As a life long Celtic fan, I'm so grateful for van Breda Kolff. What a tool!

Sharman wasn't the first coach to successfully persuade Wilt to alter his game.Alex Hannum did the same thing as coach of the 1966-67 Phila 76ers,resulting in their first NBA title.That year,Wilt became the first center to lead the league in assists.

The big difference between Wilt and Butch was that the Big Dipper made real sacrifices for the team whereas Van Breda Kolff was unbending. For example, Wilt took a then career low 13.6 shots a game during the 68-69 regular season, and only 9.8 shots a game in the 69 playoffs. Can you imagine Van Breda Kolff asking Baylor and West to shoot less and concentrate on defense? Speaking of defense, Chamberlain was a defensive monster in the 69 playoffs. In 18 playoff games against 3 HOF centers (e.g., Nate Thurmond, Zelmo Beaty, and Bill Russell), Wilt averaged 8.5 blocked shots. After the Lakers defeated the Warriors in the WC Divisional Playoffs, Tommy Hawkins provided Sports Illustrated with the following quotes, "Tom Hawkins, a Laker veteran shook his head in admiration of Wilt. "Wilt has been something else," he said. "You want to know why he's worth so much money? Because he controls the game. He makes the tempo." Wilt still put up a few 20 plus point games in the 69 playoffs, but his main job was to rebound and play defense. 1969 WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS: LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. SAN FRANCISCO WARRIORS GAME 1 11 PTS 30 REBS 6 BLKS GAME 2 10 PTS 17 REBS 11 BLKS GAME 3 22 PTS 28 REBS 5 ASTS 7 BLKS GAME 4 11 PTS 14 REBS 9 BLKS GAME 5 7 PTS 27 REBS 10 BLKS GAME 6 11 PTS 25 REBS 15 BLKS CONFERENCE PLAYOFF AVERAGE 12.0 PTS 23.5 REBS 9.6 BLKS 1969 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. ATLANTA HAWKS GAME 1 15 PTS 29 REBS 6 BLKS GAME 2 23 PTS 29 REBS 10 BLKS GAME 3 17 PTS 22 REBS 6 BLKS GAME 4 25 PTS 19 REBS 13 BLKS GAME 5 16 PTS 29 REBS 7 BLKS CONFERENCE FINAL AVERAGE 19.2 PTS 25.6 REBS 8.4 BLKS 1969 NBA FINALS: LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS GAME 1 15 PTS 23 REBS 4 ASTS 12 BLKS GAME 2 4 PTS 19 REBS 4 ASTS GAME 3 16 PTS 26 REBS GAME 4 8 PTS 31 REBS GAME 5 13 PTS 31 REBS 10 BLKS GAME 6 8 PTS 18 REBS 4 ASTS GAME 7 18 PTS 27 REBS 7 BLKS NBA FINAL AVERAGE 11.7 PTS 25.0 REBS 7.7 BLKS

Wilt was the greatest player in the history of the NBA

RIP Tommy Hawkins. Just a fantastic story teller.

Coach Bill had the personality to deal with Wilt. A coaching change was all the difference to help win in addition to a line up tweak. Wow!

these guys were a great athletes, just when you see their bodies and their movements, you can sense that they were an athletes. But the game has evolved so much , that these guys are all under appreciated.

The sound of Chick Hearn's voice is one of the greatest gifts God has ever given to me.

Videos like these make me miss sitting down and watching espn classic with my dad 😔 I loved hearing his thoughts about the older generations of sports.

Elgin Baylor had the hang time and moves before Dr. J and Michael Jordan. He was a beast.

I think that if Wilt Chamberlaim never had knee issues and he was wearing the same sneakes that players wear now he'd easily have scored 50,000 and grabbed 30,000 rebounds and blocks would be out of this world stats possibly first tripple double carrer of anyone.

Rip to my friend Tommy the jazz Hawkins....He is deeply missing...

About 18-20 years ago I spotted Jumpin' Tom Hawkins in a hansom cab with a young lady, riding in Central Park, New York City. I recognized him from afar, mouthed his last name (since he could not hear me from such a distance) and he acknowledged. For those of you who do not or cannot remember, Tom was a high-jumping, tough competitor with the Cincinnati Royal and L.A. Lakers. Although considered a "tweener" by todays standards, he was a forward to be respected. He never got the credit he deserved, but he was serious.

