dallinturner.bsky.social
He/him. Fan of the Utah Jazz, Utah Hockey Club, BYU and DC Comics. Obsessive reviewer of sports logos. Once got in trouble for being mean to Mike Lee. Profile pic is me racing in the 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon, dressed as the Genie after he was freed.
4,467 posts
1,872 followers
1,323 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
Despite all that, Walton still put together an impressive resume:
• 2 championships (1977 Finals MVP)
• 1978 MVP
• 2 All-Stars
• 1978 All-NBA First Team
• 1977 All-NBA Second Team
• 2x All-Defensive First Team
• 1986 Sixth Man of the Year
• NBA 50th and 75th anniversary teams
comment in response to
post
Walton reinvented himself in 1985-86, playing 80 games and winning Sixth Man of Year, helping Boston win yet another championship. He played only 10 more games for the Celtics after that, finally succumbing to all the injuries that had plagued him since he was a teenager.
comment in response to
post
In 1984-85, Walton played 67 games (the most in his career at that point) for the newly relocated Los Angeles Clippers. He felt he was finally healthy enough to contribute to a winning team, so he reached out to the Celtics and Lakers. The Lakers wanted a doctor's note, but Boston didn't care.
comment in response to
post
So Walton sat out the entire 1978-79 season in protest before signing with the San Diego Clippers for a seven-year, $7 million contract. Unfortunately, he only played in 102 games over five seasons with the Clippers. And — unsurprisingly — he couldn't stand the new Clippers' owner, Donald Sterling.
comment in response to
post
Walton felt the Portland Trail Blazers' treatment of his and his teammates injuries was unethical and incompetent. And looking at how his career turned out, it's hard not to argue that some permanent damage may have been done to Walton in those early days.
However, Portland refused to trade him.
comment in response to
post
Portland drafted Walton with the first overall pick of the 1974 draft, but that old injury bug came back. He only played 35 games his rookie season and 51 his second. But he was healthy enough to help Portland win the 1977 championship.
After breaking his foot in 1978, Walton demanded to be traded.
comment in response to
post
Several professional teams tried in vain to lure Bill Walton away from UCLA before he graduated. But Walton seemed to enjoy playing for legendary coach John Wooden too much. The ABA's San Diego Conquistadors even drafted Walton, but for whatever reason, he spurned his hometown and went to the NBA.
comment in response to
post
Bill Walton was born and raised just outside of San Diego. His history of injuries began in high school, where he broke his leg, ankle, foot and needed knee surgery. But he still was a prized recruit for UCLA, where he won two NCAA championships and three player of the year honors.
comment in response to
post
Helping out Walton were Maurice Lucas (All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, All-Defensive First Team, sixth place in MVP voting), Lionel Hollins (All-Star, All-Defensive First Team) and Bob Gross (All-Defensive Second Team).
In all, that was four Blazers being awarded for their defense. What a team!
comment in response to
post
Walton averaged 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per game, winning the only MVP award of his career. (Today, he wouldn't qualify based on the league's minimum games played standard.) Walton was also an All-Star and on the All-NBA and All-Defensive first teams.
comment in response to
post
One reason Portland was eliminated so early was because their best player, Bill Walton, had broken his foot. Even though he only played 58 games, Walton still led Portland in Win Shares with 8.4 (the lowest on this list since John Logan's 8.3 in 1947-48 for the St. Louis Bombers).
comment in response to
post
most unrealistic part of the movie (which was fine and marred by some bad cgi and the need to be a hulk sequel) was that the president was held accountable and not given criminal immunity by the supreme court
comment in response to
post
Abdul-Jabbar has starred in quite a few films and television shows, most notably Bruce Lee's Game of Death and Airplane! He's also become a prolific writer and activist. In 2012, he was named a cultural ambassador for the United States. And in 2016, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
comment in response to
post
After retirement, Abdul-Jabbar tried really hard to get into coaching, but for whatever reason was never able break through. He coached a minor league team one year (helping the Oklahoma Storm win the USBL title) and spent several years as an assistant for the Clippers and Lakers, but that's it.
comment in response to
post
Here's a rundown of some of Abdul-Jabbar's accolades:
• 6 championships (1971 and 1985 Finals MVP)
• 6 MVPs
• 19 All-Stars
• 10x All-NBA First Team
• 5x All-NBA Second Team
• 5x All-Defensive First Team
• 6x All-Defensive Second Team
• NBA 35th, 50th and 75th anniversary teams
comment in response to
post
To my surprise, this was the third and final time that Abdul-Jabbar had the most Win Shares on the team with the best regular season record. But his career was far from over at this point. In fact, he'd go on to win five more championships after this. His trade to the Lakers eventually did pay off.
comment in response to
post
Abdul-Jabbar was also an All-Star and a member of the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Second Team. Joining him on the All-Defensive Second Team was Don Chaney. And that was pretty much it. As was the case for much of Abdul-Jabbar's career, he just didn't have a great supporting cast.
comment in response to
post
It was another stellar season for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He led the NBA with 17.8 Win Shares and won his fifth MVP behind 26.2 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.2 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. He also led the NBA with .579 field goal percentage and in total rebounds and total blocks.
comment in response to
post
I went to the Jazz/Pacers game during Year One of our rebuild. Markkanen and Kessler crushed them. It’s really sad to see how they chose to continue to compete when we just gave up.
