In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena. Because of its initials, and its status as a gathering place, the arena was nicknamed "The MECCA." I have never heard Kareem, a devout Muslim, give his opinion on that fact. at the Milwaukee Arena. Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
In this game, Kareem led all players with 29 points and 12 rebounds, and he added 6 assists. Teammates Jon McGlocklin and Flynn Robinson each scored 23. Walt Bellamy led the Pistons with 25.
Six days later, Kareem opposed Wilt Chamberlain, the man he would eventually surpass as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, for the 1st time, at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Kareem scored 23 points, but the Milwaukee Bucks were led by Robinson with 33. Wilt scored 25, but the Los Angeles Lakers were led by Elgin Baylor with 26. The Lakers won, 123-112.
The Bucks entered the NBA for the 1968-69 season, along with the Phoenix Suns. The way the NBA Draft worked in those days, the teams with the 2 worst records faced a coin flip, with the winner getting the 1st pick and the loser getting the 2nd pick, so that it paid to "tank," but not that much. The Bucks won the coin flip, and "Big Lew," who had led UCLA to an 88-2 record and 3 National Championships (keeping in mind that freshmen weren't eligible to play on the varsity until 1972), winning the National Player of the Year and the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player all 3 times, was the easy choice.
With the 2nd pick, the Suns chose Neal Walk, a center from the University of Florida. He played 9 seasons in the NBA, and the fact that he was the next pick after Kareem is by far the most interesting thing about his pro career.
Instead of Walk, the Suns could have chosen Lucius Allen (Kareem's teammate at UCLA, and later in Milwaukee), Bob Dandridge (whom the Bucks also drafted), Bingo Smith, Jo Jo White, Butch Beard, Rick Roberson, Norm Van Lier, Luther Rackley, Steve Mix or Willie Wise, any of whom would have been a noticeably better choice than Walk.
To be fair, the Suns didn't do that badly: Both teams were usually in the Playoffs throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. But the Bucks, led by Kareem, the veteran star Oscar Robertson, McGlocklin, Robinson, Allen and Dandridge, and coached by Larry Costello, won the 1971 NBA Championship, and also reached the Finals in 1974. Through the 2021-22 season, each team has been to the Finals 3 times, but the Bucks have won 2, while the Suns are still looking for their 1st. The Suns are usually a good team, often a really good one, but they've never been NBA Champions.
Kareem would remain with the Bucks until June 16, 1975. He didn't think Milwaukee was a big enough city for him. He wanted to return to New York, where he was from; or Los Angeles, where he went to UCLA. The Bucks traded him to the Lakers, although with Walt Wesley, for Dave Meyers (another UCLA player), Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters and Elmore Smith.
This was not a terrible trade for the Bucks: Bridgeman and Winters helped them win 7 straight Division titles, and both of their numbers have been retired, along with those of Kareem, McGlocklin and Dandridge. But the Lakers still got the better part of the deal: Kareem would lead them to 5 titles in the 1980s.
*
October 18, 1969 was a Saturday. This was also the night that The Jackson Five, including Michael Jackson, made their national television debut, on ABC's The Hollywood Palace. They were introduced by fellow Motown Records star Diana Ross, and her boss -- and, secretly, her boyfriend -- Berry Gordy Jr. falsely told the media that Diana had "discovered" them.
These 6 other games were played in the NBA on that night:
* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 99-96 at the new Madison Square Garden. Willis Reed scored 25 points, Dick Barnett 21, and Walt Frazier 19. For the Lakers, Jerry West scored 42, Elgin Baylor 18, and Wilt Chamberlain was comparatively quiet with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
This 1st game of the season turned out to be a preview of the last, when the Knicks beat the Lakers at The Garden to win their 1st NBA Championship.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Phoenix Suns, 121-116 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the McCamish Pavilion) in Atlanta.
* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 124-117 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Earl "the Pearl" Monroe scored 34.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 134-123 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Billy Cunningham scored 40 points, and Archie Clark added 31. For the Royals, Luther Rackley scored 29, and Oscar Robertson 23.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 131-126 in overtime at the Chicago Stadium. Chet "The Jet" Walker scored 31.
* And the San Diego Rockets beat the San Francisco Warriors, 125-124 in overtime at the Cow Palace in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, California. For the 1971-72 season, the Rockets moved to Houston, and the Warriors moved across San Francisco Bay to Oakland, taking the name "Golden State Warriors."
