When Wilt Jumped to the ABA

 

(PICTURED: THE TEAM WILT INHERITED FROM KC JONES)

Surprise was always a trademark of the Wilt Chamberlain mystique, and he pulled his biggest shocker of all in 1973 when he jumped the Lakers and the NBA to become playing coach of the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors.

Bob Ryan Discusses the Day Chamberlain Dropped 100

March 2, 2012

Fifty years ago tonight, Wilt Chamberlain missed 27 shots in a game against the New York Knicks

What would the analysts on TNT or ESPN say if an NBA player were to miss 27 shots in a game this evening? They'd have a little fun with that one

Of course, there was a little more to the story, because on that night, Wilt Chamberlain also made 36 shots, along with 28 free throws. That added up to a nice even 100 points as the Philadelphia Warriors defeated the Knicks, 169-147

One hundred points! Against NBA competition! Teams today go weeks without scoring 100 points. Seven-game playoff series are routinely played with neither team breaking 100

One hundred points! It is the iconic one-game feat of all iconic one-game feats in North American sport

Ali v. Wilt: The Fight that Almost Happened

Wilt Chamberlain was one of the greatest athletes of all-time. Boxing promoter Bob Arum gave the basketball Hall of Famer the chance to prove it against "The Greatest." Arum had twice arranged fights between the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain and heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

More Love for Marquis

And Daniels? I can understand why a team like the Pacers would decide not to pick up his $7.5 million option. Not in this economy, not with the team sometimes struggling to pull in five-figure crowds. But to pull Marquis Daniels for either a $1.8 million contract, or a sign-and-trade with Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine?

This is huge.

Honestly, 25 teams could use a Marquis Daniels, and a team that is 13 months removed from a championship just picked him up. You have to appreciate that. And while Daniels hasn't built upon what was a very promising rookie campaign in 2003-04, the guy can play. He has all sorts of little tricks defensively, he can work from two positions, he can shoot, he can shoot on the break, and he can really get into the lane. He's essentially a mini-version of another rookie on the 2003-04 Dallas Mavericks - Josh Howard(notes). At, what, one-sixth the price?

--YAHOO

Speaking of love, Red's Army has a good piece about how the league is flabbergasted over the Rasheed Wallace signing. I must admit, if KG's knee is healthy, there is no way to fully gauge the impact Sheed will have. Did Bill Russell have another Bill Russell coming off the bench behind him? How about Wilt? Kareem? You could say the best example would be Parish and Walton, but even that comparison is a bit off-center, as Walton's health usually limited his number of minutes to less than 20, and old Mountain Man couldn't hoist a shot from more than 15-feet, and even those shots (and it kills me to criticize my dog) were butt ugly.

The Arms Race Continues

Lakers' Nation awakes this morning and takes notice. The 2009-10 NBA season is starting to remind me a lot of the 1980s, where you have a few elite teams that are very, very good, and everyone else just stinks. In the early 1980s, you had the C's, the L's, the Bucks, and the Sixers. Later on, you had the C's, the L's, and the Pistons. Usually some other team rose to the occasion for a season or two.

The other similarity is how the bad teams raced to shed their good, but expensive players. Remember how the Lakers got MycHal Thompson for a cola and a bag of chips? Sort of like how the Lakers got Pau Gasol 20 years later. Of course, the Celtics originally triggered this arms race not only by getting KG and Ray Allen, but then destroying the purple six out of eight times that season.

In technology, we use the analogy of only being able to fit so many painters (ie., programmers) into a closet (ie., a piece of code). After a while, you reach the point of diminishing returns. When the Lakers acquired Wilt Chamberlain before the start of the 1968-69 season, they asked Bill Russell to comment on the Lakers formidable roster.

"They still just play the sport with one basketball, right? And only five guys can be on the court at the same time? I think we'll be alright," Russell said. The interesting thing is that once the Celtics add Grant Hill, I don't think they are done adding painters to the closet.

Stephon Marbury, having previously indicated that he was done playing for the C's, just might reconsider now that the entire team is made up of all-world players. Plus Danny has the contracts of Scal, TA, Giddens, Walker, and Pruitt to dangle.

Celtics' Cachet Being Tested Again

CACHET (ca·chet)

Pronunciation: \ka-shā\ Function: noun Etymology: French, from cacher Date: circa 1639
(1)an indication of approval carrying great prestige; (2) a characteristic feature or quality conferring prestige. PRESTIGE

Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, after they had retired for the game, both confessed that early during their playing careers they held a deep admiration for the Boston Celtics organization, Red Auerbach, and Bill Russell. The measure of the Celtics’ cachet was not limited to the two greatest big men of their era. Respect for the green was widespread among most, if not all, NBA players.

Celtics' fans figured that the Celtics' brand carried great weight well into the 1980s. After all, every where Larry Bird and company went they played to a full house and were treated like rock stars. But something happened to the Celtics' brand along the way. It lost some of its luster. In 1989, the Celtics' first round pick from the previous season, Brian Shaw, bolted the team to play for a then-unknown European team in Italy. In 1992, little regarded Jon Barry was drafted by the Celtics and had to be traded because he wouldn’t sign with the team.

The Barry nose-snubbing is often forgotten by those claiming that the Celtics had not lost their appeal in general, but only their appeal to black players, since Barry is white. No, something more was going on than a simple matter of race. Perhaps it was the elevation of agents into a more influential decision-making role or perhaps players were becoming more selfish. Whatever, the number of professional basketball players expressing reluctance to play for the Celtics has only grown over the last 17 years.

