The trade was the start of something special for the second iteration of Philadelphia's NBA team. Halfway through the 1964-65 season the Warriors traded Chamberlain for guard Paul Neumann, center Connie Dierking, forward Lee Shaffer (who never signed with the Warriors or played again in the NBA), and cash. the team wanted to unload "the Big Dipper" and his salary for new players. Chamberlain, despite his continued scoring bursts, wasn’t helping the Warriors win games or attract fans by 1965, and. With pro hoops in Philadelphia once again, it wasn't long before the game’s greatest individual talent returned. Professional teams have been in and around the city since before World War I, the Philadelphia SPHAs were one of the top barnstorming clubs between the wars, while the Philadelphia Warriors were an original BAA and NBA team, and several colleges in the city have traditionally fielded strong programs but in the 1962-63 season, there was no professional basketball in Philadelphia. In the spring of 1963, Irv Kosloff and Ike Richman teamed to buy the Syracuse Nationals and moved the team to Philadelphia and rebrand it as the 76ers. When Warriors owner Eddie Gottlieb had sold his club to a San Francisco group, team west, it wasn’t long before the void was to filled. Schayes, a fundamentally minded set-shooter held his own with 22.5 points per game, which ranked seventh in the league that year. After the Warriors moved west and the Nationals relocated and rebranded, bringing professional basketball back to Philadelphia, it was only a matter of time before Chamberlain came home.Īs a young player, Chamberlain brought a new surge of offense to a league suddenly overflowing with scorers, leading the league that season with 37.6 points per game led the NBA, followed by gunners Elgin Baylor (29.6) and Bob Pettit (26.1), among others. In the 1959-60 season, the city’s native son Wilt Chamberlain arrived in the NBA after time at the University of Kansas and a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters as the centerpiece of the Philadelphia Warriors. The five-time All-Star big man was named to the NBA 75 last year, and he should have been the Blazers’ top pick.Philadelphia has long been a basketball town. The 6’11 big man never lived up to the hype of being the number-one overall pick, and he remains in the conversation for the biggest draft busts in league history.įuture Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo and Julius Erving were selected in the first round in 1972 with McAdoo going second overall. Martin played four years with the Blazers where he averaged just 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game. ![]() Portland was hoping he would transform into a dominant NBA big man, but he never found his footing in the league. The 6’11 big man averaged 18.2 points and 15.9 rebounds per game during his four years at Loyola University Chicago, and he went toe-to-toe in matchups with Bill Walton and Jim Chones during his college career. Portland desperately needed an influx of talent, and the league was built around big men in those days, so they decided on Martin with the top selection. ![]() The Blazers had the number one overall pick for the first time in 1972 after winning just 18 games in their second year as a franchise. ![]() Portland Trail Blazers Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports PF: LaRue Martin
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |