Dawning of the Age of Ralph Sampson, 1984

[In 1983, the Houston Rockets hit the NBA jackpot. They won the draft rights to Ralph Sampson, pro basketball’s projected next dominant big man. Sampson, 7-foot-4, all arms and legs and even skinnier than Lew Alcindor, was incredibly mobile and skilled for a player his size. (I still remember my jaw dropping the first time I saw Sampson in college dribb…