Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / Terminello's Take On The Loss of Walton and West on Fanatics Friday 6-14-24

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Terminello's Take On The Loss of Walton and West on Fanatics Friday 6-14-24 · OneLegUpAlex Media

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All right, Well, it's another Terminello's take, and lou we're actually going
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to air this on Friday for Fanatics Friday because obviously I love my affiliate partnership
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with them, and I figured, hey, let's get them involved with Fanatics
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Friday and Lucier Manello's take. Right, I'm honored, thank you so much,
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glad to be part of it. Thank you all right, thank you
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for having me. Well, we've had a really interesting few weeks in basketball
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world and we haven't really even covered it, but we lost Walton and West.
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That's what I'm calling it, Walton and West. Bill Walton the legendary
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player, and I knew him as a broadcaster, one of the most colorful
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broadcasters out there. I think you'd agree, Louis. But you saw him
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play something I didn't have the chance to do. So let's start with the
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loss of Bill Walton. I know Jerry West yesterday the logo, if you
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will, but let's go chronologically. So Bill Walton passes, and what were
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your original thoughts when he passed? Well, I saw him play obviously his
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entire college career, and remember in his day, freshmen weren't eligible to play,
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so he only played sophomore, junior, and senior year, and he
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was larger than life. And he followed not directly, but he followed the
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great Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who was then called Luel Cinder at UCLA. And
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there's always the battle who was the greatest college player, Jabbar Abdul Jabbar or
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Walton, but Alex they were both so great and both had a profound hold
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on college basketball in those days. But I remember Bill Walton won eighty eight
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straight games, and I remember the game that before we go, we'd dive
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deeper into him personally and his achievements. Eighty eight straight games. The gaming
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loss was at Notre Dame and it was on NBC. By NBC had a
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deal with TVs. They didn't own the rights directly. It was in the
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association with TVs and Eddie ny Einhorn from Fort Lee, New Jersey put TVs
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together. Notre Dame was up seventy to fifth, was down, was down
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seventy to fifty nine to the great Walton team and scored the last twelve points
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to beat UCLA seventy one to seventy. Dwight Clay I could still see it.
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I'm watching on my black and white television. Yes, Alex, they
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were black and white TVs in the old days. He hit it from the
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right corner and put No Dame ahead, and then UCLA and Walton they had
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two or three shots within five feet of the basket. Tip no, tip
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no, tip no, and then the game's over and the fans run on
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the court. In this historic winning streak eighty eight straight games, eighty eight
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straight games is over. He was incredible. I mean they they lost in
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his senior year to North Carolina State in the national semi final game, a
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North Carolina State team that was outstanding with David Thompson and Tom Burlison and Monte
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Tau just a great team. They lost in double overtiming one of the four
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or five greatest college basketball games I ever watched. And living on a person,
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we don't talk about as much, but on a personal note, we
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do talk about adaptability, right, And I don't know you want me to
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go here, but as you're talking about all these memories, when you had
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that instant that aneurysm years ago, were you afraid you were going to lose
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some of these sports memories that you grace us with every week? I was
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because there was some things that happened when I had it that I don't recall
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during that time, you know, during that year of twenty fifteen. So
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yeah, that's I am happy that I'm able to recall some of these,
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uh, these tremendous sports classic moments because as you know, I'm a sports
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guy like you, and you are a diehard sports fan, my friend.
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And so Walton was so great, Alex, he was so great when he
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was drafted by the uh, the Trailblazers. Uh, he turned a team
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around, not right away, a couple of years they were unsuccessful. And
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then in seventy six seventy seven, the first year after the ABA NBA amalgamation
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merger, and he was able to Trailblaze were able to acquire Maurice Lucas,
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a tremendous power forward from the Spirits of Saint Louis who folded, and Bobby
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Grossen who played in the back small forward and underrated small forward, and Dave
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towards It who played for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. So two of
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their five died were starters were ABA players, and the ABA had a great
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influence on the NBA after that amalgamation merger. They weren't the one seed.
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The one seed that year was Jerry West. He was first he was coaching
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the Lakers. There were fifty three and twenty nine. I believe they would
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have one seed. Portland I believe was could have been the three seed,
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Denver the number two seed. Well, they had a terrific year and Key
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and the Trailblazers. They played Denver in the first round with Larry Brown,
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that great Denver team which had David Thompson and Dan Issel and Bobby Jones on
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them, and they won the first game in Denver, which really set the
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pace for them winning the championship that year because Denver on the second game.
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Denver got smoked. In the two games at Portland, Denver one game five,
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and then Portland won game six, and they basically were on their way.
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They then played the Lakers, who had the one seed. They won
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the first two games at the Forum. They swept them four games to none,
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and eventually they played obviously, they played the Philadelphia seventy six ers,
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and that was another team that was full of ABA superstars. Doctor j unfortunately
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had to be sold from the Nets because they needed the money to get into
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the NBA and pay some of the ridiculous merger treaty. You know, it's
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just ridiculous some of the things that they had to do. But anyway,
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they forced to sell doctor j and he went to the Sixers. They had
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George McInnis who played the Indiana Pacers at the other forward. They had Coldwell
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Jones who was a center in the ABA. He played the middle and shared
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it with Daryl Dawkins. They had Doug coll that one guard. They were
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a team and they won the first two games of the NBA Final at the
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Spectrum, and then Portland blew them out in the two games in Portland.
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And this Portland team before we talk about what happened the last couple of games
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that when they won the championship, Alex, this port team played great team
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basketball. Walton was a fantastic passer. He was a fantastic outlet passer.
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He blocked shots, he rebound. I believe he was the leading rebounder that
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year in nineteen seventy seven. Yes, he definitely was in seventy seven.
