Posts tagged ‘darryl dawkins’

When you want to relive your favorite NBA moments (like the time Stromile Swift murdered Tyrus Thomas), where do you head? YouTube, of course.

Now, if you were interested in seeing highlights of Hall of Famer Gus Johnson, well, you won’t find anything more than a few snippets. Until recently, Johnson was a player who never got the notoriety nor the respect deserved from contemporary audiences. It is so hard to praise, and even harder to remember, someone you have never seen. Never known.

Time makes forgetting easy. In explaining why LeBron James need not be afraid of Michael Jordan, J.A. Adande once wrote:

And just because you might remember the old days doesn’t mean everyone does. There are Chicago kids celebrating their 12th birthdays this month who weren’t even born the last time the Bulls won. He has the chance to win over a whole new generation of Bulls fans who would then ask, “What was the big deal about that bald-headed No. 23 guy?”

What was the big deal about No. 25? Without further ado, I present to you: Gus Johnson, in excerpts from around the web. Read more »

flickr/Keith Allison

In the dog days of August, not much happens NBA-wise (aside from the schedule being released). So, in the spirit of George Santayana’s famous quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” in the next several days, I’ll be providing some Wizards highlights and lowlights (mostly the latter) from each month in the past year.

First up: August 2008.

The only Wizards player who has an August birthday is Andray Blatche. He will turn 23 on August 22nd, and will be entering his 5th year in the league.

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See that fella above? That’s “Dinner Bell” Mel Turpin, a member of the cursed Washington Bullets/Wizards draft history … sorta.

Turpin was taken by the Bullets with the 6th overall pick in the famed 1984 NBA Draft … the Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and of course, Sam Bowie draft. Bowie was a teammate of Turpin’s at Kentucky, and while both are known as busts, it’s Bowie’s name that most often gets mentioned amongst NBA basketball infamy.

With Rick Mahorn and Jeff Ruland already holding down the paint, Turpin was immediately traded by then GM Bob Ferry to a team currently generally managed by his son Danny, the Cleveland Cavaliers. In exchange, the Bullets received Cliff Robinson and Tim McCormick, who was promptly sent to the Seattle Sonics, along with Ricky Sobers, for Gus Williams.

Williams lead the ’84-85 Bullets in scoring (20.0) and assists (7.7), while Robinson was fourth on the team in scoring (16.7) and second in rebounding (9.1). That Bullets team improved by five wins over the previous season’s mark to finish 40-42, but still lost to Barkley, Julius Erving, and Moses Malone in the first round of the playoffs.

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After the trade, NBA Draft Thursday lost a great deal of luster for Washington Wizards fans … we should be used to this, it’ll be the sixth straight year the team is not retaining a lottery pick.

But don’t worry, as has been indicated, Ernie Grunfeld will be working the trade hot-lines, and there’s still plenty to do:

1) Head over to Bullets Forever and take part in a ‘Darius Songaila vs. the 18th pick’ poll.

2) Brendan Haywood’s foray into blogging has received its fair share of attention. On top of that, it’s a huge contract year for the guy. Be sure and read the previous post, ‘Good Haywood vs. Bad Haywood (and neither are named Brenda)’

3) This site will be taking part in the ESPN True Hoop Network Live Blog-o-Rama-(Rama), organized by the good folks of Hardwood Paroxysm.

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