Doin' the 'Doo

Lex's effort to be "fair and balanced"

Bob McAdoo, 2000 NBA Hall of Fame Inductee

--1973 Rookie of the Year

--1975 League MVP

--Three-time NBA Scoring Leader

--Four-Time All-Star

With good height at 6-foot-9, McAdoo punished largely with finesse and touch. He worked out his own style, almost hiding his face as his arms went up for the shot. Los Angeles Laker Jerry West, McAdoo remembers, once called it "the ugliest shot I have ever seen."

He played for seven different NBA teams and helped the Lakers win NBA championships in 1982 and 1985.

"Bob McAdoo never met a shot he didn't like," said his former coach, Jack Ramsey.

McAdoo's unique record is leading the NBA in scoring (30.6 points per game) and field goal percentage (.547) in the same season. Only three other players have equaled this record: Wilt Chamberlain (three times), Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston.

For McAdoo, the HOF nod more than made up for the oversight when he was not named to the NBA's Top 50, chosen during the league's 50th anniversary.

At first McAdoo didn't pay a lot of attention to being overlooked.

"My sons (Ross, 17, and Russell, 13), they're the ones who brought it to my attention," McAdoo said. "They researched it and said, 'how could you not make it, Dad? There are only 21 different MVPs in league history and you're the only one who didn't make it. You're the only multiple scoring champion that didn't make it.'"

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Lex says:

If you twisted my arm far enough, I might concede that 'Doo deserved the induction, though not before DJ. Under no circumstances, however, will I concede that he deserved to be included on the top 50 list.

You need to play on both sides of the ball to make that list, or at least be a top-fiver on one side of the ball.

McAdoo's omission from that list was not an oversight.

It was by design.