Ppl were so lucky Wilt Chamberlain was naturally a nice dude both on / off the court..... if Wilt had the demeanor of a Rasheed Wallace or Ron Artest , I think Wilt would’ve scored even more cuz ppl would’ve been way to scared to get even near him ....... lol

Bill Sharman was a championship guard with the Celtics. Sharman won the championship on the first day when he asked Wilt to come talk to him and they set down man-to-man and he asked, not demanded, his help. Wilt was a notorious late sleeper and they adjusted their practices so he got the sleep he asked for. He named Wilt captain of the team that year. For this, Wilt adjusted his game and in a single year had perhaps the greatest single defensive year by any center. The semi-final against Abdul-Jabbar and the Bucks was one of the greatest center-vs-center series of all time. In game 4 of the championship game, Wilt broke his hand. He refused to be taken out; he took a cortisone shot and won the MVP and the championship in game 5, scoring 24 points, grabbing 29 rebounds and handing out 4 assists. It all came down to treating Wilt like a man.

Very enlightening production giving me an adult insight on what i witnessed as a child the first years i started watching sports-1968.

Wilt did say Elgin Baylor was the best player he'd played with. This interview confirms that.

I don't think winning 33 nba games in a row will ever be broken

The year the Lakers won 33 in a row and the title, Elgin Baylor retired a few games into the season. Jim McMillan was inserted into the starting lineup and the Lakers took off. It’s too bad Baylor didn’t stay as a reserve because he would have finally won a ring. In any case, Bill Sharman pulled off one of the best coaching jobs in history because the Lakers played fast break, team basketball. Wilt had a great year as a rebounder, defender, outlet passer, etc... and West became the point guard and led the NBA in assists while still scoring 26 pts a game. That was one of the most dominant years I’ve ever seen a basketball team have and it all started with Coach Sharman talking with Wilt and West about playing winning team basketball.

This era deserves more voices. The level of disrespect in unbearable.

All people have to do is look at Van Breda Kolffs won lost record without Wilt and look at Wilt's won lost record without VBK. Wilt was right. VBK was going to get fired for not putting Wilt back in, so he resigned. The Lakers went to the finals 3 more times after that. FYI, Wilt tore his patella tendon 12 games into the next season, so he was legit hurt and STILL wanted to go back in.

I would disagree that Wilt's arrival in 1969 hurt Elgin Baylor on offense. Elgin averaged 26.0 points per game in '68, BEFORE Wilt, and 24.8 ppg.- at 34 years old - in 1969 when he and Wilt were teammates. 1.2 points difference.

When you play in 764 regular season and another 96 playoff games in the NBA it's OK to mix up a few stats and quotes from 40 and 50 years ago. The major themes of his memories are correct.

That was excellent. Thank yiu.

Great interview! Mr Hawkins is a funny guy also

Great video. Tom Hawkins is one of the best people in the game.

Extremely bad coaches were the causes for the teams of the Lakers and those teams that WILT were a part of for their failure in not winning their share of NBA championships.The players of that era were good(all of them great college" cagers")and the "stars"were FANTASTIC !!!

This is all before the NBA started letting walking, palming and 3 seconds go! The real game!

Great stuff. Interesting as hell. I've heard much of this before, Hawkins being there confirms it. Of course, it was easier for Wilt to respect Sharman, a former star with Boston and a Hall of Famer himself.

Is it true that Elgin had a curse? The day he quit they went on the 33 game win streak and won the championship. Do I have anything wrong here?

7:55 You know you are superhuman when you injure your knee and it comes with a lightflash...

Starts off with blaming Wilt and labeling him as not being a team guy and lifting the coach up, then end by highlighting a coach willing to coach and treat Wilt like a human being finding a way to help the team win with Wilt willingly sacrificing his potential for the greater good... In those days their were less teams and less opportunities to overcome another team with an advantage in better connections, scouting, and brain power...Celtics. Different day and time...nice look back and history lesson

Also Baylor couldnt hit the ocean with the ball,he was cold as russia,Wilt tore his achilles and still wanted back in but coach wouldnt let him

Really shows how much of a impact the coaches make in the success or failing of a team.

Much Gratitude

The decision by van Breda Kolff not to put Chamberlain back in the game might be the single dumbest coaching decision in the history of sports. Russell had five fouls! Lakers would have won that game.

