Comments on: Elvin Hayes versus Wes Unseld

By: Donald Boyle Jr

Donald Boyle Jr — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:25:13 +0000

When I grew up Elvin Hayes was my favorite player. One thing that is always overlooked in all stories about
the Big E is his awesome defense from
the forward position. Elvin blocked
more shots than any forward in history. Records were not kept for shot blocking during his first five years, but there is no doubt no other forward then or now compares. Elvin did scowl at the
referees and did not get many calls I’m
sure because of this. Please don’t forget about all of the great alley oop
dunks Elvin made on assists from Kevin
Porter. Stop saying Elvin choked in the
playoffs. Yes he had some bad games, but the referees never, and I mean never
called all the fouls that should have been called on whoever guarded him. I
remember Elvin being pushed by 2 and 3
Sonics every time he had the ball both
in 78 and 79 and fouls would not be called, but if he touched a Sonics player he would be whistled for cheap
fouls. Watch these highlights on NBA
tv and you will see it and hear Brent
Musberger and Rick Barry talk about the
bad foul calls on Elvin for very little
contact and imagine how frustrated you
would be. How about Elvin’s 47 points
against a great Buffalo team in the playoffs? Blocking George Gervin’s shot
to win game 7 against San Antonio. Elvin dominated Philadelphia and Dr. J
in the 78 playoffs. These are facts. I
bet he had 38 points and 20 boards in
some of those games and swatted the shots of the Sixers the entire series. I do know the history of Elvin Hayes and
it is great. Wes Unseld was a great player and teammate and I’m glad they are both in the hall of fame. They both
deserve it. I just don’t like to read
an article that is so slanted and slams
my favorite player and leaves out so
many of the truths and facts about a player who was probably the most well
conditioned athlete I’ve ever seen. The
man gave it his all and when I was a kid
growing up in Evansville, Indiana he was
my hero. He still is! If Elvin Hayes
played today he would be making 25 million dollars a year. Look what they
pay players who average 15 points and 5
boards now. Elvin was not the best passer of his era, but that was not his
role. Elvin did have the best turnaround jumpshot of all time. No one
could stop it and he banked in thousands. Elvin blocked many of his
shots playing help defense off of his man. Good luck finding anyone to do this consistently today. Being the most
popular player on the team with the fans
was the one thing that I know Elvin was.
I know he cared about his team, but everyone expresses themselves in different ways. When I think back about
those days and the way he played the game I smile. What a player.

Big E Fan For Life
Donald Boyle Jr

By: Bobby McCann

Bobby McCann — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:30:26 +0000

Just wanted to let you know that “dude” named Zelmo Beaty was one of the great NBA players of the 60′s and one of the best that ever played in the ABA,he put up great stats for the Hawks and won a championship with the Utah Stars and made all league several times.thought you just might want to knoe a little about that dude.

By: harold

harold — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:55:08 +0000

believe the players name was Johnson..his uniform was missing.He wore the Bullets road jersey turned inside out and road shorts.

By: David Burns

David Burns — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:01:41 +0000

How come on the famous Hayes SI picture (May ’78) his teammate is wearing a different colored jersey?

By: Mike Frandsen

Mike Frandsen — Wed, 12 May 2010 04:28:58 +0000

the article at http://www.examiner.com/x-37753-DC-Sports-Examiner~y2010m5d10-Part-1-Former-Washington-Bullet-Kevin-Grevey-on-the-78-NBA-title-season-Kentucky-and-the-Wizards

http://www.examiner.com/x-37753-DC-Sports-Examiner~y2010m5d10-Part-2-Former-Washington-Bullet-Kevin-Grevey-on-the-78-NBA-title-season-Kentucky-and-the-Wizards

also raises the question of whether the Bullets might ever change their name back to the Bullets.

Little E – (actually I’m sure you’re big) – if the Big E is ever in DC I’d love to interview him.

