Here's a player comparison I've been thinking about a lot recently:
Player A: 17.6 PPG / 13.6 RPG / 3.8 APG
Player B: 21.8 PPG / 6.0 RPG / 3.9 APG
Player A was 6'9" and 230 pounds, was an 8-time All-Star, won 2 NBA Championships and even won an MVP. Player B was 6'6" and 230, 10-time All-Star, won an NBA Championship and was MVP of that Championship. It is obvious from the numbers that Player A was the better rebounder and Player B the better scorer but what links them in my mind is how strange it is to see either in another uniform other than the Kelly green of the Celtics.
Player A was Dave Cowens who finished his career with the Bucks. Player B is Paul Pierce who was introduced yesterday as a member of the Nets. Both will be in the Hall of Fame and both will have their numbers hang in the Boston Garden.
Both will always be Celtics in my mind no matter what uniform they wore at the end of their careers.
I saw Dave Cowens play in the one NBA game I have attended, at the old Chicago Stadium in 1978. Also on the floor, John Havlicek in his last season, and Artis Gilmore, who was the floor. Seriously, that guy was huge in person.
ReplyDeleteGilmore was a giant but it was Cowens who other NBA players feared. He had an aura of insane toughness.
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