Could Markkanen be making big shots like Haliburton? We’ll never know. He’s never been given a chance.
comment in response to
post
I went to the Jazz/Pacers game during Year One of our rebuild. Markkanen and Kessler crushed them. It’s really sad to see how they chose to continue to compete when we just gave up.
Could Markkanen be making big shots like Haliburton? We’ll never know. He’s never been given a chance.
comment in response to
post
Here are Barry's NBA accomplishments:
• 1975 Finals MVP
• 8x All-Star (1967 Game MVP)
• 5x All-NBA First Team
• 1x All-NBA Second Team
• NBA 50th and 75th anniversary teams
Barry spent his retirement mostly in broadcasting (with mixed results) and a sporadic coaching record in minor leagues.
comment in response to
post
Rick Barry was finally healthy and in a stable situation when he returned to the NBA. He gave the Warriors six solid years, including one championship, before playing his final two years in Houston. It's a shame that so much of his career was wasted, but his list of accolades were still impressive.
comment in response to
post
In 1972, Barry's ABA contract finally expired and yet another court injunction required him to return to the Golden State Warriors. A Sports Illustrated article about Barry joked that between his contract disputes and his knee injuries, Barry spent more time in courthouses than on basketball courts.
comment in response to
post
The cash-strapped Caps sold Barry's contract to the New York Nets for $200,000. Barry still had lingering knee issues in 1970 and only played in 59 games. But he was healthy in 1971-72, and he took the Nets to the ABA Finals, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers.
comment in response to
post
The Washington Caps also struggled financially and became the Virginia Squires in 1970. Barry refused to follow the team to its third city in three years and insultingly said he didn't want his kids to grow up with a Southern accent. It then took a second court injunction to keep Barry in the ABA.
comment in response to
post
Barry was not particularly thrilled about playing for the renamed Washington Caps. He even began considering returning to the NBA and signed a $1 million contract with the Warriors. So then the Caps took Barry to court, which ruled that he had to stay in Washington. He ended playing 52 games there.
comment in response to
post
When Barry did return to the court in 1968, he tore a ligament in his knee and only played 35 games. But Oakland went on to win the ABA championship without him. However, Barry's absence was felt in the ticket office, and the Oaks were sold in 1969 and relocated to Washington, D.C.
comment in response to
post
The Warriors took Barry to court and a judge ruled that Barry had to sit out the 1967-68 season since he was still technically under contract with the Warriors. So 23-year-old Rick Barry, in the prime of his life, spent an entire season as a broadcaster with the Oakland Oaks.
comment in response to
post
But when Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli failed to deliver on promised contract incentives, Rick Barry bolted for the ABA's Oakland Oaks, who offered him a salary of $75,000, plus 15% of the team, plus 5% of the gate receipts. However, Barry found himself embroiled in complicated contract disputes.
comment in response to
post
Born and raised in New Jersey, Rick Barry chose to play at the University of Miami, where he led the NCAA in scoring. He was drafted in 1965 with the second pick by the San Francisco Warriors and led the NBA in scoring in just his second season. And he led the Warriors to the 1967 Finals.
comment in response to
post
Legend has it that Golden State lost to Phoenix because Rick Barry got mad that none of his teammates defended him when the Suns' Ricky Sobers hit him with a cheap shot. Whether Barry intentionally quit on the team or not, this story highlights his contentious personality that plagued his career.
comment in response to
post
Jamaal Wilkes was Golden State's third All-Star and second member on the All-Defensive Second Team. Wilkes and Clifford Ray both received MVP votes and Gus Williams finished second to Phoenix's Alvan Adams for Rookie of the Year.
This was a very good Warriors team that probably underachieved.
comment in response to
post
Barry was an All-Star, All-NBA First Team and finished fourth in MVP voting (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won his fourth).
Shooting guard Phil Smith was also an All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, All-Defensive Second Team and finished seventh in MVP voting.
comment in response to
post
Leading Golden State was the 1975 Finals MVP, Rick Barry. But this marked the beginning of Barry's decline, and he only put up 9.6 Win Shares, just barely beating Phil Smith's 9.4.
Barry averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 2.5 steals per game, shooting a league-high .923 FT%.
comment in response to
post
Reminds me of when he called for term limits — only to run for reelection in violation of his own proposal.
comment in response to
post
Havlicek's accolades include:
• 13x All-Star
• 4x All-NBA First Team
• 7x All-NBA Second Team
• 5x All-Defensive First Team
• 3x All-Defensive Second Team
• NBA 35th, 50th and 75th anniversary teams
When he retired, Havlicek completely walked away from basketball. He died in 2019 at the age of 79.
comment in response to
post
Havlicek had a couple of more years left in him after this season, but this was the last time he could be considered the "best player on the best team" by my rudimentary metric.
He spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics, winning six titles with Bill Russell and two after Russell left.
comment in response to
post
Jo Jo White and Paul Silas were both All-Stars (giving the Celtics four in total). White was All-NBA Second Team and Silas was All-Defensive First Team. Don Chaney was All-Defensive Second Team and Don Nelson led the league with a .539 field goal percentage.
comment in response to
post
Havlicek averaged 19.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He was an All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, All-Defensive First Team and finished seventh in MVP voting.
Cowens was an All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, All-Defensive Second Team and was second in MVP voting to Bob McAdoo.
comment in response to
post
For the second time in three years, John Havlicek just barely edged out Dave Cowens in the Win Shares column (9.7 to 9.5). And to demonstrate the incredible balance of this Boston team, Havlicek's 9.7 is the lowest score on my Winner Award list since the BAA-NBL merger.