There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:
* The Washington Capitols beat the New Orleans Buccaneers, 110-104 at the Washington Coliseum.
* The Dallas Chaparrals beat the Carolina Cougars, 108-97 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
* The Miami Floridians beat the Kentucky Colonels, 110-106 at the Louisville Convention Center.
* And the Los Angeles Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 126-123 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.
There were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 7-3 at the Montreal Forum. Jean Béliveau and Ivan Cournoyer each scored 2 goals.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the St. Louis Arena.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Oakland Seals, 5-0 at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Former Toronto Maple Leafs star Eddie Shack lived up to his nickname, "Eddie the Entertainer," by scoring a hat trick. This built-in geographic rivalry did not last, as the Seals failed in 1976.
The baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, when the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 5 to win the World Series. There was college football on this day, including the following games:
* Number 1 Ohio State beat Minnesota, 34-7 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis.
* Number 2 Texas were idle. They were supposed to play Arkansas on this date, but ABC convinced them to move it to the open date of December 6, making it the only game played that day and, as both a rivalry game and the game that could have decided the Southwest Conference title, it would get a huge national audience and be a great advertisement for both schools. Both went for it.
* Number 3 Southern California and Number 11 Notre Dame, played to a tie, 14-14 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. This turned out to be the only blemish on USC's record, as they won the Pacific-Eight Conference title.
* Number 4 Arkansas rescheduled its game with Baylor for this date, and won, 21-7 at Baylor Stadium (later Floyd Casey Stadium) in Waco, Texas. And after USC's tie with Notre Dame, and Ohio State's upset loss to Michigan, Arkansas were ranked Number 2 when they took the field against Texas on December 6, and Texas were ranked Number 1. It became known as "The Game of the Century," and Texas came from 14-0 down to win, 15-14. Texas then beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, and were awarded the National Championship.
* Number 5 Penn State beat Syracuse, 15-14 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York. Penn State had been offered a berth in the Cotton Bowl, to face the Texas-Arkansas winner, and set up a de facto National Championship Game. But they turned it down, since Ohio State were still undefeated and Number 1 at the time the bid was offered.
* Number 6 Missouri beat Oklahoma State, 31-21 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Missouri won the Big Eight title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Penn State. As a result of this, Penn State finished undefeated, and ranked Number 2. Their fans still say they would have beaten Texas, given the chance. They were given the chance, and head coach Joe Paterno turned it down. For 40 years, that looked like the biggest mistake that "Saint Joseph" ever made in "Happy Valley." It was not.
* Number 7 Tennessee beat Number 20 Alabama, 41-24 at Legion Field in Birmingham. Tennessee would end up winning the Southeastern Conference title, but a loss to Mississippi caused the Sugar Bowl, which normally invited the SEC Champion, to invite "Ole Miss" instead.
* Number 8 UCLA beat the University of California, 32-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Number 9 Louisiana State beat Kentucky, 37-10 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.
* Number 10 Florida beat North Carolina, 52-2 at Florida Field in Gainesville. Florida went on to beat Tennessee in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.
* Number 13 Michigan were upset by Michigan State, 23-12 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Michigan would rebound, winning the Big Ten title by upsetting Ohio State. But they lost the Rose Bowl to USC.
* Number 16 Wyoming beat Brigham Young, 40-7 at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. They did this despite head coach Lloyd Eaton kicking 14 black players off the team, for wanting to wear black armbands on their sleeves, in protest of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which runs BYU, discriminating against black people, including refusing to let black men be priests in their Church. (That policy was struck down in 1978.)
Without those black players, Wyoming won their next game, but lost their last 4 of the season, and went 1-10 the next season. Eaton was fired, not for being a bigot, but for being a loser. He got a front office job with the Green Bay Packers, but that would be the only subsequent job he would hold in football, at any level.
* Number 19 Mississippi beat Southern Mississippi, 69-7 at Hemingway Stadium (now Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) in Oxford. Despite finishing only 5th in the SEC, "Ole Miss" were invited to the Sugar Bowl, and beat former Number 2 Arkansas.
* Among the service academies, Air Force beat Oregon, 60-13 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; but Army lost to Utah State, 23-7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy...
* Among New Jersey teams, Rutgers beat Navy, 20-6 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway; and Princeton lost to Colgate, 35-28 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.
* And in New York City, Columbia lost to Yale, 41-6 at Baker Field in Manhattan.
And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to the North-East, and played Sunderland to a 1-1 draw at Roker Park in Sunderland.
No comments:
Post a Comment