Basketball Intelligence Newsletter: Historical Article Library

Charlie Scott: The Next Big O, 1972

bobkuska — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 17:39:13 GMT

[The ABA Virginia Squires’ Charlie Scott as the next Oscar Robertson? Read all about it in this article from the Victory Sports Series Pro Basketball Yearbook, 1972. Drawing the comparison is Augie Borgi, a sportswriter for the Bergen (NJ) Record. Borgi covered the New York Knicks and the NBA, not the ABA. So, his perspective is different than your usua…

The Resurrection of Bernard King, 1982

bobkuska — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 12:22:44 GMT

[In 2017, NBA great Bernard King published his autobiography titled Game Face: A Lifetime of Hard-Earned Lessons On and Off the Basketball Court. In the book, King talks about his battle with alcohol in the late 1970s (“the darkest period of my life”) and his will to overcome the addiction and reclaim his life and career:

“I was a star forward in my prim…

Bobby Jones: Computer’s Choice, 1977

bobkuska — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 16:50:32 GMT

[I couldn’t resist this article: the computer’s choice for the NBA’s most-complete player. Pretty cool that the 1970s computational gods spit out the name Bobby Jones. Of course, when Jack Ramsay coached the Philadelphia 76ers, he rented time on a mainframe computer, with all those punch cards whirling and sorting, to find the perfect player in the 1970…

Dennis DuVal: A Brave Attitude, 1976

bobkuska — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 18:40:28 GMT

[When Dennis DuVal finished his All-American career at Syracuse University as the school’s second all-time career scorer behind Dave Bing, his coach Roy Danforth told pro scouts, “Dennis may be even better suited to the pro game than college, because he can pull up and shoot the jumper . . . He’s smart, knowledgeable enough to make the adjustment quickl…

Wes Unseld: The Outlet Pass is His Specialty, 1975

bobkuska — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 15:40:43 GMT

[Several years ago, I interviewed the now-late Baltimore Sun reporter Alan Goldstein, who covered the NBA Bullets back in the 1960s and early 1970s. Goldstein, then in his 70s and still extremely sharp, was one of those easy interviews. He started talking and the stories spilled out. I just had to get out of his way to jot everything down.

Goldstein: “F…

Lew Alcindor: First Million-Dollar Baby? 1969

bobkuska — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 17:00:13 GMT

[I recently had a conversation with a gentleman, now in his 90s but still sharp as a tack, about UCLA basketball and the John Wooden era. He did his fair share of grumbling, mainly because he’d been affiliated with rival USC basketball in the 1960s. Some of his grumbling was about Wooden, whom he claimed got more credit than he deserved. His point was W…

Bubbles Hawkins: How to Burst a Bubble, 1977

bobkuska — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 14:15:02 GMT

[Robert Hawkins reportedly got the nickname “Bubbles” because of the way he floated through the air on the playgrounds of his native Detroit. He floated and scored at will. At 6-feet-4 and a slithering 175 pounds, Bubbles was a two-time high school All-American at Detroit’s legendary Pershing High and followed his coach Wil Robinson to Illinois State Un…

What’s Wrong with Big-Time Basketball, 1955

bobkuska — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 17:21:05 GMT

[In Neil Isaacs’ gem of a book Vintage NBA: The Pioneer Era (1946-1956), he starts with his interview of Harold Rosenthal. The name is largely forgotten these 21^st century days, but Rosenthal worked on the sports page at the New York Herald Tribune during pro basketball’s pioneer era. In this interview, Rosenthal remembers his first brush in the mid-194…

Jon McGlocklin: Straight, No Chaser, 1975

bobkuska — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 18:41:11 GMT

[Author John Devaney always considered himself a true New Yorker. But in 1970, Devaney got the wild idea of leaving behind Gotham and tagging along with the Milwaukee Bucks for a season. His tag-along led to the popular paperback, Alcindor, the Big O & The Champion Bucks. But it also put him face to face with plenty of regular folks from Middle America,…

Sam Jones: The Little Stool That Could, 1962

bobkuska — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 14:20:32 GMT

[April 2, 1962. Philadelphia Warriors versus the Boston Celtics. Game five of their best-of-seven series in sold-out Boston Garden. To start the fourth quarter, Boston guard Sam Jones and Philadelphia's Wilt Chamberlain start jawing. Jones, no physical match for Wilt, thinks quickly and grabs a stool to fend off a seven-foot whooping. The moment was cap…

Gary Payton Talks the Talk, 1995

bobkuska — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 09:56:10 GMT

[Here’s a short article on the always-yappy Gary Payton, who was then entering his fifth season with the Seattle Supersonics. The article was written by the fantastic Fran Blinebury and ran in the magazine Street & Smith’s Pro Basketball, 1994-95. Enjoy!]

