When David Stern got word of Sunday’s halftime feature from network sports boss Dick Ebersol, it was summarily squashed. 1 picks in consecutive years, I spent several hours at his home. NBC assigned me to interview unhinged ex-Cadavers’ owner Ted Stepien whose board room behavior forced the NBA to adopt a salary cap and a rule forbidding teams to trade No. Not coincidentally, the ‘96 Top 50 (had it been 51, Dominique Wilkins would not have fumed 25 years for being defectively denied royal recognition) event also was staged in Cleveland. 18-20) in Cleveland, where the 2021 Supreme Court will be honored and showered with correspondingly gaudy gifts. The buyer was aware! He stuffed the cash back in his briefcase.Īuction houses already are standing by for beseeching calls subsequent to All-Star Weekend (Feb. Replicas were made and the legendary lowlife then tried to sell them as originals to one of the above-mentioned moguls. He then notified the NBA, HOF and the title team his stuff had been stolen. One Top 50 player, I hear, sold his, as well as his Hall of Fame and championship (no ‘fingering’ Charles Barkley for this) rings. Many royal jewels also have changed hands, so to speak. Thus, he could do whatever he wanted with some of them (don’t know how many) the league controlled the majority of the remaining 50, and every now and then, one or two would show up for sale at the NBA Store.ĭespite an additional dozen deaths among the elite Top 50 since that luminous list was formed, the price has dropped (seems like the opposite would be true, but that’s what I’m told by someone who deals in such souvenirs) to the 30-40G range. The signed lithographs were the brainstorm of the former Jazz owner. Its sale painfully hammered home one of a plethora of financial lifetime mistakes I made by not lunging at Sam Battistone’s offer to buy one (of the 100 made) in ’97 for $15,000. George Gervin, I’m informed, was one of the first to cash in on his lithograph, pocketing 120G. It’s safe to say a bunch of rich people now own a large number of those lithos, or maybe only an obsessed couple of memorabilia magnates do. 5, 1988), extravagant commemorative rings and splashy, custom-made leather jackets. When the chosen 50 voted for the NBA’s half-century Supreme Court, the marquee players from the assembly were ultimately bestowed with lithographs signed by the 49 living legends (Pete Maravich died Jan. You screw with the sanctity of the voting, you screw with the sanctity of the vote. I probably should’ve camped out longer on (in?) the lake. It doesn’t make me any less aroused, though. Hence, I altogether understand any fervid desire to be recognized for judging the Top 75, er, 76. Seeing my name, even today, amid the select 50 voters on page 8 of “The NBA At Fifty” book remains a cherished career acknowledgment. I’m left to deduce a whirlwind of campaigning for the commissioner’s approval must’ve ensued behind the screens by people craving to get credit for something so theoretically sacrosanct. At the abysmal least, the extra 13 makes no symmetrical sense. Fifty voted for the Top 50, so I figured 75 would vote for 75. Perhaps I’m ill informed, but I thought the original number of voters was 75. In retrospect, it was the soundest portion of the process. ![]() This is done to avoid tackling issues unprofessionally, insensitively…or by the facemask.Īlmost a month has elapsed since the NBA completed its announcement of the league’s all-time Top 75 players, which became 76 due to a deadlock (pending essay competition) elected by an illogical 88-person panel. Saratoga Springs-One of the best things about writing on an irregular basis, free from pressure to produce on any semblance of a deadline (also one of the worst things), is being able to camp at Lake Placid for however long it takes after something rubs me raw. Where’s Ford Frick’s vote-voiding common sense when we need it? NovemSeptemThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly of NBA 75, er 76 Voting
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