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He was a difference maker, like no difference makers. And then they come
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back to play Game five at the Spectrum, TI tooo too close game there
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down by significant sixers came back. Then an incident happened. A fight broke
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out between Darryl Dawkins were related to play for my nets and one of the
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nicest, really good guy that you'd ever want to meet, got into a
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fight with Maurice Lucas and Alex nowadays. They got suspended for two, three,
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four games. It was chaos on the court. Look it up on
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YouTube, but nobody got suspended. Portland stretched their lead and I think they
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won by twelve or fourteen points coming so they come back to Portland three games
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to two. So the game is going to be play on. In those
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days, CBS had the rights to the NBA over the air media rights,
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and the head of CBS Sports was big into their golf coverage, so they
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had the Kemper Open on that day, not one of the great golf tournaments,
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not one of the majors. So they said to the NBA and to
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the Trailblazers, we're starting your game at one third Eastern ten thirty Portland time,
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ten thirty am. So Portland said, well, your cameras could be
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there, but we're not playing. We're not playing at ten thirty in the
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morning. Eventually they they compromised and they played at twelve thirty Portland time,
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three thirty Eastern time. It was a terrific game. Doctor J had a
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spectacular game. He dunked over Walton. He scored forty points in that game
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six but Portland was still down. It was still up to and Philly had
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the last shot. Doctor J took a shot from the cat toparchy. He
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missed it. They got the rebound the sixers did. McGuinness missed the shot.
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He had this push shot from the left wing. He missed it.
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Game over one on nine one oh seven Portland. They called it rip City
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because the fans were just insane and they played not in the building they played
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in now. They played in the Portland Coliseum, which held twelveth six hundred
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and sixty six people. It was a small basketball venue and Portland won.
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They were the new champions on the block. They played a very pleasing game,
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UH, with great team chemistry. But the funny thing is CBS not
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like now you'll you would see them going into the locker room or have this
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UH on court presentation of the championship trophy, the MVP trophy. UH.
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They cut. They cut away. Brett Musburger and Rick Barry were doing the
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game. Musburger the legendary play by play announcer, Rick Barry one of the
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greatest NBA players of all time. Uh, they cut away to the kemp
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rowan, which is very disgraceful actually, but it's one of the worst.
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And if Musburger when he talks about that that broadcast, he definitely even that
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day before it happened, not not now, you know, thirty years later,
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fifty years later, criticized that day. He said, what are you
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doing? You know, we can't just throw it to the Kemper Open.
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But they did, like sometime during the Kemper Open. I think they cut
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back for the presentation, you know, like for thirty seconds. But by
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that time every basketball fan was you know, they turned the TV off or
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or switch the channels. But that's a little known fact about that game being
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played. CBS wanted that game played at ten thirty in the morning, and
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they acquiesced and they played at twelve years lou, I think you and I
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craved the days when three point thirty was when a team wins a championship.
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Nowadays they went at like midnight. It feels like right, you know,
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there's something. There's something to that. So the next year Portland gets so
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off to a fifty and ten start and their chemistry is even better. Then
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Walton breaks his foot. He had thirty seven foot operations and it seemed like
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the Portland Trailblazers doctors screwed up, which led to all those operations that he
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had. So he was fifty and ten with the Trailblazers and he missed the
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rest of the season. The Trailblazers lost in the first round to the Seattle
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SuperSonics that year. But Alex Well and I tell you, what can you
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I menage thirty seven foot operations for a guy who's well over six feet,
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that's got to be really painful. I mean, come on, you say
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that, and you're one hundred percent correct. Because the Great Willis Reed told
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me in his eighteen years as a Nets executive, anytime a big guy,
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Bill Cartwright, Sambowie who eventually played for the Nets, they all had leg
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and foot injuries. But Willis said, when a big guy has thought injuries,
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foot especially, it's really hard for them to regain their form. And
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you know, he really he missed most of his career with it, he
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only played like in four hundred and seventy five games out of possible fourteen fifty
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or something like that. But I mean, the guy, you know,
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he was the MVP of the Finals in seventy seven. He even played just
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sixty games next year, fifty eight of the sixty games that before he broke
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his foot. He won MVP in seventy eight. All First Team in seventy
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eight, he was all believe it or not, he was All second Team
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the year they won the championship. All Defensive Team in seventy seven and seventy
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eight. Then later in his career as he came back, he was a
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sixth man on one of the greatest basketball teams of all timeety nineteen eighty six
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Bosston Celvis And he was their sixth man. And that was a great team
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with Parrish and Denis Johnson and McHale and of course Larry Bird and I mean,
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they had depth all the way down down down the roster. And he
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was the NBA sixth Man of the Year in nineteen eighty six on that great
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team. He was a great shot blocker. He led the NBA in rebounding
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of the year, that they won the championship. Of course, I gotta
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ask you this, when he did the postgame conferences even in his college days,
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could you tell he was destined for media after his playing days or what.
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No, absolutely not. He had a bed stuttering problem most of his
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life and he was able to overcome that. And like you said, he
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was he was maybe not the most analytical color analyst of all time. He
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was funny, he was colorful, and he added something for the broadcast.
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But again, just an amazing athlete. Alex In the nineteen seventy three final
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against Memphis State now the University of Memphis, he was twenty one out of
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twenty two. The only shot I believe that he missed was off defensive goaltending.
