A developing lockout trend amongst those with an online presence and interest in the NBA has been to scan/photo old basketball cards and share them on the world wide web.

Some say we are doomed to repeat the past, in the future, if we don’t remember it (or something like that). I say the past is also great for present-day zingers, which is why I’m sure I’ll take part in basketball card scanning in the future (which, one really only needs the summertime to do, not necessarily a lockout – there’s also the fact that my sports cards are spread out between my apartment in D.C., a dad’s house, a mom’s house (both in other states), and a friend’s house in Virginia).

Anyhow, in lieu of those old basketball cards, today, I’m here to share with you some Washington Bullets posters from yesterday, equally worthy of nostalgic zingers, if not more so.

What you are about to gander upon (and please excuse the impromptu, perhaps hard-to-view photos of old-tymey wrinkled posters) comes courtesy of Wizards veteran Basketball Facilities Manager Jerry Walter. Jerry just completed his 20th season with the organization in his current area, but has been working home games in some capacity in upwards of 28 years. He is always polite, often wishing folks a good morning no matter what time of day it is, and when famished reporters await outside of the Wizards’ practice court for interview access, Jerry almost always offers, nay, insists that they hydrate with a cup of water.

Near the end of this past season, Jerry brought in some of old franchise posters as a kind display of his glorious endurance with one of the more hapless franchises in the NBA. (Yes, we know there is a plan to change all of this — the haplessness — but admittedly, by said team proprietors, it’s a process that ain’t easy. So until that happens, hapless fans of Les Boulez we will be.)

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Stop. I know what you’re thinking. Wasn’t Wes Unseld Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season? Why yes, he was … in 1968-69.

Of course, some stat heads might tell you that Unseld didn’t deserve the MVP that season. Among players who appeared in 70 or more NBA games in ’68-69, Unseld’s PER of 18.1 ranks 19th. And of those with a PER greater than 18, Unseld’s Win-Shares Per 48 Minutes (WS/48) was 10.8 and ranked seventh. The Baltimore Bullets did lead the NBA with 57 regular season wins, but were bounced by the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

Still, Big Wes got the accolades, and followed with a Hall of Fame career. Only he and Wilt Chamberlain have won both the ROY and MVP awards in the same season … and I’m betting it never happens again. But does that make Unseld the best rookie in franchise history? Not necessarily. Keep reading.

Over on SB Nation DC today, Jake Whitacre has a post that sparked my interest in this subject. Jake has a run-down of the best athletes over the age of 35 in D.C. sports history.

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When the DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg was in Vegas, he tweeted the question:

“Is mike miller the wizards’ best white player since….gugliotta?“

Dan later followed up in a Sports Bog post saying:

I was asking some of the other media members who would be the answer to this question: “Mike Miller is the Wizards/Bullets best white player since…..” There was no consensus. I will keep working on this. In a purely jesting, non-offensive way.

Steinberg’s nomination of Tom Gugliotta seems like a choice with which most of Wizards nation could concur. But thinking back, the organization hasn’t exactly had a history of illustrious contributions from the white man on the basketball court.

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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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