So it should come as no surprise that 35-year-old Rasheed Wallace, presented by the Celtics with a two-year (and, according to some reports, a three-year) contract for the full MLE, has asked for a week to make a decision. And like KG, Sheed's initial reaction to playing for Boston was a knee-jerk NOOOO!

Still, I struggle with Celtics' star having fallen this far.

The Celtics are less than thirteen months removed from a winning a championship in dominating fashion, and currently boast three of the biggest names in the business, not to mention one of the best point guards in the league. They are coached by a man whom players love to play for. The roster includes one of Sheed’s best friends. No other team is likely to offer more money or a longer contract than the Celtics have offered (if you believe the reports of the three-year offer), and, anyway, no one in the Wallace entourage is claiming that money or contract-length will dictate his decision.

So color me frustrated with Wallace’s lack of excitement over the Celtics’ interest. Or maybe I should just chill. After all, even Bill Walton called Jerry West right before he called Red Auerbach after Walton first became a free agent in 1985.

Some Russell-Chamberlin Banter

"Felton (Bill Russell) was a great player, but, damn, he was greedy. I'd tell him that, too. He has 11 rings and only 10 fingers. I asked him as recently as four or five years ago, 'Bill why don't you let me have one of those rings that you can't wear?' He gave me that big cackle of his. When you hear him laugh like that, you wonder whether he's laughing with you or laughing at you.

"I knew right then and there he was laughing at me. So I said, maybe I could show you the finger that I'd use for the ring," at which point you might guess which finger Wilt prominently displayed.

Again, hearty laughter from both legendary big men.

Said Russell: "Norman and I spoke a bit at the hotel earlier today. Actually, I drank coffee while he talked."

The laughter resumed.

Red on Russell, Bird, and Jordan

Q: Did you say that Bird was the best all-around player you ever saw?

RED: No. It would be a heart-wrenching decision to have to pick between Bird and Russell . The question you have to ask is, Who are the other four guys on the court? To make a snap choice, an out-and-out pick, you can't do it.

Q: What about Jordan?

RED: He's great. I could make a case for Jordan, Magic, Bird, Russell, even Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar being the greatest player who ever lived. But you do have to ask, Who are the other four guys? If Michael Jordan doesn't have a center or a power forward on his team, he's not going to beat you. He can't do it by himself. If you have Russell, you have to have a ball handler in the backcourt. Even the greatest need someone else.

Shaq: More Like Namath or More Like Wilt?

Now that the Phoenix Suns are on the verge of finalizing a deal for Shaquille O’Neal, the question remains what will they get out of him? The Suns hope that their acquisition offsets the Lakers’ acquisition of Pao Gasol. Unlike the Lakers, however, the Suns had to give up something of value—Shawn Marion.

Pro sports is replete with examples of professional teams trying to revitalize superstars whose best days are behind them. Shak’s best days appear to be ancient history. But I will be curious to see if the end of his career more closely resembles that of Joe Namath or that of Wilt Chamberlain.

Joe Willie Namath did not miss a single game because of injury in his first five years in the NFL, making a reputation for himself as a brash, but extremely talented quarterback. After Broadway Joe led the Green to their only Super Bowl victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Namath’s knees and rough-and-tumble life style caught up with him.

Joe Willie played in just 28 of 58 possible games between 1970 and 1973 due to a variety of injuries. But when circumstances allowed, Namath rose to the occasion. His most memorable moment in those four seasons came on September 24, 1972, in Baltimore, when he and boyhood idol Johnny Unitas combined for 872 passing yards. Namath bombed the Colts for 496 yards and six touchdowns in a 44-34 victory, New York's first victory over Baltimore since Super Bowl III. In that same game, Unitas threw for 376 yards and three touchdowns.

In the twilight of his career, Namath was waived by the Jets to facilitate a move to the Los Angeles Rams after a trade couldn't be worked out. He was signed by the Rams on May 12, 1977. Namath hoped to revitalize his flagging career, but by this point his effectiveness as a quarterback was nearly kaput . After a 2-1 start, Namath took a beating in a cold, windy, and rainy Monday night game at Chicago. Namath was benched the next game in favor of Pat Haden, and Broadway Joe never played another down in the NFL.

Contrast the dismal end to Namath’s career with the final years of Wilt Chamberlain’s career.

On July 9, 1968, Chamberlain was the centerpiece of a major trade between the 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers, who sent center Darrall Imhoff (the unfortunate ex-Knicks center who started against Chamberlain when latter scored 100 points), forward Jerry Chambers and guard Archie Clark to Philadelphia, making it the first and only time a reigning NBA Most Valuable Player was traded the next season. This trade was only slightly more lop-sided than the Gasol trade last week.

In Chamberlain’s first year, he averaged 20.5 points and 21.1 rebounds. After missing most of his second year with a knee injury, Chamberlain averaged 20.7 points, 18.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists in the 1970-71 season. In the 1971-72 season, the Los Angeles Lakers won an epic 33 straight games on their way to a 69-13 record and their first world championship since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. Chamberlain averaged 14.8 points, 19.2 rpg, and led the league with a .649 field goal percentage. Even Chamberlain’s last year was nothing to sneeze at. The Stilt averaged 13.2 points and 18.6 rebounds, and set an all-time NBA record .727 accuracy from the field.

I’d like to think that Shak has a little more gas left in the tank, if only to frustrate Mitch Kupcek and company. Truth be told, however, the last year and a half of Shak’s career tilt toward a Namathesque kind of ending--moments of brilliance, but overall, unable to make a significant impact on the team’s success.

But who knows, maybe the Suns will get Shak healthy and focus his attention and energy on the playoffs. If they do that and he stays healthy, I like the Suns chances against the Ls with a motivated Shak in the lineup.