Sounds like the Lakers got a better coach and won it all

I was a Laker fan since 1964. My favorite player was Elgin Baylor. I sat right in front of Tommy Hawkins at a Lionel Ritchie concert at Universal in 1983 or ‘84, I regret not saying hello to him. I met Chick Hearn and Keith Erickson at a Spurs game while on vacation in S. A., Chick was so gracious and even introduced me to KErickson as he was I believe his first “color man” on the radio. I no longer follow the Lakers nor the NBA ever since LaBron became the “Colin Kaepernick” of the NBA.

Tommy is laughing about it now, but I guarantee you he wasn't laughing back then!

Rip tommy just died today sad

It is amazing that the Lakers made it that far, divided. The Celtics were united as far as we know

Lakers history is rich and never boring

2:06 may have been the sweetest layup I’ve ever seen. Smooth. Edit, I had to bump the time back a few seconds.

The Big Dipper, GOAT.

Fact check at 1:23 - Hawkins claims that the night Baylor scored 71, that he and Elgin combined for 86 points. The reality is that in that 11/15/60 game, Baylor scored 71 points in the Lakers 123-108 win over the Knicks. He also grabbed 25 rebounds. And Hawkins scored 7 points. Maybe Tommy is confusing himself with Rudy LaRusso. Rudy is the one who scored 15 points for the Lakers that night. This is per the box score in the basketball reference website. It was a long time ago, so we can forgive Tommy for not remembering. I enjoyed listening to someone who was actually playing in the games speak about some of the experiences on those great Lakers teams. Thanks for posting.

Permit me to give the DEFINITIVE ANSWER (lol) re: Wilt's supposed selfishness. MY BACKGROUND: Born and raised in New Jersey, I attended many 'Trotters games when they featured this incredible "point guard". What was his name? Oh yeah, Wilt. I "followed" Wilt into the NBA for the 59-60 season; and fell in love with Elgin because of his incredible artistry (his mostly below-the-rim hang time, combined with super-strong wrists - meant he could almost always stay in the air longer than the other guys and still flip it up and in). Almost all of my favorite All-Time dunks were by Dr J. But, imo, the GOAT dunk was this time I saw Elgin floating across the key to dunk; meeting Wilt in mid-air; flipping it to his other hand; and still hammering it home. When Jerry West joined the Lakers, I became an even more RABID Lakers fan for life (59 years so far!). Their bi-racial harmony, TEAM-work and near-equality as players (in an incredibly racist era) changed my life! I had about given up there ever being racial peace in the US - and they showed me it was possible. Because of them I dedicated all my free time for the rest of my life to fighting for peace-justice issues. Between 1965-1975, I worked full time jobs; but, in addition, I worked 40+ hours a week, 50+ weeks a year (20,000+ volunteer hours in total) to help end the US Gov slaughter of 2-3 million INNOCENT people in Vietnam. I haven't stopped similar activities since. ------- I saw Wilt play (LIVE a number of times (in Philly, NYC & Boston - where I went to a 4-year high school; 30 miles from Boston); and on mostly "tape-delay" TV MANY, MANY times). He WAS basically everything everybody from that period says he was: the FASTEST guy in the League (truly world-class speed); the STRONGEST (truly world-class strength. Arnold Shwarzennegger testified to this. I SAW Wilt lift up two BIG NBA players, one with each hand, to stop a fight *); the QUICKEST (he COULD pick up a coin off the top of the backboard; and was a world-class high-jumper). BUT, the MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT WILT WAS HIS GUTSY ALTRUISM OFF THE COURT. We all KNEW back then what Wilt was doing off the court. It was so new that it regularly made the newspapers. It truly can be said that he SINGLE-HANDEDLY integrated first one city, then one entire region of the US. How? First with college team-mates; then, increasingly on his own. Imagine sitting in 100% segregated places; where those who didn't like "Negroes" often enforced their opinions with guns. Wilt LITERALLY risked his bleeping life MANY, MANY, MANY times. So, when people CLAIM that he was SELFISH ON THE COURT - I find that incredibly hard to believe. What I SAW / READ / LIVED was of a world-class UN-selfish human being ON and OFF the court. P.S. ME AND WILT: I actually "met" Wilt once. I was at the San Diego Sports Arena and he was in attendance in an aisle seat (iirc, this was the year after he "retired" - he had wanted to play in the ABA but the Lakers legally prevented him from doing so. btw, this puts paid to the CLAIM that he retired because he didn't want his career scoring average to go below 30 ppg!). His was so bleeping tall that SEATED he was almost my height standing. He smiled his classic friendly smile. And I ... and I ... I blew the chance of a lifetime. I couldn't open my mouth in shock and awe. I swore I'd never do that again. ME AND BIG RED, THE MOUNTAIN MAN, BILL WALTON: But it DID happen again! This time, I was running long-distance in Balboa Park, San Diego (I ran at least 2.5 hours a day for 34 years). I almost collided with this giant Red Head on a bicycle that he dwarfed. It was Bill Walton! (btw, Frankly I always felt like Walton was taller than he / NBA claimed (6'11"). I've since heard that he was actually 7'4" - that wouldn't surprise me; when I "met" him he seemed decidedly taller than Wilt had when I met HIM.) And wouldn't you know it, once again, I couldn't get a word out. (Seeing as this is rather embarrassing, perhaps you-all can believe that it's true). * Wlt was famous back then for breaking up fights in the NBA (and back then there were quite a few). Why would a supposed ego-maniac do that - it didn't do anything for him personally? But he WAS a gentle giant.