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I'm not one hundred percent sure on that, but that I think that
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could be right. Uh. He was that most outstanding player of the final
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four, of course, in seventy three and in seventy two, A three
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time college Player of the Year. He net the three years he played,
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he was the college player of the year. He he to me, he's
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the best college basketball player I've ever seen him. And Abdul Jabbar. Abdul
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Jabbar obviously college tried to stop Jabbar by taking away the dunk shot. Remember,
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you couldn't dunk it in college basketball for about five or six years before
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they put the rule back, maybe it might have been seven. And what
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happened. Kareema a Blue Jabbar, because he was such a great competitor and
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such a great player, developed the amazing signature signature shot of his career,
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the skyhook. I mean, for UCLA to have both Kareema bul Jabbar and
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the Bill Walton as their centers in such a short period of time is really
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unprecedented. But the guy was great, and he only, like I said,
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one and a half years at full strength in the NBA, Alex If
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he didn't break his foot, we'd be talking about him as one of the
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one of the top center of all time. We'd be talking about him even
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as one of the top two greatest players of all time, Jordan or Walton.
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That's how good Bill Walton was. I'm telling you, that's how good
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he was. He was an amazing player. He was flaky, He loved
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the grateful dead. He had long hair, he tied his hair in a
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h He was investigated by the FBI. You know. He he was investigating
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the FBI in the Patty Hurst the Siboney Legal Liberation Army situation. Uh,
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he didn't want to cut his hair when he was at U C. L
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A. And John Wooden, you know, he was a disciplinarian, said
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okay, then you don't play. So he went and got a haircut.
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So, but I know what everybody asked. I guess everybody asked both of
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them, you know about that hair situation, because I know that Walton was
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very stubborn and Wooden was also kind of stubborn, right, So Walton was
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stubborn. Obviously, it was a hippie and he played for John Wooden,
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who was an old fashioned disciplinarian. You wore your stops a certain way,
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you wore your hair a certain way, you carried yourself a certain way.
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That's why. Besides the talent, UCLA had the discipline to win eleven out
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of thirteen and see A championships, which is remarkable. Hey, look when
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you when you see players today really spotting up for the three almost every damn
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time. And you know, and I've talked about this before, it's almost
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like you should go back if you're an athlete and watch the legacies of Walton
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and Abdul Jabbar and get some more insight and not just go for the three,
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but maybe take up their styles as well. Now without question, I
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mean, they've gotten rid of the conventional center play in the NBA for the
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most part. Now, could Walton and Abdul Jabbar play in the way games
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play today? We question they could because they were they were that talented and
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skilled players. But the traditional center play is not what it used to be.
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I mean, we have Nikolay Jolkic best seller in the NBA. You
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know, he'll he can take you off the dribble and he can also go
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outside the arc and punish you with the three point shot. All right,
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while we're on the Celtics and then we'll get to Jerry West and I have
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one more question on Walton. But while we're talking about the Celtics and go
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Walton and whatnot, real quick your take on the three to zero lead.
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I mean, it just seems like the Celtics are at a peak right now.
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And I got to say, I'm still hearing more of Jalen Brown than
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Jason Tatum. I could be wrong, but it just seems like the JB
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on that team right now, is Jalen Brown is there. You are one
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hundred right in your analysis. Right now, Jalen Brown has raised his level.
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He's playing at the best basketball of his career. I mean Tatum obviously
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still a great coops, obviously still a great player. He has not I
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don't think he's had a great great playoff. He did have thirty one points
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last night. The Celtics are an outstanding team. They you know, they've
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played two or three games in the finals. Rob Porzingis, they've won.
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They've won eleven playoff games in a row. That's really hard to do.
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When I was on the nets the second year, we won ten playoff games
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in a row, which Chi was so proud of. But they've won eleven
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games in a row. And for everybody, just a real second on Christophe
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Porzingis. Everybody who said he was a stiff and all, now this guy
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can play, and this guy's a great defender at the rim. He can
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he can hit the three. He's got a high basketball IQ and playing for
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the Celtics is the perfect team for him. The Celtics are, you know,
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they they're a deep team. Why is a great defensive guard. They
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have guys like Pritchard and Howser coming off the bench that or contribute. Al
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Horford's been in the league one thousand years doesn't affect them. He can still
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either hit the three or he could still mix up every once in a while.
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He doesn't go inside that much anymore. But and they did not have
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a tough time. As we said on previous shows, they had a very
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easy path to get to the NBA Final, and I think they raised their
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game because of past failures, especially what happened to them last year against the
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Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Final. They're gonna win a championship. Obviously,
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they're up three games to none. Dallas has a great backcourt in Luca,
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you know, Dantach and Kyrie Irving. But the Celtics know that,
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so they jumped on them. Yes, it's they made some nice trades Dallas
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to that the deadline for PJ. Washington and and Gabbert. But that's not
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enough to beat the Celtics. And the fact that Dallas got here, you
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know, it's probably a feather in their cap. They're not as good as
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the Celtics. But I have one thing to say about about Luca. Great
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player, probably the second best offensive player in the league aft Nicola Jokic.
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But he's got a mature man. He's always yapping at the refs and you
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know he happened at the officials. Is going to get you nowhere? That
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kid gets injected almost every game. It feels like at times I hear I
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read a lot of reports that he gets ejected again. So I get what
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you're saying. Where he just talks and talks and talks. And by the
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way, he does dancing when he's losing three l I saw there was a
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video today I've him dancing after the game. What is that? But I
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don't Well, again, I think I think he's immature. He's a fantastic
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play I mean, and he plays hard all the time. But if you
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look at the six fouls he picked up, and I'm not sure I would
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have called him all six. And this is the NBA Finals. This is
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a superstar player. You know, the players sometimes I don't know the way
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these games are officiated. I scratch my head. He obviously with about six
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and a half minutes to go, and I know this got him ticked off.
