Every now and then a hint of the coiled spring deep within the man once labeled soft and passive pops up. A swing at Detroit Piston Bill Lambier in January of 1989, after being elbowed in the throat. A somewhat alarming pronouncement regarding NASCAR: Brad Daugherty admitted that he “likes to see the violence”, to [...]
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Seek not every quality in one individual. — Confucius Thomas Jefferson had several. George Washington was widely rumored to have a few. Murphy Brown had only one but sparked a nationwide debate. Somewhere in the middle is Shawn Kemp. Shawn doesn’t talk much about fathering out-of-wedlock children except to say he wishes he could spend [...]
Friday, May 23, 2008
I Roc-a-Fella like Shawn Carter with more game than Ron Harper –Deadly Combination, Big L Candace Parker, WNBA rookie superstar and first female Bballer to be seriously compared to the NBA, admires one player above all: I respect Jordan — he is the king — but I would walk past Jordan to get Ron Harper’s [...]
Thursday, May 1, 2008
I’m tryin’ to see the forest but there’s this one tree –Reuben Studdard In 1987, Curry Kirkpatrick, writing for Sports Illustrated, reflected on a memorable 1983 Hawks-Celtic Playoffs fight. Tree Rollins elbowed Danny Ainge; Danny made the mistake of tackling Tree; one tetanus shot and a permanently reduced ability to give anyone the finger later, [...]
Monday, April 21, 2008
Billy Thomas is ready for the Playoffs: I want to be there when the games matter most. I want the chance to be the guy. (Source: The Kansas City Star January 29, 1998) The feeling is mutual. After a 2nd 10-day callup bringing Billy from the D-League’s Colorado 14ers to Cleveland, the Cavs extended an [...]
Monday, April 14, 2008
To tell the story of Jim “Sweets” Chones is to tell the story of “If only…” If only he hadn’t Broken His Foot, if only he hadn’t Grown Up Poor, if only he hadn’t, well, I’ll let the Nets’ long-time scorer Herb Turetzky tell that one: Scoring the pre-season game in 1972 at the Nassau [...]
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Damon Jones is the funniest, handsomest, smartest, world-class 3-point shooter never drafted. And he’ll be the first to tell you. Living a life of hyperbole comes naturally: I think it’s a family gene . . . It’s in the DNA. [Damon’s Mom, Renee Jones-Lee] Galveston Ball High coach Jerry Williams, denying any knowledge of Damon’s [...]
Monday, March 31, 2008
Walt Wesley, the man who set the infamous 1966 Jo Jo White pick which made the movie Glory Road possible, quietly shepherds at-risk youth through tough times. Wesley, a Police Athletic League (PAL) executive in Fort Myers, Florida, offers a balanced perspective, stressing education: It’s great to have aspirations of being a pro athlete, but [...]
Sunday, March 23, 2008
As a first name. “Devin” is unusual, although not rare. Kind of in-between. “Brown” is cliché-common; put it after Devin, though, and it no longer sounds so ordinary. Rather in-between. Undrafted out of the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) in 2002, Devin Brown split the 2002-2003 season between the NBA (10 games with San Antonio [...]
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The year is 1974, the first season in Cavs franchise history without Bill Fitch as head coach. Stan Albeck heads the team; Cleveland selects Clarence “Foots” Walker as the 38th overall pick in the 3rd round of the NBA draft. We have our team: 7 Bobby Smith 10 Dick Snyder 14 Foots Walker 20 Campy [...]
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Joe Smith’s NBA career began with a sob. During an April 1995 press conference at his alma mater, Maury High School, Norfolk, Virginia, Joe announced he was leaving the University of Maryland Terrapins at the end of the semester to join the NBA; then he sat down beside his mother, Letha, leaned over into her [...]
Monday, June 30, 2008
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