I just started a Facebook group called NBA Media Guides. I have hundreds of them scanned with hundreds more to be scanned. First up was 1971-1972 Cincinnati Royals. There is a quick highlight post with a few images, then the whole media guide can be found under files tab for download. I also have many other publications to scan in like old Basketball Digest and Basketball Weekly issues.

50-33 he won

It was in 1946

He coached the capitols and beat the det falcons

He invented the fast break

Anyone know of anything else He invented

Imma go Shaq. As far as I know he's played with the most mvps in history

Kobe Nash Lebron Garnett Malone

All nba 1st team guys Penny Wade Zo Payton Amare Hill

All nba Jones Rice Richmond Rodman Walker Pierce Allen Rondo Oneal Dragic

All stars Van exel Grant Green Ceballos Smith Laettner Illguaskas Williams Jamison

All d Rollins D Harper Bell

20 pt scorers Richardson Rider R Harper Davis

6th men of the year Armstrong Barbosa

I'd go Bobby d as a true 3rd option. (Not like a Baylor who played some 3rd but mostly a 2nd or 1st.)

1971 finals 20 and 10 a game as a 3rd. Should of been fmvp in 78.

But gimme yall top 5 or 10 if you feeling generous

Fleer did the pictured awards for the NBA in the last four months of the ‘62 season, but then seemingly only continued the award for pro baseball.

I haven’t found any others. Does you guys know of any?

Real quick on the criteria of this like for example Jordan 98 that wouldn't count because that was just a simple jumper I'm talking about high degree of difficulty a one of one play

I have 2. Game 1. 1981 finals Larry bird misses own jump shot catches rb lay up with off hand

2nd. And bonus points if you can find it for me. Anthony Davis blocked (and I don't remember the order) nick batum jump shot went straight to Aldridge and then he blocked his jumper. Never seen back to back jumpers blocked let alone by 2 different players and they are both long.

Pretty sure I discussed adding this with u/tringlepringle several years ago and finally got around to researching the all-time winners and adding them to the site:

https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2024/10/sam-davis-memorial-award-added-to-basketball-reference/

Rockets in 95.

What you may know Only team to beat 4 teams on the road Only team to beat 4 55 win teams Only team to beat the teams with the top 4 records in the nba Only team to beat an mvp in every rd with them still at all nba level

What you don't know Since none of those things have happened before or since The odds of all 4 happening 1:645,000

I’m talking about when a team has a backup to one of their best players who has the same mold / vibe as the star. My favorite examples are Nate McMillan behind Gary Payton (both all time stealing ability guards) and Dikembe Mutombo to Yao Ming on those Rockets teams (both 90th percentile slow bigs with shot blocking chops). Dudes don’t have to be perfect matches, just similar vibes.

To never average double digits in anything

I'm going Nate McMillan

I.e imo sam cassell is the best post up point guard ever. Not really a pg skill set. Jokic Best passing c. And one of the best ever. Any others that had a crazy skill set for their position

Sorry if this isn't quite allowed, but I was looking for a subreddit like this but for Baseball specifically, but I was also interested if anyone knew any other great subreddits for other leagues history?

That 86 Alvin Robertson season is pretty nice

Larry Siegfried

Jim Cleamons

Kelvin Ransey

Michael Redd

Jim Jackson

John Havlicek

Tony Campbell

Evan Turner

Jerry Lucas

Clark Kellogg

Jared Sullinger

Herb Williams

Kosta Koufos

If I had to guess I would have to say it's probably Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain leaning more towards the latter instead of the former

In '93 with Jordan, the Bulls won 57 games and the title.

In '94 without Jordan, the Bulls won 55 games and lost in the ECSF to the Knicks. Jordan was replaced in the starting lineup by Pete Myers who had been out of the league since 1990; this move predictably hurt their team offense but somewhat surprisingly improved their defense (from '93 to '94). As many of you know, the series they lost to NY had the infamous Hue Hollins call, so a lot of fans thought Chicago should have rightfully made it to the ECF and likely the Finals.

I see preseason betting odds had Chicago at 44 wins and with the 10th-best championship odds, which sorta answers my question, but I'm curious if this was the consensus among fans and talking heads. Were there pundits or experts who expected something different/better than those odds from the Bulls in Jordan's absence, something closer to what happened?

Obviously the Rockets and Blazers wouldn’t have. I’ve also heard that the Bulls would’ve used the 2nd pick on Sam Bowie to package him for Jack Sikma.

Looking at teams with the center position already filled up, maybe the Celtics, 76ers, Lakers, Sonics, or Bullets would’ve taken him 1st?

