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1970s stars fueled my passion for basketball, NBA
I’ve been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember. From the time I smacked rocks with a wooden bat in my grandfather’s driveway until I was old enough to play Little League, I had a bat, ball or glove in my hand.
I loved football, too, dashing around my bedroom or backyard with a pigskin tucked under my arm.
But my deepest sports passion was basketball. I loved it so much I would shoot for hours on the little dirt court in my backyard, often launching jumpshots in the dark.
While I played organized baseball through my teens, and gave football a painful try, there was nothing I loved more than basketball.
Growing up in the rural South, there was no rec ball or YMCA leagues, not that we knew of. We played on makeshift courts in backyards and driveways. Wherever there was a dirt court or a hoop on a barn, we picked sides and played. If you could find a church with a paved court or, better yet, an indoor gym, you were taking your game uptown.
As a young kid, my heroes didn’t play in the NBA, they were college basketball stars. In the Carolinas, there was nothing bigger than ACC basketball, where NC State, Maryland and North Carolina ruled the roost. The 1973-74 Wolfpack finished No. 1 in the national rankings with a 30-1 record (12-0 in the ACC) behind high-flying David Thompson, 7-2 center Tom Burleson and 5-7 point guard Monte Towe, who teamed with Thompson to perfect the alley-oop in the pre-dunk days.
Thompson, whose acrobatic game was comparable to Julius Erving and later Michael Jordan, had one spectacular ABA season before playing eight years in the NBA, averaging 22.7 points per game.
But my true allegiance lay farther south, where Frank McGuire’s South Carolina Gamecocks were routinely a top-10 team.
In 1973-74, the Gamecocks were led by future NBA stars Brian Winters, Mike Dunleavy and eight-time All-Star Alex English. They followed in the footsteps of John Roche, Tom Riker, Tom Owens and Kevin Joyce, who all played in the NBA or ABA.
In the summer of 1975, I went to McGuire’s Gamecock Basketball Camp. Two of my coaches were English and Dunleavy. How many 12-year-old kids can say they were coached by a basketball Hall of Famer and future NBA head coach?
I was hooked. For me, basketball was king.
It was my favorite players — Thompson, Dunleavy, English, and UCLA national champion Bill Walton — who led me to the NBA.
I got my first taste of the pro game by watching Sunday afternoon games on CBS, and I was immediately captivated by the talented and colorful players. I couldn’t wait to see Kareem’s skyhook, Maravich’s dazzling ball-handling and long-range shots, and later, Julius Erving’s jaw-dropping, high-wire act.
I loved the cool names — Dave Bing, Gail Goodrich, Happy Hairston, Cazzie Russell, Bingo Smith and Walt Frazier. And the even cooler nicknames — Tiny, Pistol Pete, Big Red, Big O, Iceman, Dr. J and Slick.
I loved their funky and groovy style. The big hair, short shorts and high socks. The headbands, sweatbands, knee pads and low-top sneakers.
I even loved Rick Barry’s underhand “granny shot,” mimicked by uncool kids who couldn’t shoot.
And oh, those uniforms. The red-white-and-blue Bullets, the Sixers’ stars and stripes. The Royal Blue of the Kings, and the Carolina Blue of the Buffalo Braves.
A host of bold-colored jerseys — the flashy purple and gold of the Lakers, the warm blue and gold of Golden State, the bright green and yellow of the Seattle Supersonics. And the classy, traditional look of the Celtics, Bucks and Knicks.
Though I collected baseball cards as a young kid, I didn’t discover basketball cards until the mid to late ’70s. I picked up a few random wax packs here and there and remember being thrilled to pull such favorites as Thompson, Walton, Maravich and Tiny Archibald.
Earlier this year, I was excited to pick up a few more old favorites of English, Dunleavy, Winters and Roche at a local card show.
Those were the stars who not only taught me the game, but fueled my passion for basketball.
— Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD. You can reach him at jowens@aimmedia.com.
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