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That's why I think he quickly picked up fouls five and six. He
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was pushed by Tatum on the drive to the basket when Dallas was making a
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comeback, and I don't know how they could not see that, the game
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officials, But anyway, then he picks up a sloppy fifth foul and a
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sloppy sixth foul, and he's very sloppy on defense. And I don't know
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if he he cares about defense. But if you want to be a championship
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player, you gotta be mature. You can't be yapping that at your coaches,
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and you can't be yapping at the officials because the officials are you in
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beings. If they see something that's borderline, they're not going to give it
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in your favor. So he's got a little grown up to do. But
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like I said, his talent is unmatched. And it's not like one of
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these guys doesn't play. He always plays, but just has to grow up
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a little bit. And he's been in the league long enough now that he
23:06
should be at that mature level. But if the Dallas Mavericks are going to
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win an NBA championship, they have to improve their front line. For sure.
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They do not have what was the whole thing between a wedge, but
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I guess there's in Q kid was accused of driving a wedge between Boston teammates.
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Do you know anything about that dust stuff that was going on? No,
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I guess he tried to He tried to play a mind game with them,
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but it didn't work. You know. That's you know that. I
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guess you know what happens all the time. Everybody has that puts that bulletin
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board material out there. But you know, Jalen Brown obviously is not only
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a great offense plays a great defensive player. And when last just last February,
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when the Celtics inquired, when the Nets said Durant is available to the
23:52
league, Uh, they they inquired about that situation, and that's right away
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said, okay, one of the plays we want back in the deal is
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Jalen Brown. Now we can see why he'd be great for the Nets.
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That's for sure. They don't have anybody like him on there. He's a
24:07
great, great player getting greater. And uh, you know, but the
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Celtics are gonna win an eighteenth championship, and yeah, it is what they
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have kind of been. I don't know, I feel like they've been in
24:21
the background the last few years, maybe just because they haven't gotten to this
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point in a little while. So when you say eighteenth overall, it seems
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like they haven't won quite a while. To be honest, they haven't.
24:30
They haven't run a watch since two thousand and seven, two thousand and seven
24:33
or two thousand and eight. It was three Allen years, I think,
24:37
if I'm not mistaken, it was that era. You know, it's funny
24:41
because last night in Boston they had the Brady retirement and the watch party.
24:47
And this is how dedicated Boston fans are. I mean personality aside. I
24:49
know some good Boston fans, but overall, they packed great Sports Area,
24:55
no doubt. They packed both places. Okay, they packed your and they
24:57
packed TD Bank, which it was just pretty cool. And now of course
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I'm saying the Red Sox Inchie series. All right. One last ps on
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Walton. Did you get to know him or meet him during your next years?
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I never did. One of the NBA, I never met him or
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Jerry West. Bill Walton was in our building a lot, especially during those
25:19
good years when the Nets were going deep into the playoffs and going to the
25:22
finals those two years in a row. He was the color commentator on ABC
25:29
slash ESPN when we swept Detroit in two thousand and two, and he was
25:33
hilarious, he really was. It was I forgot who was to play by
25:38
Plaguy, maybe Nesla was. And Michelle Tafoy was a sideline reporter and we
25:44
swept the Pistons and he was, you know, he was just terrific on
25:48
TV. And I remember Michelle Tafoya standing on the on the scorer's table talking
25:55
to Kenyan Martin because there was so much chaos on the court after we swept
25:59
the Pistons eventually lost the NBA Finals to the Spurs and six. But he
26:04
was a character, no doubt about it. You know, that was a
26:08
great era for the Nets too. I remember that they had a beat up
26:11
against Chauncey Phillips and you know all those guys and whatnot in that Pistons series
26:18
and they did it. You know. My Bill Walton story is according to
26:19
my dad, because I don't really have this memory, but he tells He
26:23
told the story of how we went to the NBA All Star Game festivities when
26:27
it was at the Javit Center, I think in ninety nine, when when
26:32
Jordan had that incredible All Star Game and won the MVP. If you remember
26:36
that very vividly, I'm sure you do. But apparently I actually got to
26:41
meet Bill Walton, and I think my dad said something to the point of
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I was only going up to his knee, that's how tall he was compared
26:48
to my size. So there you go. And I was like a little
26:51
kid. You know, there was some big guys. The biggest guy I've
26:56
ever met, and it wasn't Shack. The biggest guy I ever met was
27:00
Mark Eaton, who was a two time at least a two time NBA Defensive
27:03
Player of the Year. And I was I was talking for something. I
27:07
forget what at mid court man. He was a he was a man mountain,
27:11
he really was. And he played in his senior year. Here's a
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value one NBA multiple NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and in his senior
27:21
year at UCLA, I believe he played like fifty three or fifty four minutes
27:25
the entire senior year. But somebody found them and he ended up having a
27:30
great NBA career. Now you know what I'm thinking here, Lou is that
27:33
we're talking about Bill Walton being so tall. That was a regularity back then.
27:38
But when'd you say, nowadays, that's just the norm. All these
27:41
guys are six feet and above. Now, yeah, and when I was
27:45
in the league for all those years, the average type was six foot seven.
27:49
Six foot seven, that was the average height of an NBA player.
27:53
Compared to when Walton played, it was probably a little shorter than that,
27:57
right, probably. Yes. Now you mentioned Jerry West, and obviously he
28:04
just passed away this week. I know you were lost shocked by that at
28:08
eighty six. But what was his Why is he the logo? Let me
28:14
ask you that to start out with, He's the logo because he is the
28:22
decade the sixties, and the NBA designed a logo in sixty nine. Jerry
28:26
West was one of the great greatest players of all time. He was the
28:33
logo silhouette. Here's a guy in the first year that they gave out the
28:38
MVP for the finals, and they hadn't done that before. In nineteen sixty
28:41
nine, they lost to the Celtics four games to three, and the average
28:45
I think for the entire playoffs forty points a game. But in the NBA
28:52
Finals against the Celtics, he averaged thirty eight points a game in seven assists,
28:56
and he was I believe still the only player on the losing team.