Anybody know of GMs of the time saying they thought MJ was the top prospect?

It's interesting to see how media voting data could impact a metric like 'MVP Award Shares' for players like Russell, Chamberlain, Oscar, West, Baylor and Pettit

Also, Darrall Imhoff's 1964 MVP vote from the USBWA is pretty funny...

https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2024/10/usbwa-mvp-award-and-voting-added-to-basketball-reference/

Basketball Reference now has complete, official box scores for the 1961-62 Packers and the 1962-63 Zephyrs (the franchise now known as the Wizards). These teams were some of the more poorly covered by local media (so no surprised they moved!), which means that access to the official scorer's reports made some very large improvements in how fleshed out their box scores were. It was rare to find things like FGA or assists for these teams before this.

https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2024/10/complete-box-scores-added-for-chicago-packers-zephyrs/

Apropos of absolutely nothing, I thought I'd take a look at the first decade of champions in the boxscore era (when turnovers, steals, blocks and offensive rebounds were first officially tracked).

I will use four main criteria: regular season winning percentage, SRS (point differential adjusted for schedule), playoff winning percentage and playoff Boxscore Plux-Minus (used to approximate playoff SRS).

Essentially: winning is good; winning by more, against better teams, is better.

As expected, Moses's Fo-Fi-Fo Sixers stand out from the crowd, ahead of a pack of 80s teams of similar quality. The late great Walton and his Blazers look the pick of a largely lacklustre 70s bunch (even with these measures overrating pre-merger squads).

What stands out to you? Are the stats missing some key context? Can do other teams on request.

The method of BPM calculation changes in 1985, so I've put the rest on r/nbadiscussion.

When Rick Barry jumped to the ABA in 1967, he had to sit out the upcoming season for legal reasons. He joined the Oakland Oaks because his father-in-law and college coach, Bruce Hale, was the coach. I've read that Barry was on the Oaks' broadcast crew and played PG on the station team (maybe in Loose Balls?), but the only info I can find about his time as a broadcaster during the '68 season is with SF's KYA station helping call Cal Bear games beside Johnny Holliday (famous DJ). Here's some info about Holliday and Barry calling Cal games together. And Barry definitely played on the (obviously dominant) KYA station team (team photo with Barry).

I can't find any info confirming that Barry called Oaks' games during that year. Does anyone know for sure if Barry did or did not call Oaks' games that year, or was it just the Cal Bears with KYA?

I've long argued that Cunningham should have won the '69 MVP award or finished a lot closer than he did (he was 3rd, but Wes Unseld won in a runaway). My argument was:

Cunningham finished 3rd behind Wes Unseld and Willis Reed, but what he did for the Sixers was insane. Philly finished 62-20 in ‘68, traded Wilt that summer, and then PF Luke Jackson went down with a season-ending injury after 25 games. Cunningham moved to PF and averaged 25-13 while playing in all 82 games, continued doing all the unselfish things he had done for years, and the Sixers somehow finished 55-27 in a brutally difficult Eastern Conference.

But ... Philly teammates Hal Greer and Chet Walker both had more Win Shares and with better WS/48 that year because Cunningham's FG% was pretty bad in his new starting role as a PF. However, Greer and Walker essentially played the same as they always had that year, with the same stats they always got. What changed was '68 MVP center Wilt was traded and their very good PF went down, so Cunningham had to fill that ridiculous void with Darral Imhoff beside him at center.

So how legit was Cunningham's MVP candidacy considering he shot a rather poor .426 from the field with Greer and Walker providing consistent all-around quality for the team, but with the context of how much more he contributed in a really difficult conference (league standings) in the absence of a tremendous C-PF combo from the year before?

The following is representative on how Wilt personally ranked his coaches (primary sources being Wilt’s ‘73 autobiography and a ‘79 interview with Basketball Digest).

1 & 2 (Tied)

ALEX HANNUM

Wilt thought that Hannum was the best all-around coach “when he was concentrating on his job.” Hannum produced the best team Wilt ever worked with and put Wilt in the best position to succeed. In ‘73, Wilt said, ”brilliant coach — second only to Frank McGuire among the eight coaches I've had in the NBA.”

Wilt did not like how Hannum would treat the team after every loss; refusing to acknowledge anything they did right or even shake their hands. Wilt discovered the hard way that learning to how lose was just as important as learning how to win, so this rubbed him the wrong way.

