Sports Poets Society

Terry Pluto Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA, in the Words of the Men Who PLayed, Cpoached, and Built Pro Basketball Simon & Schuster (1992) In 11 years, Bob Pettit scored over 20,000 points-and over 6,000 came from the foul line .  That meant on nights when he scored his usual 26, eight of those points were free throws .  That is what most opponents remember about the 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward who played for the St. Louis Hawks from 1954-65.  That's 11 years an All-Star; the league's MVP in 1956 and 1959.  Pettit also was one of the game's remarkable rebounders, averaging 16.2. CHICK HEARN:  Bob Pettit is one of those great players who is forgotten. He was a guy who couldn't make his high school team , a guy whose features were soft, almost feminine. He just developed into a helluva scorer and rebounder, and from just looking at him, you never would have believed it. BOB PETTIT: Basketball never came easy to me. I grew up in Baton Rouge and I was v...

HUBIE BROWN: I go around the country giving coaching clinics and people ask me about the best team I ever coached. I say, "It's not even close--the 1975 Kentucky Colonels." Then half the people in the audience look at me as if I were talking about something from outer space. We had a front line of Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore and Wil Jones. You'd have to admit that Issel and Gilmore mwent on to have monster careers in the NBA. Those guys played forever. In the backcourt we had Louie Dampier and Teddy "Hound Dog" McClain. Poeople say, "Who?" I say that Louie Dampier was as good a clutch player as I have ever seen. He was phenomenal when it came to taking and making the shot when the game was on the line. In the last couple years of the ABA, think about some of the other forwards--Julius Erving, George McGinnis, David Thompson, Bobby Jones, George Gervin, Larry Kenon, Caldwell Jones, Maurice Lucas, Marvin Barnes, Danny Roundfield, Billy Knight, Moses Mal...