SFCityBear said:

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82gradDLSdad said:

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bearister said:

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"I don't recall it ever being blocked by somebody who was guarding me," Abdul-Jabbar said. "Maybe a few people got to it, coming to help where I couldn't see them, but if I knew where someone was, that person was not going to block that shot, because I always got my body in between them and the ball before I released the ball, and it's impossible to get to it.

Manute Bol was [five] inches taller than me and I shot a number of them on him and made them without him blocking it.

"Nobody really presented a challenge to me getting it off. Wilt [Chamberlain] was pretty good, too. Wilt tried to time it and he could really leap, but he just couldn't get there in time."

ESPN - Secrets of the Skyhook


http://www.espn.com/nba/features/kareem


" Recently on Twitter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was asked who was the greatest defender he ever faced. Kareem, who played from 1970 to 1989, didn't respond with Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon or Robert Parish. His answer was Nate Thurmond, a player that seems to be lost in modern NBA discussion, his legacy overshadowed by Wilt, Russell and Kareem. So who exactly was this man that defended the all-time leading scorer better than anyone else, and what made him special?

Nate Thurmond's work ethic was tremendous. He never wanted to be outworked by his opponent.

"When I score on Nate, I know I've done something. He sweats and he wants you to sweat, too," said Kareem in an interview with Sport."

Beats, Dimes & Drives: Kareem Calls Nate Thurmond Best Defender He Ever Faced


http://beatsdimesanddrives.blogspot.com/2013/03/kareem-calls-nate-thurmond-best.html

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Plus, Nate had a pretty sweet Rolls Royce that I got to drive (ok, park) a few times.

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I think a told this story before, but I first met Nate Thurmond in Henry Africa's club on Broadway. I was having a drink with my date, when in the door comes Nate Thurmond and his long-time girlfriend. They sat down at a table on the other side of the crowded nightclub. I called the waiter over, and told him to bring a round of drinks for Nate and his ladyfriend, but don't make a big deal out of it. If he asks, just tell him the drinks are from a fan. A few minutes later, the waiter returned, and told me, "Mr. Thurmond won't accept the drinks unless you come over and join them at his table." So we went over to Nate's table and joined them, We spent about 3 hours together telling stories, and had a wonderful time. My date didn't know a basketball from a tennis ball, but we all seemed to enjoy each other. We talked basket ball, but then they wanted to know what we did, and everything about us as well. At the end of the evening, Nate asked me, "What are you doing this weekend?" Nate then said, "Well, I've got to fly down to San Diego this weekend for a game with the Clippers, and I'd like you to come down with me. There is probably no one in San Diego who will buy me a drink."

Nate also opened a restaurant, selling mostly BBQ, using his mother's recipes. Best BBQ in SF. I used to stop by from time to time, and Nate and I always laughed about how we met. Before that time, I had felt that all the 7-footers were eccentric people, not particularly open, somehow a little uncomfortable in their tall frames, but I found Nate the Great to be a very regular guy, and I am very happy to have known him.

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Wow! You've told lots of stories over the years, but this one may be the neatest! Congrats!

bearister said:

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Manute Bol was [five] inches taller than me and I shot a number of them on him and made them without him blocking it.

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I had to look it up to see that they played against each other!

(best image)
https://calisphere.org/clip/500x500/0e229279a092409ea7158c606dc79ee5



https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kareem-abduljabbar-of-the-los-angeles-lakers-shoots-over-manute-bol-picture-id141824821

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kareem-abduljabbar-of-the-los-angeles-lakers-shoots-over-manute-bol-picture-id141824822

Unfortunately, you'll have to click those links. URL type doesn't pasted on BI.

I met Manute at the US Senate. I was a "messenger" for the Foreign Relations Committee after college for a half a year. Biden was on the committee, but I never met him. Manute was making the rounds, trying to raise political awareness for the problems in Sudan. His hand wrapped around mine. I have a photo of it somewhere.
Before that, I was on the same flight as Manute from Nassau to Atlanta. Man, he was humongous.

This is a kid I hope makes it!!

helltopay1 said:

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Nothing to understand. You can either shoot or you can't..You also have to train yourself to eliminate the crowd presence.

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Agree with all of it.

Crowd presence reminded me of a story. In the late '60s, my former Cal roommate, Dave, was attending Medical School in Bologna, Italy. Bologna was not only home to the world's oldest medical school, but it was also the hotbed of Communist activity in Italy at the time.

As it happened, basketball was fast becoming a very popular sport in Europe, and the USSR National team traveled to Bologna to play a game against the Italian National team. Dave was into weightlifting and was an excellent boxer, but was not especially interested in basketball, but he really wanted to attend this game, because he wanted to see which team the fans in the arena would be cheering for to win this game. The Italians were fiercely nationalistic, but very passionate about their politics as well, which was well, all or mostly all, Communist.

The Arena was filled to capacity. Dave was surprised that the fans were not very vocal or demonstrative, and they did cheer only a couple of good shots or good plays. There was very little noise in the arena, compared what Dave was used to in games in the USA. The game went all the way to the wire. The Italian team was ahead by a single point, when a Russian player was fouled with no time left on the clock and awarded 2 free throws. Dave was on the edge of his seat, wondering if the Italian fans would finally say something, make some noise. As the Russian bounced the ball, preparing to shoot, Dave said almost everyone in the crowd pulled out a white handkerchief, and they all began waving them to distract the Russian shooter. He missed both free throws, and the Italian team won the game.

Why a white handkerchief?
Were they essentially asking him to miss on purpose?

concordtom said:

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Why a white handkerchief?
Were they essentially asking him to miss on purpose?

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I think you can draw your own conclusions. I have no clue why a bunch of Italians would all demonstrate together in this particular way. I am part Italian, and familiar with some of the culture, but I don't know why the handkerchiefs. I don't they were asking him to do anything. They were likely trying to distract him, rattle him, so he would miss the shots and his team lose the game to the local team. ASU for one, has been known to try to distract a free throw shooter by being demonstrative at just the right time. Football coaches will call timeouts to freeze a field goal kicker, and rattle him, and shake up his rhythm, causing to miss field goal attempt.