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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I was doing some cleaning around the apartment yesterday, working on a project for Father’s Day (Happy Father’s Day to my dad all the real dads out there) and came across a clipping from the Washington Times that my pops gave me just over three years ago.

“What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been,” was Tom Knott’s proclamation of purged bad karma for DC’s pro-basketball franchise just before game one against the Chicago Bulls in the ’05 NBA playoffs. It made me think, so much of that trip was spent bonding with my dad. We probably made the trek out to Landover, MD, and then downtown to Chinatown years later, at least 175 times together, witnessing years of futility and a lone playoff game pre-2005. To pass time with my father, to follow a hometown team together, it was all worth it.

I couldn’t help but get a chuckle out of Knott’s column. The long, strange trip continues and some would argue that Wizards fans still have not been exonerated of bad karma. Is this article to remind us how appreciative we should be for a four year playoff run, or have our expectations justifiably risen to the point where wanting more supersedes being spoiled by morsels of success?

The circus acts of yore are all featured: “Nervous” Pervis Ellison, Manute Bol, Boo-nard King (is that the best picture they had?), Mel Turpin, Rex Chapman (one of my all time favorites), Rod Strickland, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jerry Stackhouse, and finally Old Man Jordan.

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