Legends of Basketball Official Website

 

My love for basketball started at the age of 7 in Savannah, Ga. I remember my mother taking me to see a movie on the Harlem Globetrotters starring the famed dribbler, Marques Haynes. After watching that movie, my future was clear – I wanted to be the next Marques Haynes and play for the Globetrotters one day. As we left the theatre, my mother and I passed this pawnshop, and I asked her to buy me that basketball so I can start practicing. That’s pretty much how it started.

 

I had a wonderful college experience, but the defining moment of my life was at Alfred Ely Beach High School. In 1967 our record was (29-1), and we beat South Fulton High, whose record was (33-0), by 44 points for a state title. My high school career consisted of two state titles my freshman and sophomore year, finishing in second place my junior year and third my senior year. The team I was on sent about five guys to Division I colleges. My high school career gave me the recognition I needed for recruitment. Out of high school, I was recruited heavily by Cotton Fitzsimmons and attended Moberly Area Junior College in Moberly, Mo. I eventually transferred to Missouri Western where I became a well-recognized, All-American guard. The highlight of my college career was when we played Loyola University in Chicago, shortly after they played UCLA. The big headline in the newspaper was ‘MISSOURI WHO.’ At one point, we had then by 20-plus points, and eventually held on to win by one. You can thank the referees for almost giving them the win. That was the first time I ever saw my coach cry because it was a big win for us. We finished 23-3 that season.

 

It was my rookie year playing in New York at Madison Square Garden. The coach would normally call me in to the game at the start of the second quarter. On this night I was so fired up, I aggressively snatched off my jacket and pulled off my warm-up pants. The only strange thing was that for some reason I started to feel a draft, and luckily, I was able to cover up before anyone noticed. To think I almost mooned about 18,000 people at the Garden…lets just call it a close call.

 

The relationship I had with the Generals was a very good one. The year I came back in 1979, I used to ride on the Washington Generals bus quite often. I had an opportunity to get to know a lot of the guys.  My teammates used to call me the rebel without a cause. There were a few times overseas I missed our bus and ended up jumping on the Generals’ bus.  It worked out perfectly because the Generals never made any rest stops, so I would end up beating the Globetrotters to their final destination. It became a running joke that you wouldn’t know what “Gator” was going to do. Sometimes I would get in my car and drive behind the bus when we toured down South.

 

As you already know, Marques Haynes was my No. 1 hero. The other legends I admired and enjoyed watching were Oscar Robertson, Bob Cousy, “Pistol” Pete Maravich and Walt Frazier. Cousy was notorious for his sweet passes, Oscar had that one-handed jump shot I tried to emulate, Pistol just knew how to put on a show and Frazier was the epitome of cool, on and off the court.

 

NBA TODAY - “Words of Wisdom”

 

I like Steve Nash because he’s not flashy, but has some razzle-dazzle to his game. He does what he has to do to protect the ball, but also has some tricks up his sleeve as well. 

 

Jason Kidd – hands down. At 6’4” his foot speed is incredible and manages to always remain under control.