29:00
Yes, he's still the only player on the losing team to win an NBA
29:06
Finals MVP. Ironically, ten years earlier, in nineteen fifty nine, in
29:14
the NCAA Championship game, his West Virginia team lost to the University of California.
29:21
He's seventy one to seventy and even though West Virginia was the runner up,
29:27
Jerry West won the most Outstanding Player of the of the final four.
29:33
That's how good he was. Alex. This guy could shoot off the off
29:38
screens, he could shoot off the dribble, he could take a standstill jump
29:42
shot. He was a gifted passer. He was a great rebounder for a
29:48
six foot four guard. You'll see him list that sixty three, but he
29:52
was six' four. But he always wanted to be listed at six three
29:55
for psychological reasons. He wanted to think his opponent that not as tall as
30:02
they think I am. But he was six to four. He could get
30:06
into paint. I mean, in the sixties we were talking about centers.
30:10
I saw him drive the paint against the best defensive center of all time,
30:15
Bill Russell, against Chamberlain, against Kreme, Andul Jabbar against Willis Reeding.
30:21
Nothing stopped him. He could block shots. And I don't know when the
30:26
NBA changed the goaltending rule. But now if the ball hits the backboard first
30:33
and you block it, its goaltending. But in the sixties, I guess
30:36
to about the mid seventies, I don't know when they change it. A
30:38
player could block a shot even if it hit the backboard first. And you
30:44
know, he was great at that. I mean he made All NBA First
30:49
Team ten times. He helped create the Showtime Lakers. I mean besides being
30:53
a great player, I mean he got to the the final. He got
31:00
to the finals eight times and he only one. He only won one of
31:04
them against the against the Knicks in seventy two. He's on a legendary team
31:10
in seventy two that was sixteen, nine and thirteen. But he lost six
31:18
times to the Celtics and twice to the Knicks in seventy and the famous nineteen
31:22
seventy Knicks team. And then he lost in the Knicks again in seventy three,
31:26
and then he retired in seventy four. But then after that he became
31:33
a scout, and he loved scouting. He loved the scout guys. And
31:38
then after that he was general manager of the Lakers for eighteen years. He
31:42
helped bring Shaq to the Lakers, and he had to make a trade to
31:47
fit Shack onto the salary cap because it looked like they weren't going to get
31:49
Shack as a free agent. So he made a trade and he was able
31:52
to get under the salary cap. And then he got Kobe. And I
31:57
think I told you this in the pad. There are next people believe that
32:05
he colluded to get Kobe, and but we didn't draft Kobe anyway we could
32:09
have. We could have stopped that by drafting Kobe instead of drafting Kerry Kittles.
32:15
And I think I've told you that story. It looked like the Clippers
32:19
were going to draft Kerry Kittles, who was a terrific player for us,
32:22
but obviously Kobe's more timer. And we said, well, if Kittles is
32:30
drafted by the Clippers, we're gonna take Kobe. No matter what we did.
32:36
They didn't pick Kittles. We did, and five picks later, Charlotte
32:42
picks Kobe, and uh West organized, you know, handles this trade with
32:49
Kobe that many people believe was in a bag before the NBA draft, but
32:57
he was just he had an eye for talent. And I think I told
33:01
you as when we were when we were talking to Mitch Kaufman about two months
33:06
ago about the workout video, workout video, Jerry West said to the Laker
33:14
writers after the Kobe workout Florida Lakers, he said, I just saw the
33:19
greatest workout in the NBA since I've been in the NBA. So that's two
33:23
teams that I've said that, because that's what we said, and that's what
33:28
Jerry West said, I just saw the greatest workout by a player in the
33:31
NBA. And the writers said, you mean that high school kid. He's
33:35
only in high school because Alice got I remember those days, not like now,
33:38
high school kids or or kids with just one year of college experience didn't
33:43
get picked, didn't get picked utill the second round, you know. And
33:46
there was more rounds in those days. There were six or seven rounds,
33:49
not the two rounds that they have now. So that's how great Kobe was.
33:55
Then after that, well, he had also hire Phill jack Yes he
34:02
did, yes, he did let me do that. Yet he also hired
34:07
Phil Jackson, right, So he brought them all together then, yes,
34:10
and Phil did that treat them well. Phil chased them out of the locker
34:15
room, you know when he came in the locker room. And general managers
34:19
have the right to be in the locker room. That's their job. And
34:23
you know he was part, he was part of the of that, you
34:29
know, that brought the Lakers together. He like you said, brought those
34:32
three Shaq, Kobe and Phil Jackson. And he was there through the ninety
34:38
nine two thousand season, the first year in the three piece, and then
34:43
he left because he got into a contract to spee with Jerry Boss and Jerry
34:47
Boss wouldn't give him more money as a general manager. And he was a
34:52
great general manager. He I think there was seven or eight NBA general manager
34:57
who was making more money than Jerry West at that time. So we left
35:00
and then after that dispute with Jerry Buss, he went to Memphis as their
35:08
general manager for five or six years. They had good teams. I think
35:13
you'll be Brown was there during that time, I believe, and you know
35:16
they had some success. Then he left them in two thousand and seven and
35:22
then twenty eleven became a consultant for the Warriors and was instrumental in convincing Durant
35:30
to come to the Warriors. He was there for I think from twenty eleven
35:36
to about two thousand to that to the twenty sixteen seventeen season somewhere in there,
35:44
and then after that the last seven years up until up until yesterday when
35:51
he passed away. He was a consultant for the Clippers. He had a
35:54
great art for talent. He's a superstar who loves scouting. A lot of
35:58
superstars don't like to do that in any sport, but he was a superstar
36:01
who loved scouting. But I mean Alex ten time NBA All First Team,
36:08
four time All Defensive Team, and remember he'd be more more, but they
36:13
didn't start the defensive team until the middle of his career. The old defensive
36:15
team win scoring championships in seventy was. He was a great passer. He
36:20
won the Assist Championship in seventy two, Consensus All America twice, Southern Conference
36:24
Plaarity for West Virginia twice. But again, he was a two time NBA
36:30
Executive of the Year. How many guys can have a Hall of Fame career
36:36
and have a career as an executive like that. I mean Isaiah Thomas or
36:40
Phil Jackson didn't. They were disasters for the Knicks. It gave me the
36:45
feeling yesterday that the godfather of the NBA had retired. Did you get that
36:49
or had died? And you, well, it's true, I mean,
36:52
and there might be more than one godfather, but yes, he definitely falls
36:54
into that category. You're one hundred percent correct and mentioned Jerry Buss. And
37:00
I was thankful and lucky that my friend Listen and his media outlet tag me
37:05
alongside Genie Bus. I mean, this is that's some kind of up in
37:09
the rafters if you will, right with Genie Bus up there, Well,
37:13
that is I'll give you. I'll give you a quick Genie Bus story.
37:15
Two years ago, they asked her to name the five greatest Slakers and she
37:21
didn't include Jerry West. And that's because of the dispute that Jerry West had
37:27
with her father on that contract twenty four years ago. So she was still
37:31
carrying that grudge. She did not name Jerry West as one of the fifty
37:35
Greatest Slakers by five greatest Slakers, excuse me. So that's hey, that's
37:43
how it goes. But he was great, and the NBA lost a great
37:45
one. And I mean he was sharp right up into the end. And
37:50
uh, you know, we're losing them. Two years ago we lost a
37:53
great Bill Russell, We've lost Walton, We've lost the West time arches On.
37:58
I just wish that the guy are playing nowadays. And this is what
38:00
I don't know if they do. Do they realize how great these guys were,
38:05
like Russell, like Walton, like Jerry West, like Will Chamberlain,
38:09
like Willis Shreed, like David Busher, like Walt Fraser, those guys John
38:15
Halichek, doctor j. Do they with what I would call they play with
38:21
character? I feel like some of these guys go out there and complain to
38:23
the ref as you mentioned a little while ago, every game play instead of
38:28
playing with character. You know, yes, and again guys complained in those
38:32
days. Oscar Robinson never thought he committed the foul and he was one of
38:37
the five greatest players of all time and like, you know, I'm not
38:39
a list guy, but you put him in that category. So guys complained.
38:44
But the one thing is those guys never did. They played every game
38:47
Jerry West and Oscar and those guys never took a night off a game management.
38:52
Now, you can't play more than two NBA games in a row.
38:57
But in those days, the player association wasn't as strong as it is now,
39:00
and it wasn't even good for the quality of basketball. You play sometimes
39:04
four games in four different cities. But none of those guys took load management.
39:09
As I told you, Chamberlain played every man enough every game in sixty
39:14
one sixty two season, And then you told me when you were in the
39:17
next days. These guys were out partying anyway the night of the landing in
39:21
the city. So there's that also, Oh, you know, go ahead.
39:25
I'm sorry, No, I was gonna say, with all of this
39:29
going on, I just don't think they appreciate I agree there, But lou
39:35
with all this going on and whatnot, hold me, let me get on
39:39
my thought. I had my thought, and I didn't have my thought.
39:43
I was gonna do a Fanatics Live read there, because all right, all
39:47
right, you know, and just edit that part out, do this Fanax
39:51
library and then we'll wrap it up with a quick a quick and at Stanley
39:55
Cup final thing. Yeah, have a couple of things to say about not
40:00
getting suspended. Hey, Louie, you just mentioned Kevin Durant, and did
40:02
you know that he's going to be part of the fanatics Fest this August.
40:07
He and some of his friends are going to be at the fanatics Fest for
40:10
a panel and you can find out more in the link below. And of
40:14
course, Lou, you know Tom Brady did have his number retired and he's
40:17
in the Patriots Hall of Fame. He'll be at fanatics Fest along with Derek
40:21
Jeter, David Ortiz and so many more great athletes. I see. Henrik
40:24
Lungfist will be there on Sunday, August eighteenth. Hopefully you got to meet
40:29
him. Andy Pettitt, the famous lefty for the Yankees with that wicked pickoff
40:34
move and whatnot, the world champion, Lou, what a what a lineup?
40:37
And even your guy Pete A. Lonzo is going to be there as
40:38
well. So it's not a can't miss event this week this August August sixteen
40:45
through eighteenth fanacks Fest. The link is below, And I know I usually
40:49
put an affiliated link out, but this is so important. I want to
40:52
know more about the fanatics Fest twenty twenty four in the link below. On
40:57
the Alex Garrett Podcast Network, Alex that's that's great to hear. And the
41:02
only thing you said, it's August sixteenth to the eighteenth. That's right.