FRANK McGUIRE

Probably Wilt’s favorite coach. Extremely respectable all-around, not just as a coach, but as a person. Wilt was most impressed by how much control McGuire had over his players, whilst still treating them with the utmost respect. In 1979, Wilt said, “I would rate McGuire just behind Hannum.”

3

JOE “very good” MULLANEY

Despite the public, as well as teammates like Goodrich, believing that Wilt had no respect for Mullaney at all, Wilt thought very highly of the coach. In the first year as a coach, Mullaney led the team to the 2nd seed in the West without Wilt and to game 7 of the NBA finals with Wilt coming off a total rupture of his patellar tendon. In his second year, he led them to a better record (albeit worst seeding) without Baylor and took the all-time great ‘71 Bucks to 6 games without Baylor or West. Wilt noticed.

Wilt was especially impressed that Mullaney did all this by inheriting the mess that Kolff left behind. Despite his lack of experience, Mullaney had a great understanding of the game (he credited Mullaney with Wilt further stressing defense, like showing him how to effectively guard Kareem). Wilt also credited Mullaney with laying the groundwork for Sharman’s subsequent success.

4

BILL “very adequate” SHARMAN

When Wilt and Hannum left the 76ers, Kosloff asked Wilt which coach he should hire. Wilt responded, “Frank McGuire or Bill Sharman.”

Wilt not only saw Sharman as respectable, but as one of the smartest coaches he ever had (though Wilt saw his approach more akin to a manager or coordinator than a coach).

Despite Sharman being responsible for what Wilt saw as the possibly the most overachieving team in history (‘72 Lakers), Wilt thought he was far too stubborn in adjusting rotations when the situations called for it.

5, 6, & 7 (Tied)

NEIL JOHNSTON

According to Wilt, Gottlieb hired Johnston in hopes that his exceptional skills, particularly his hook shot, would rub off on Wilt. Instead, Wilt picked up that Johnston had a “shit” understanding of everything related to coaching. Johnston would oversimplify thoughtless strategies, slip in criticisms of Wilt’s salary, and wouldn’t let Wilt play his desire minutes. Wilt also often inferred racist subtext in Johnston’s rhetoric.

Johnston lost respect of his team, of his opponents, of Gottlieb, and didn’t know how to handle it.

Though Wilt truly believed Johnston was not ready to be a coach, Wilt would later admit he also wasn’t mature enough to be coached by Johnston.

DOLPH SCHAYES

Though Wilt was initially apprehensive due to Schayes’ criticisms from their playing days, he found Schayes to be a very likeable, nice guy. “Too nice to be a good coach,” or, to elaborate, “a piss-poor coach.”

Such was on display for the world to see the ‘66 Celtics series. As much as Wilt disrespected Auerbach as a person, he did acknowledge Auerbach as the greatest coach in history; yet the degree to which Auerbach out-coached Schayes in substitutions, strategy, player motivation, and timeout usage was embarrassing.

He believed the CotY award was solely due to their record and felt that Schayes getting fired after the playoffs and his lack of coaching career afterward confirmed his belief.

BOB FEERICK

Wilt greatly appreciated Feerick as a person and considered him a good friend, but thought that Feerick’s college-level competence did not translate to the professional level.

According to Wilt, Feerick didn’t want to be the coach and even asked Wilt to help him coach at times.

8

BUTCH VAN BREDA KOLFF

Wilt saw Kolff’s experience and recognized that he had better understanding of the game (from a coaching perspective) than Johnston and Schayes.

He also thought that Kolff was…

• “a real space case”
• “helplessly ignorant with people”
• “determined to prove that he was the boss“
• “an idiot as far as personalities were concerned”
• “a man who’d go out and get drunk every night”
• “just a rotten coach”
• “not what kind of man you could respect off the court”

Specifically, Wilt felt that he didn’t know how to motivate nor communicate, made poor substitutions, and that playing Wilt at the high post was a poor strategy. Wilt’s prime example of his incompetence: Kolff wouldn’t show up to games until just before warm-up and, rather than discussing tactics and matchups, would joke around or stage actual farting contests.

So how would you rank his coaches? Do you think Wilt overrated or was too unfair to anyone?

How good do you think he would have been do you think he's a top 50 player do you think he's the best player on the title team do you think he wins in VPS do you think he has absurd all time stats like 20,000 rebounds or anything like that

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41698701/jerry-west-los-angeles-lakers-simmering-20-year-feud

This is a long (but good) piece on West and the Lakers and the deterioration of their relationship after Jerry Buss’s death. I’m really interested in what everyone thinks of it, especially those with no vested interest in either the Lakers or West.