Basketball
Elliot ‘Socks’ Perry. Another high socks legend of my childhood. Elliot was the 37th pick in the 1991 Draft by the L.A. Clippers. He would only appear in 10 games for the Clippers before he was traded to the Hornets. After spending a couple of years in the CBA, Perry scrapped his way back into the NBA in 1993. With the Phoenix Suns in 1994-95 he was runner up in the voting for the NBA’s Most-Improved Player.
Nate ‘The Great’ Thurmond has his # 42 retired by two NBA Franchises. His jersey hangs from the rafters of both the Golden State Warriors & Cleveland Cavaliers. Though, it’s in his very first game with another team, the Chicago Bulls, that Nate became the first player in NBA History to record a Quadruple-Double. (Block Shots were not recorded prior to 1973-74 season) Nate’s stat line that October night in 1974 went a little like this : 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots.
The always superstitious Michael Jordan is forced to wear the number 12 for the Bulls during a road game in Orlando. His customary 23 was stolen from the Chicago locker room before the game. They even searched the crowd for any fan wearing a Jordan jersey that might fit the 6'6" guard. Despite the random no name jersey, MJ still scored a game high 49 points. The expansion Magic would pull off a double digit comeback in the 2nd half forcing OT, where they would eventually prevail 135-129 over the Bulls.
The 23 jersey would be found a few days later stashed up in the ceiling tiles of the visitors locker room.
It was back on October 12th, 1979 that Boston Celtics guard Chris Ford sunk the first official 3-pointer in NBA History. The man they called ‘The Mad Bomber’ finished his playing days in 1982 for the guys in green, but continued as an assistant coach, and eventually became Boston’s head man from 1990-95. The 114-106 Celtics victory over the Houston Rockets that night was also the debut game for a youngster out of Indiana State named Larry.
Despite having maybe the funkiest free throw style in NBA history, Bill Cartwright, once went a perfect 19 for 19 from the charity stripe during a 124-110 NY Knicks loss to the Kansas City Kings back in November of 1981. Bill was actually a 77% free throw shooter over his 15 year career.
🗓On This Day : January 4th, 1984
Adrian Dantley knocked down 28 of 29 free throw attempts in a Utah Jazz 116-111 victory over the Houston Rockets. The 28 makes tied the record set by Wilt Chamberlin for the most converted freebies in a NBA Game. Dantley finished the game with 46 points. Did you know the contest was one of 11 home games that the Jazz played in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center that season?
Wishing everyone a Happy & prosperous New Year! Bring Back the Sonics!
Can you name these seven Super Sonics who sported # 24 for the franchise?
Who can tell us the voice synonymous with this Introduction?
Back in 2000, during a 90-85 Phoenix Suns loss to the NY Knicks, Suns point guard Jason Kidd tied a record he probably wished he hadn’t by committing 14 turnovers in the game. Can you dig deep in NBA lore and tell us the player who also threw the ball away that many times way back in 1978?
Oh yeah! Despite his sloppy night, Jason did happen to also record a Triple Double. 18 points, 12 rebounds, & 10 assists.
On this Day - 1988 The Expansion Miami Heat finally claim their first victory as a franchise. After a 0-17 start, the Heat were able to squeak out a 1 point win over the Los Angeles Clippers 89-88. Grant Long, Pat Cummings, & Billy Thompson each scored 15 for the victorious Heat. Danny Manning led the Clippers with 23.
On November 5th, 1992 Dominique Wilkins poured in 30 points in an Opening Night 106-94 loss to the New York Knicks. For his efforts ‘The Human Highlight Reel’ became the 17th player in NBA History to reach the 20,000 point plateau. He would finish his playing days with 26,668 career points. Happy Friday Everybody!!
After completing his two year Naval Commitment, 24 year old rookie David Robinson made his debut for the San Antonio Spurs on this day in 1989. The 1987 # 1 overall pick wouldn’t disappoint during a Spurs 106-98 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. ‘The Admiral’ led San Antonio with 32 points, while corralling 17 rebounds. It was just the 1st game in a phenomenal Rookie of The Year season for David. One in which he would average 24 points, 12 rebounds, & 4 blocks while helping the Spurs make a 35 win improvement over the previous season.
Thirty years ago today the Golden State Warriors out ran the Denver Nuggets in the largest scoring regulation game in NBA History, earning a 162-158 win . Chris Mullin led all scorers with 38, while is ‘Run TMC’ teammates Tim Hardaway & Mitch Richmond dropped in 32 & 29 respectively. Orlando Woolridge led the Nuggets with 37 , with our guy Walter Davis delivering a smooth 33 off the bench. Twelve players in the game scored in double figures. The 320 points combined is 4th most in an NBA Game in history, but the most in regulation. We’ll have more insight on those Wacky 1990-91 Denver Nuggets in a future Blaze Issue.
Who has the most blocked shots in a single NBA Game? Thats our dude Elmore Smith, who on October 28th 1973 blocked 17 shots against the Portland Trailblazers! Elmore led the league that season with 4.9 blocks per game. Did you know that blocked shots weren’t an official statistical category until the ‘73-’74 season?
Happy Birthday to the ‘Iron Man’ Mr. A.C. Green !! A.C. holds the NBA record for most consecutive games played with 1,192. He played in 1,278 out of 1,281 games during his career. Those three missed games came during his 2nd season.
Manute Bol passed away on June 19th, 2010 at the age of 47. Did you know that Manute had more games with 10 or more Blocks (19 games) than he did games with 10+ points. (18 games) Second image is a collaboration piece with our dude @ostertagmademedoit
Ron ‘Popeye’ Jones holds the record for most rebounds by a Dallas Maverick in a single game. Popeye hauled in 28 rebounds (11 offensive & 17 Defensive) against the Indiana Pacers back in January of 1996. Ron recorded his best statistical season in ‘95-’96, averaging 11 points and 11 rebounds a game. Happy Birthday Popeye.
On this Day in 1995 the Houston Rockets finished their sweep of the Orlando Magic to claim their 2nd straight NBA title. As the 6th seed, in a stacked Western Conference, the Rockets became the lowest seeded team to ever win a championship. They still hold that distinction to this day.