41:07
Okay. The question will be will Pete Alonso still be a mech or will
41:12
he be a rental on some other team? Because the trade deadline is August
41:15
first, Very interesting. I keep an eye on that. I think that
41:21
I think he's going to be I think that the Met's are going to try
41:23
to trade Alonzo. I don't know. Maybe I'll try to resign him in
41:25
the off season, but I don't know. I would say it's fifty to
41:30
fifty. Well, we'll have to see. But by the way, the
41:36
link again in the bio below and the description below to Finax Best twenty twenty
41:39
four. One way or another, I'm sure Alonzo will commit to this agreement,
41:43
you would think, So we'll have to see. Hey, you know,
41:45
Lou, I want to ask you about lists before we go on to
41:47
the NHL Sili Cup Finals. And why is it that NBA lists are most
41:53
debated upon all the other sports. I feel like they don't come out with
41:58
a list for baseball and hockey football if they do with the NBA, why
42:00
is that? Well, again, as I said, I am not a
42:05
fan of list. You can name the five greatest basketball players who have played
42:09
NBA basketball, and I can name five others, and our list are going
42:14
to be basically equal as far as talent and accomplishments. I mean, you
42:19
could say that Jordan and Lebron and Chamberlain and Bill Russell and Kobe those five,
42:29
and I can name five others. I can name Durant and I can
42:31
name you know, I go right down the list there. You might you
42:37
could give them top five or top ten significance or recognition. But you're gonna
42:44
keep Larry Burden and Magic Johnson off a top five list or top ten lists.
42:51
You're gonna keep Doctor j off that list. You're gonna keep Rick Barry
42:54
off that list. That's why I'm not You might want to if you want
43:00
to create a category a super blue chip player and then a blue chip player,
43:05
I think that's more like it. But to keep it to a definite
43:07
number is I And I don't know why. You're right. It's more in
43:15
the NBA than any other sport that it really is. They put lists together
43:21
a little bit, then the then the NFL would be second. I think
43:24
in just what I you know what I hear, But I don't understand why
43:32
you know they bump guys off list. Like I said, I think it's
43:36
more of categories. You're not going to tell me that you know this guy
43:39
is not a top ten player because we can't squeeze him in, or a
43:44
top five player just or in baseball. The famous ones I'm thinking of as
43:50
everycent is the one guy that didn't vote Jeter into the Hall of Fame.
43:54
That was kind of a screwed up move. And then of course he got
44:00
recently, an anonymous player saying one so is overrated. I mean, some
44:04
of these people just want to make a name for themselves by putting down great
44:07
athletes. I'm just saying, well, I think that's true. Now again
44:10
back going, well, you mentioned Jeter again, A lot of writers don't
44:15
believe that place should get in on the first ballot, which I think is
44:17
nonsense. But you go through major League Baseball in the history of the Hall
44:22
of Fame, Babe Ruth didn't get every vote, Joe Demago didn't get any
44:24
vote, every vote, Hank Garran didn't get every vote, Tom Siebert didn't
44:29
get every vote. I mean Tom Severer had the highest percentage for years before
44:32
Mariano and Jeter. But how how could Tom Severer not get every vote?
44:39
Probably half of the guys in the Hall of Fame should have gotten every vote
44:44
on their first try. I mean really, also the MLB and NFL then'm
44:52
talking about this before those Hall of Fames just seem to be expanding beyond the
44:57
beyond right now. It's just kind of like, I don't know. I
45:00
mean, I love Scott Rowland as a player, but as a Hall of
45:01
Famer, that's the question, Like all he's yeah, he really isn't so,
45:06
I mean, is he more of a Hall of Famer than Keith Rnandez
45:09
or Don Mattingley or Dale Murphy. I don't think so. But again that's
45:15
that's for another day. We can go deep into that as we get close
45:17
to the Hall of Fame day next time. Now, now on the other
45:22
side, on the ice side of things, you've got the Panthers and Oilers,
45:27
and you know, obviously the travel times. They've had a few days
45:31
off in between games here, but Panther's up two oh, and I know
45:36
you have a gripe about what's going on in play conduct that tell us about
45:39
the dry title hit well. Leon dry Style is one of the greatest players
45:44
in the world, not only in the NHL. He can score from every
45:47
angle him and when they play on the same line, and they don't play
45:52
on the same line all the time, but they him and McDavid are magic.
45:57
But the other night, and I think he got superstar treatment on this,
46:02
he left his feet and his elbow came up and he hit you Florida's
46:12
best player, the top center and their captain, Alexander Barkov in the face
46:19
with his with his with his elbow, and the self trophy winner for twenty
46:23
twenty four went down in the heat and dry Style didn't even get a five
46:30
minute major. They looked at it and they just gave him a two minute
46:31
minor. I thought there was going to be some supplemental discipline, but obviously
46:37
there wasn't. He's playing tonight, and that's very lucky for the Edmonton Oilers
46:40
who have been bottled up by the Florida Panthers. Very much like in the
46:45
Arranger series, the Panthers were able to ball up the Oilers ten to eleven
46:52
minutes without a shot on gold. And that's what the Panthers have done to
46:55
take a to nothing lead. Obviously, the series is not over. I
47:00
wouldn't be surprised if Edmonton wins tonight or and again on Saturday and they they
47:06
go back to to I can't see them winning four out of five, though.
47:10
Just disappointed that it seemed like dry Stylo got away with something that he
47:15
shouldn't have that was a dirty hit. There's no other way. In my
47:19
opinion that there's no other way to say it. Maybe if his name was
47:22
Leon Smith, he would have been suspended. I thought he should have should
47:27
have been thrown out a game. It should have been in a five minute
47:28
major, and he should be missing tonight's game. But that's I had to
47:32
I just had to make that statement. Florida has been able to hold them
47:37
in check, but Edmonton has been able to hold some of the strengths of
47:42
Florida in check. So, like I said, I don't think the series
47:44
is over. Uh. Brabowski gave up his first probably week goal of the
47:50
entire playoffs the other night when I went through his legs, a very stoppable
47:54
shot, but then he made some great saves afterwards. I mean, on
47:59
the David and he's just he's not right now. I would say he's deleting
48:02
candidate for the con smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoff MVP. Remember it's not
48:09
just the finals, it's the entire playoffs in the NHL that you get considered
48:14
for MVP. And I gotta give a shout out to a guy nobody knows
48:19
about. Gustav Forestling, left handed defenseman. The guy was cut by the
48:25
Blackhawks, then the weather It's picked up by the Hurricanes and really didn't make
48:31
it there. Well, he was traded from the black Hawks to the Hurricanes
48:36
and then cut by the Hurricanes, and the Planters picked him up the next
48:39
day and a couple of months ago, after improving his game, he signed
48:45
an eight year, forty six million dollar contract. The guy is underrated.
