The DJ FAQ

by Harlan Schreiber

This article was originally written in February 2007, right after Dennis Johnson passed away.  It examined his career and Hall of Fame prospects.  I was lukewarm on DJ as a Hall of Famer but have since embraced the idea, less because I think Johnson was better than I remembered and more because I frankly think a larger Hall of Fame is better policy.  In any event, here’s a look at the DJ, an interesting person and a very good player… 

Unfortunately, the impetus to look back at player’s career usually comes at a final point, retirement or death.  In the case of Dennis Johnson, his untimely passing has inspired plenty of writers to eulogize a great NBA player.  I thought I’d look back at his career and hopefully find a few more nuggets of information that haven’t been touched upon yet. 

Continue reading The DJ FAQ…

Big Bells Bellamy

by Harlan Schreiber

Like other NBA fans who never saw them play live, I’ve always had a fascination with some of the older players from the 1950s and 1960s.  Often, the footage that is available tends to underwhelm me.  We also know that the stats of the early 1960s are particularly inflated by a run-and-gun style.  Still, even knowing all these facts, the numbers make an impact.  One player in particular who has always fascinated me was Walt Bellamy.  Bellamy put up raw numbers his first two seasons that look Shaq-like, combine those states with a few black-and-white photos of Bellamy dunking on much smaller players that are etched in my mind, and he seems almost like an unknown monster of the pre-historic NBA days.  I hadn’t really thought much about Bellamy lately until I was reading through Bill Simmons’ new book on the NBA, “The Book of Basketball”, which re-articulated the common refrain, that Bellamy was a decent stat guy but not a winner.  According to Simmons’ editor (who is quoted copiously in footnotes for the book): “Walt Bellamy had the smallest head of any seven-footer ever.  He was built like the Washington Monument.  And played that way.” 

Despite this sentiment, there is remarkably little written about Bellamy just an unspoken understanding of his worth by the basketball powers that be.  Even “Tall Tales”, the seminal book on the 1960s basketball, only mentions Bellamy in passing.  I thought we could run through Bellamy a little better and see if we could learn something new about Bellamy the player, how this common knowledge developed, and whether it is actually accurate. Continue reading Big Bells Bellamy…

The Alonzo Mourning FAQ

by Harlan Schreiber

Usually when an inner circle Hall of Fame-type player retires, we take the opportunity to examine his career closely with one of our FAQs.  Well, Alonzo Mourning just recently retired and he’s not quite good enough to be inner circle material.  Still, Zo has both an interesting personal story and he was a very good player and we’re interesting enough to plunge forward to see what we can learn about him personally and as a player from a close examination of his career. Continue reading The Alonzo Mourning FAQ…

The Stockton-Malone FAQ

by Harlan Schreiber

Well, it’s official.  As of yesterday, the second half of the John Stockton-Karl Malone duo has called it quits.  Malone’s departure was not quite the natural process as he vacillated and left everyone guessing for a while.  But now that both Stockton and Malone are gone, this is a good time to look back at their intertwined careers and see if a review teaches anything new or even reminds of some of the old stories we’ve forgotten.  Continue reading The Stockton-Malone FAQ…

The Admiral FAQ

by Harlan Schreiber

Let’s talk about the last of the the trinity of great centers of the of 1990s who recently retired, David Robinson.  It seems like there was much fewer memorable moments or controversies with Robinson than there were with Hakeem or Ewing.  Even in retirement, Robinson seemed to sneak into the sunset.  Rehashing Robinson’s career better separate the perceptions and realities of him as a player.  Continue reading The Admiral FAQ…

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