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Gary Payton talks. Yes, and the sun shines and the tides roll in and the wind blows and the gras…

Michael Jordan: The Real No. 1 Draft Choice, 1984

bobkuska — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 15:02:04 GMT

[So much has been written about Michael Jordan that I try to steer clear of him. But I stumbled onto this article from Mark Heisler, then with the Los Angeles Times, and it’s kind of cool. Heisler writes about Jordan making his NBA debut in New York. It was only a preseason tilt, but Heisler’s sources are first rate. They weigh in on the rookie from the…

Marques Johnson: Wanting into the Dream Showcase, 1984

bobkuska — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 14:30:34 GMT

[The Dream Showcase translates here to the NBA Finals. Marques Johnson and the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t quite get there in the 1984 NBA playoffs, slowed by another unlucky rash of late-season injuries and falling to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. In fact, during the Boston series, Johnson had to take over Milwaukee’s playmaking dutie…

Sidney Moncrief’s Special Success Formula, 1984

bobkuska — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 18:40:33 GMT

[Sidney Moncrief was a GREAT player, and I’ve wanted to run an article about him for a long time. Here’s one from the prolific wire service reporter Bert Rosenthal that ran in the magazine All-Star Sports Basketball Issue, 1983-84. Like most of Rosenthal’s copy, this story is just the facts, nothing racy, drawn from Moncrief’s fourth season with the Mil…

Doug Moe: The Game I’ll Never Forget, 1969

bobkuska — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 14:53:41 GMT

[Here’s the great Doug Moe on his most-memorable pro game. Hint: It was in the ABA and prominently features Warren Armstrong (Jabali). Moe’s recollection ran in the January 1981 issue of Basketball Digest. Enjoy!]

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I’ll never forget the old American Basketball Association. The ABA was a lot of fun. It had a relaxed atmosphere, the people were friendly…

Can Connie Hawkins Find Happiness in the ABA? 1969

bobkuska — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 13:16:50 GMT

[Happy New Year! This article comes from Jim O’Brien, a journalist who would cover the ABA like no other in the 1970s for the New York Post and The Sporting News. But here, O’Brien is still in back his hometown (where he is today, actually) writing for Pittsburgh Weekly Sports. His subject is none other than Connie Hawkins. O’Brien’s article, which appe…

Joe Strawder: No Guarantees, 1968

bobkuska — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 15:35:00 GMT

[In our last post, newspaper columnist Roy McHugh describes how in 1967 NBA veteran Chico Vaughn, underwhelmed by his new NBA team in San Diego, jumped to the ABA’s Pittsburgh Pipers instead. As McHugh wrote:

“Chico called information and asked for the number of the Pittsburgh basketball team. He did not know that Pittsburgh was called the Pipers, but h…

Chico Vaughn and The Man, 1968

bobkuska — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 17:37:06 GMT

[It started with LeRoy Ellis, the Baltimore Bullets’ starting center. Then came Lakers’ Bad News Barnes, and Chicago’s young center Erwin Mueller. They were the first NBA veterans to cross the line and sign contracts with the brand-new ABA in the spring of 1967. Their NBA bosses cried foul, filing immediate injunctions and threatening multi-million-doll…

Terry Cummings: Inside Beats a Champion’s Heart, 1984

bobkuska — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 17:44:50 GMT

[Oh, the curse of making the cover of Sports Illustrated. Remember the curse? Or, as some preferred “the jinx”? You’re at the very top of the sportsworld today; tomorrow, you’re deep down in the valley of despair.

Well, Terry Cummings of the San Diego Clippers made the cover of SI back on February 21, 1983. The humble, 6-feet-9 former DePaul All-America…

Paul Silas: He Doesn’t Leave Fingerprints, 1972

bobkuska — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 16:16:51 GMT

[Here’s to NBA great Paul Silas and his life well lived. Since his passing two days ago, numerous news stories have appeared that summarize his prolific career as an NBA player and coach. I’ll leave it to them to get all his numbers and achievements straight (though oddly nobody seems to mention that Silas was president of the NBA Players Association wh…