lose sight of the fact that Wilt was a 440 champio, a guy with grat coordination, He also was so strong that the double-teaming defenses used today wouldn't bother him.”

Billy Cunningham: “Wilt went up and with one hand he grabbed the ball, clearly! Than he took the ball and shoved it right back into Gus, drilling Gus into the floor with the basketball. Gus was Flattened and they carried him out. It tourned out that Gus Johnson was the only player in NBA History to suffer a dislocated shoulder from a blocked shot.”

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA Anecdotes:

Wilt Chamberlain

Early 1980s, when Brown was coaching at UCLA, Chamberlain showed up at Pauley Pavilion to take part in one of the high-octane pickup games that the arena constantly attracted.

Larry Brown: "Magic Johnson used to run the games, and he called a couple of chintzy fouls and a goaltending on Wilt. So Wilt said: 'There will be no more layups in this gym,' and he blocked every shot after that. That's the truth, I saw it. He didn't let one [of Johnson's] shots get to the rim." Chamberlain would have been in his mid-40s at the time, and he remained in top physical shape until recently."

[Hank Luisetti]

NBA Amecdotes:

Wilt Chamberlain

Nel 1982, quando Wilt aveva 45, George White giornalista del Houston Chronicle chiese ad Helvin Hayes se Wilt sarebba sempre in grado di giocare..

Elvin Hayes: "Some things about Wilt, you never forgot, he was such an awesome physical specimen. To go up under Wilt Chamberlain, to be down there and look up at him when he's towering up over you waiting to dunk, was a terrifying picture. To see him poised up there, knowing he was about to sweep down with that big jam . . . that must be the most frightening sight in sports. The ball goes shooting through the net and you better have your body covered up because he could really hurt someone. I was scared. Everyone was scared when he got that look in his eye, that don't-try-to-stop-this look that he got when he really wanted it. . . . I think Russell realized there was no way he could have stopped Wilt if he had been fully intent on making it a two-man game. No one who ever put on a uniform could have done it. When I played him, I kept this foremost in my mind: Above all, don't make him mad. Don't embarrass him. You wanted to keep him quiet as long as possible."