1:38 was that a euro step 🧐?

Fascinating.

Rest in peace tommy.

Yes, Wilt and Goodrich put up a ton of points, with Goodrich cutting to the basket and Wilt getting offensive rebounds if Goodrich happened to miss, after Wilt's passes to him. There were some really nice plays.

Butch van douche a kolff! Who wouldn't put Wilt Chamberlain back in a Finals game 7. At least humanity evolved a little bit since '69.

Wilt was the most amazing athlete in NBA history, but he was also a highly intelligent man who spoke well. Early films show a man who was faster down the length of the court than anyone else. A man that averaged more than 50 pts a game when he played against good big men, was a terrific rebounder and tenacious shot blocker. Read some articles and watch 5-6 videos of this guy in his prime. He was unstoppable.

Elgin was never the same after a knee injury in 65 i believe ...he was certainly better than kb pre injury

As a kid, I was AT that Game 7. We were close enough to plainly see what was happening. My dad was cussing up a storm.

In concept the team was tremendous, but in practice there was obvious division at least at that time.

Tommy's memory is a bit off. He scored 7 points, not 15 in the game Elgin had 71. Also, his concern that Wilt took too many shots is wrong. Wilt averaged 13.6 FGA/game in '68-69, which was fewer than the main guy they traded to Philly for him, Archie Clark, who took 16.2 FGA/game the previous year. Wilt's presence really did not effect Baylor either, who averaged 26.0 PPG the previous year and 24.8 Wilt's first year. Any decline in Baylor was primarily due to his knees and advancing age. Also, Elgin averaged 38.3 PPG in '61-62 when Wilt averaged 50.4, not 34.8, which was the previous year.

Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest Player ever in basketball history period some people don't like him but they are just ignorant I think like the experts they pick wilt Chamberlain is basketball God

Class act.

All I know is those Laker teams and Oscar & Kareem kept my Love- Chet- Sloan- van Lier Bulls team from 1 or 2 championships 1970- 75 What powerhouses

Boston’s win in 1969 was a big surprise. The Celtics barely made the playoffs that year. If I remember correctly, there were only eight teams in the playoffs. Four from each conference. The Celtics were fourth in the east, and were 42-40. The Lakers had the best record in the NBA. I’m going by memory. Yet, Russell and his guys pulled off a great upset. By the way, the latest the playoffs went was the beginning of April, and not June like today.

RIP Tommy

He spoke of 34 and 50 ppg as similar lolol

What I don't understand about Hawkins' story at 8:28 is why would Wilt ask him to talk to VBK when Wilt is sitting right next to the coach? (8:40). The story that has always been told is that when Wilt asked VBK to put him back into the game, the coach said "We're playing better without you".

If you were around at that time, like I was , watching Elgin Baylor destroy the SF warriors for most of his career. you'd. have seen a guy literally reinvent the way a basketball player drove to the basket, and you'd agree with Hawkins about Baylor being the Charlie Parker of basketball. I play jazz, so I get the reference. For you rockers, Baylor was the Jimi Hendrix of basketball. He literally, and very artistically re-invented driving to the hoop moves. Athletic genius. As with Parker, and Hendrix,and all the rest that came after them and played music, so it was with Dr J, Magic, Michael, Kobe. They all followed in his footsteps. Wouldn't be no J or Michael without Elgin having showed the way. He played and moved SO differently from any player of his day. Graceful, floating. inventive, improvised, beautiful, effective, genius basketball moves. The creator of the most DEADLY, cool to watch style, effective putting it into practice . Like Parker and Jimi, Baylor was a genius.

Damn great story

I grew up watching those Celtics teams of Russell, Havlicek, etc., and they were something else. Bill Russell was by far the best defensive player of all-time.

What kind of an a-hole coach holds it against a player for being injured? That’s the kind of shit Wilt had to deal with. Imagine Wilt being coached by Red Auerbach? Celtics would have been perennial champs for as long as Wilt continued to play.

THEY ALL KEPT TRYING TO TELL WILT HE DIDNT NEED TO SCORE. SO HE KEPT CHANGING HIS GAME UNTIL HE FINALLY REACHED LAKERS HE WAS STRICTLY DEFENSE. MIRACULAOUSLY HE CARRIED THE LAKERS TO THE 72 CHAMPIONSHIP AND MADE 3 MORE JUST BEING A DEFESNIVE STAPLE.. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT IF HE WQOULD HAVE KEPT THE SAME MENTALITY AS HIS OTHER TEAMS THEN THE LAKERS WOULD HAVE 4 OUT OF 5.. BUT WILT WAS SO NICE AND DIDNT WANT TO BE VIEWED WHAT THE MEDIA PORTAYED.. IT COST HIM RINGS... BUT SENSE WE KNOW THE TRUTH. HIS 2 COUNT AS 5 OR 6...IT IS JUST TRUE

I was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington in 1969 during the NBA Playoffs, just before shipping out to Vietnam. There was another soldier who was from California, and kept talking trash about the Celtics and how the Lakers were going to kick their ass. Being that I grew up in Massachusetts, a life long Celtics fan, I told him to put his money where his mouth was. So, we decided on a twenty-dollar wager, which was big money when your making what we made in the army back then. Needless to say, my C's and my favorite player, the late, great, John 'Hondo' Havlicek came through for me.

LoL @ "The year Wilt averaged 50 Elgin averaged 34..." SO!?! I get he is trying to praise his favorite guy, but stop...

Eventually, the 1969 balloons did get released. The janitors released them the next day.

Sounds like Wilt not only was battling the Celtics to tarnish his legac but his own freaking coach! Seriously...2 rings is ok, but 3 much better and it would have put a blemish on Russell's resume. All because a coach was too proud and stubborn. What a colossal prick.

I never understood the NBA Coaches, from back in the 1960's until now in the 2020's. There is no coach, and I mean no coach that's greater than the team. I loved Phil Jackson, he won as a player and as a coach, but he wouldn't have more than 2 rings without MJ., Scottie, Shaq and Kobe. Pat Riley the same thing, except for his lone championship as a player with the Lakers he wouldn't have any rings without Magic, Kareem, Wade and Shaq. The biggest beneficiary was Red Auerbach, that Boston team that he coached had nothing but Hall of Famers on it. The players have and will ALWAYS determine the Championships, coaches simply have the best seat in the gym.

There's a KZfaq that breaks down Wilt's team success by head coach. Sorry for not linking. When Wilt had HOF coaches like Hannum and Sharman he not only won championships, but Philly set the NBA record by winning 68 games. Wilt's LA Lakers upped that record to 69. Consider, had Van Breda Kolff put Wilt back in the game. Had the Lakers won. Wilt would have 3 rings in 5 years. Now we see him in the championship class of a Magic or Bird and stop seeing, "but he's not a winner" when looking at Wilt. Seriously, any talk about Wilt's greatness is tied to this coaching decision with 3 minutes left. They lost by 2. Wilt was 7 of 8 shooting. Mel Counts, his replacement, was 4 of 13.

at 0:28 Elg seems to mouth off "sh_t"!... just about sums up what happened in that game...

Two points lol. First, Hawkins played against Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain and with West & Chamberlain. Yet he and Satch Sanders say Elgin Baylor was the greatest player ever! The other point is he confirmed what I already knew about the '69 Lakers. No way in the world they should have lost that series. But they had poor chemistry. Even with Wilt out in the 4th quarter and Jerry West on fire, several Lakers took very bad shots instead of giving the ball to West. It was like other players wanted "glory." Meanwhile, Boston played like the team they were with everyone contributing. I understand Van Breda Kollf didn't get along with Wilt. But for crying out loud, Bill Russell had five fouls. Couldn't he have swallowed his pride and played Wilt and won the game?