48:47
You gotta watch him play. He passes the eye test. He's an all
48:52
around defenseman and one of the most underrated in the league. He's grey on
48:55
the penalty kill. He's improved his offensive game in the last few years.
49:00
I just had to give an unsung hero shout out to Gustav Forslan. Yeah
49:10
no, I mean yeah. Borsling's name was mentioned a lot the last series
49:14
against the Rangers. I mean, he was very active. Now, I
49:16
gotta just say this the Rangers. By the way, I don't know,
49:22
I think I mentioned this to you, but I want to just publicly shout
49:25
out Isaac Markovitz of the social impact team at Madison Square Garden Sports. I'm
49:34
looking right now at a Barkley Gudro and get this, hey, I'm looking
49:40
right now at it. Hold on our Barkley Gudro and a Ryan Lnguin sign
49:47
Puck, both of them coming to our apartment here thanks to the Rangers outreach.
49:52
How about that so well that I'm glad to hear that. I really,
49:57
I really am. And uh, Barkley Guto is one of those guys
50:00
you have to have on your team if you want to win the Cup and
50:02
obviously prove that with Tampa Bay. And and it's gonna be interesting to see
50:10
how much money the Rangers. I guess he's I guess slingering is restricted,
50:14
so to see how much they're going to give him, I'm sure they'll resign
50:19
him. I think he's improved his game. He's a tough kid. The
50:22
Rangers don't want to lose, and Budro played a huge role in his playoffs.
50:25
I mean, you know that hu big goals and I remember that empty
50:29
and edraversus Carolina was like a huge play too, huge goal too. So
50:32
you know, I love the Rangers do reach out to their fan base like
50:37
this, and uh, I want to give a shout out on Termino's take.
50:39
How about that? Well you should they deserve it, all right,
50:44
lou Well that's pretty much it. We'll get into the baseball world. I
50:47
was, I have mixed thoughts about the weekend in London for the Mets.
50:52
I thought that a split was good. You kind of disagree that they're going
50:55
anywhere. I think, hey, they might still be on a track,
50:59
but I could be wrong on that, Louis. Yeah, I mean I
51:01
think, uh, I again, I'm not optimistic. I think there as
51:07
I said to you last week. Unfortunately, right now, they're bad and
51:10
they're boring, and that is the worst combination any sports franchise in any sport
51:16
can have, not just baseball. And Rizzo did hit a homer today as
51:22
we're recording this, so boom. He looks like he's heating up on the
51:24
Yankee side of things. So you need him. I'll say one thing.
51:29
I know, we want to wrap this up real quick. Remember in April
51:31
when everybody was worried about Aaron Judge and they were saying, uh, let
51:36
them down. Yeah, you know, shit them down. So I told
51:39
you, I mean, you know, he he's one of those super chip
51:45
blue players him Soto, you got two on that team. Oh and by
51:50
the way, another thing with Yankee fans. This this is my final of
51:52
my final comment the Yankee all those years screaming and critisizing Stanton. You know,
52:01
the guy's got watched sixteen home runs, Alex. I mean, okay,
52:06
he may not be the hit or he was what he said runs.
52:09
You're knocking these things out of the park, like into the fountains and right
52:14
in the inkof it's it's not just a homer, it's the power with it
52:16
too, right, and that's a hard place to hit home runs. So
52:22
Stanton, all these Yankee fans should should take no I would say this.
52:30
Everybody loves to criticize Cashman, but he's put this team together and I think
52:32
he's got a good team going here, So no doubt about it. I
52:37
credit him. And you know what Yankee VENGJ want have me presenting this?
52:39
I credit Boone. I think he's done a great job. This year with
52:43
everything that. I mean, they are forty nine wins without a healthy Coal
52:46
and it's I know, he's just one piece of it, but that's a
52:51
big piece, right, So no, it's a big piece. But they
52:53
did not expect Louise Skeel to be eight and one, so that's amazing.
52:59
Yeah, so that that kind of made up for the coal injury the k
53:04
as I told you all. Yeah, the Yankees are fine. They're going
53:06
to be in the playoffs, you know, and they're gonna be They're going
53:10
to be a factor to win the World Series. I think they're better than
53:13
the Dodgers. Yeah, I don't know that last weekend series, this is
53:16
the series that probably nothing, that means nothing. It was good to watch,
53:22
but it doesn't mean nothing. What's going to happen in late October if
53:23
they do me? I meant notable is that Otani struggled. I mean,
53:29
he ended a homer really in that series, and of course he didn't do
53:31
well pitching there last time, so I don't know. Maybe he's got a
53:35
bit of a thing, uh, some nerves. I hit him one against
53:37
the Yankee State, which is interesting. But maybe maybe that's why he didn't
53:42
want to play for the Yankees or the Mets couldn't play in New York.
53:45
There you go. Well then again they go on the coach and the four
53:47
homers in one inning three days later, so how about that? Well all
53:52
right, louis always a pleasure, and thanks for remembering Bill Walton and Jerry
53:55
West with us from not only your fan experience but your NETS executive years.
54:00
And thanks for all your analysis today my pleasure. I was an enjoyable It
54:06
was an enjoyable show. Thank you. We look forward to the next week.