By: Mike Frandsen

Mike Frandsen — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:58:58 +0000

I’m doing an article on Kevin Grevey and the old Bullets at http://www.examiner.com/x-37753-DC-Sports-Examiner tomorrow. Grevey didn’t have anything bad to say about Hayes. The Big E’s playoff stats are better than his regular season stats – you can look it up on basketball reference, and he played great in most of the 78 playoffs. You can’t look that up because there’s not much on the web about it and the Wizards have done a poor job of publicizing Bullets’ history. Wes respected Elvin on the court. Missing only 9 games in a 16 year career is pretty amazing too. I always found it strange that the media universally regarded Wes as the greatest Bullet of all-time when I think Elvin was better. Part of that was because Wes was in the spotlight being the coach and then the GM for so long. As a fan, not knowing anything about the players off the court, the Big E was my favorite player. Wes averaged 7.6 points during the Bullets’ championship season. I think part of it is the Art Monk, Eddie Murray syndrome. Players who aren’t friendly with the media get a bad rap.

By: Elvin Hayes Jr.

Elvin Hayes Jr. — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:07:22 +0000

Great article, and great research however it is still somewhat slanted. Just because I’m related, don’t assume that I am going to trash this article. As with many things in life, there are facts, and truths, and often times they are not the same. The facts in this story suggest that my father and Wes didnt like one another. The fact and truth is, when my father was inducted in the Hall of Fame – Wes Unseld is the one that he chose to intro him. There are SO many other truths behind the scenes, but I’m not going to try to justify them all. All I can say is, at the end of the day, numbers dont lie. The man only missed 9 games due to injury in a 16 year career. Two of those were actually to attend my state championship games. Everyone is entitles to an opinion, which I respect. Just know that the opinion that you are forming is based on partial facts, and partial truth.

By: Davan S. Mani

Davan S. Mani — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:07:05 +0000

You didn’t mention that Dandridge and Hayes hated each other as well indicated from the 1979 NBA championship coverage by Curry Kirkpatrick because Hayes was making more money than he.

Hayes didn’t like Wes because he won Rookie of the Year when Elvin lead the league in scoring as a rookie. Likewise, he didn’t like Wes because he Wes was Abe Pollin’s pet. Everyone on the Bullets knew that Wes was going to be in management due to his relationship with Abe including Elvin.

Abe protected Wes from criticism by calling the editors or making threats to the newspaper of lawsuits, getting advertisers away by using television. Elvin wanted the same thing but didn’t get that.

He felt that Wes should have gottten some criticsm particularly in Game 4 of the 1975 Finals against Golden State where he made a crucial turnover. But it was Elvin’s choke job that made headlines. Likewise, in the 1976 playoffs against Cleveland, Wes letting Dick Snyder get buy him for the winning basket. But it was Elvin foul on Bingo Smith that lead to a technical foul and free throws that made waves. Another thing, Jerry Lucas just shot over Wes in the 1973 and 1974 playoffs. Wes didn’t bother to defend him. So, I see Elvin’s point. However, Elvin’s criticizing his teammates who never said anything bad about him is inexcusable. I have no sympathy for him.

As for Dick Motta. He said “Elvin never cheated.”

By: AgentDagger (Agent Dagger)

AgentDagger (Agent Dagger) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:50:01 +0000

RT @Truth_About_It: Today is the b-day of Bullets great Elvin Hayes. But he was known to be kind of a prick. http://bit.ly/3XmvG6

By: Truth_About_It (Truth_About_It)

Truth_About_It (Truth_About_It) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:47:25 +0000

Today is the b-day of Bullets great Elvin Hayes. But back in the day, he was known to be kind of a prick. http://bit.ly/3XmvG6

By: DMV: Two Bros Jump Off the Key Bridge | Mr. Irrelevant

DMV: Two Bros Jump Off the Key Bridge | Mr. Irrelevant — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:40:56 +0000

[...] Bullets great Elvin Hayes was kind of a dick. [Truth About It] [...]