Wilt always had problems getting along with his coaches in the NBA. Coach Bill Van Breed A Koff was probably the worst. The Wilt trade to the Lakers was horrible for the 76ers. They got nothing like equal value from LA, and should have insisted on either West or Baylor as part of the package along with Clarke, Chambers, and Imhoff. Sixers should probably have kept Wilt, given him a fat new contract as befits the best player in the league, and made him player coach. If Wilt refused Sixer’s offer, then management should have said: “Thanks for the memories Wilt. You are now officially retired.”

Years later, when coach Van Breda Kolff passed away, his Obituary in the L.A. Times read: "He Benched Wilt".

First "euro step" 1:37

Glad Hawkins clarified that it was dumbo van Breda Kolff who kept the most dominant player out of the 4th quarter of a 7th game championship. No coach today, would even attempt to pull such a stunt, but 1969 was still the era where many coaches still thought they were bigger than the players. Most managers/coaches during this period were probably paid more than the players and if Wilt's contract to come to LA paid him more money than the coach - you have an immediate jealously issue with van Breda Kolff. Any coach today pulling van Breda Kolff's stunt would literally be fired on the spot as soon as the word got out that he was playing personal vendetta games, because the public and social media outcry would rightfully be overwhelming.

why did he say "pardon the year" about 1959???

Coaches always knows better .🤔

Good interview but that music is so distracting

Wait....coming to blows......with Wilt Chamberlain? Stop. Just stop.

when ever you get it .... launch it. lol RIP Tommy "The Hawk" Hawkins

Ppl talk about players quitting but coaches like van Breda koff cost teams a potential championship

I always thought Van Breda Kolff was the wrong coach for the Lakers. He could be very volatile at the worst possible times. I remember one incident where Jerry West blew up at him! Something happened on the floor that didn't go the Lakers way. It might have been a bad call by the refs. Van Breda Kolff jumped up off the bench yelling and started to come onto the court. Jerry West looked at Van Breda Kolff, threw up his arms and screamed something at the coach. Van Breda Kolff immediately turned and went back to the bench. I never saw West so mad at a coach or player before or after.

How was Elgin's defense as compared to MJ or Kobe? Absent the "d" question, Elgin was the very best

Elgin Baylor was the greatest player ever. Cannot really argue with that. He was way ahead of his time. A small forward who averaged 13.5 rebounds a game.

Funny thing about Tommy Hawkins is that he was known to a generation of fans as just somebody who hosted Dodger Confidential on radio. He was never a media personality for the Lakers or the NBA.

Jack Kent Cooke owned racehorses and a major part for promoting the Ali vs Frazier fight one. he would know what to do with these Lakers as opposed to the stooge Jennie buss.

I think it sucks that the 2nd best team in an entire sport for that season are considered losers.

Sharman is in the HOF as a player and head coach. Only Wooden and Lenny Wilkens also have that honor

Notice how they almost came back when he wilt left.

He left out that they closed the gap with Wilt out lol

As a thought experiment... you swap Russell and Chamberlain that season, what would happen? My guess is that the Lakers would have been an absolute juggernaut and unbeatable. Russell would have figured out right quick what exactly the team needed and how he had to play for making the team better. He would have enhanced the inherent qualities of the team not demanding that they accommodate his preferred style of play. His individual statistics would not have been as impressive as Wilt's but he would come out on top.

Gosh, even as a 11 year old, I knew that Butch van Breda Koff was NOT the right coach for the Lakers. He delayed Showtime for a decade and was one of the reasons for the decline of NBA until Bird and Magic. .

I wouldn't be surprised if the Boston Celtics were in their locker room celebrating another NBA Championship, and at the same time thanking the Lakers coach for his stubbornness and downright STUPIDITY for refusing to put Wilt back in the game. The final outcome could have been very different with Wilt in there. Like the late Tommy Hawkins said of Wilt Chamberlain, Wilt had the ability to CONTROL the game.

All due respect to Mr. Hawkins but the notion that Wilt was still the same I gotta score 50ppg to win player is asinine. Exhibit A He lead the league in assist total at Philadelphia 76ers and his ppg total was under 30ppg in his time there and he won a ring making that sacrifice. Exhibit B he only scored over 25ppg once and that was an inflated stat season because he only played 12 games. As I study up more about Wilt the selfish individualistic moniker that is attached to him becomes less true.

There are no “former marines” tommy!