Posts Tagged ‘Pete Maravich’

Griner Wouldn’t Be Longest Draft Reach

April 4, 2013  ·  2:57PM

HANG TIME, Texas – Never underestimate Mark Cuban’s knack for attracting attention. And who could blame him if the idea was to draw it away from his underperforming team that is ironically keeping a team of barbers on hold at the same time they’re about to cut off their string of consecutive playoff appearances at 12 years?

Should the Mavericks draft Brittney Griner?

Let cranky Geno Auriemma be outraged and throw bricks. Let former greats of the women’s game Nancy Lieberman and Ann Meyers Drysdale offer their words encouragement to the Baylor star. Let Griner give even the most outrageous hope and dreams to any little girl who has ever dribbled a basketball.

Let’s face it. The Mavs selecting Griner wouldn’t be the first unusual pick in the history of the NBA draft. And before you snicker, remember that somebody took Pervis Ellison, Greg Oden, Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi No. 1. Here’s a reminder of a few others off-beat choices down through the years:

JIM BROWN (Syracuse Nationals, 1957 ) – The Nats didn’t have to reach outside the city limits to take a flyer on the guy who would become perhaps the greatest player in NFL history. Brown played four college sports — football, basketball, lacrosse and track — at Syracuse. He even averaged 15 points a game for the basketball team in his sophomore year. But even though there was little doubt that Brown was bound for a career on the gridiron, the Nats made him a ninth-round pick.

Other notables in draft: “Hot Rod” Hundley (No. 1 overall by Cincinnati, traded to Minneapolis); Sam Jones (No. 8 by Boston).

FRANK HOWARD (Philadelphia Warriors, 1958) – It wasn’t just his physical stature at 6-foot-8, 275 pounds that caught the attention of the Warriors in the third round. He could really play and was an All-American in basketball at Ohio State. But baseball was Howard’s first love and he signed with the Dodgers and had a 15-year career in the majors, hitting 382 home runs with 1,119 RBIs.

Other notables in the draft: Elgin Baylor (No. 1 overall by Minneapolis); Hal Greer (No. 13 by Syracuse).

BUBBA SMITH (Baltimore Bullets, 1967) — Long before he became known for playing the role of Moses Hightower in the Police Academy movies and starring in Miller Lite commercials, the 6-foot-7 Smith was an All-American defensive end at Michigan State. His height attracted the attention of the Bullets in the 11th round of the NBA draft, but Smith was the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL Colts and a champion in Super Bowl V.

Other notables in the draft: Earl Monroe (No. 2 overall by Baltimore); Walt Frazier (No. 5 by New York).

BOB BEAMON (Phoenix Suns, 1969) – Who could blame the Suns for taking a flying leap? After all, they were coming off a 16-66 record in their expansion season in the league and Beamon had just shattered the world long jump record by more than a foot at the Mexico City Olympics. Beamon had grown up playing street ball in New York, but was strictly a track and field athlete in college at Texas-El Paso. The Suns picked him in the 15th round of the draft, but he went back to school and graduated with a sociology degree from Adelphi University.

DENISE LONG (San Francisco Warriors, 1969) — The 18 year old out of Union-Whitten High in Iowa was the first woman ever drafted in the NBA, taken in the 13th round. She had averaged 69.6 points and had a single game high of 111 points in her senior year. NBA commissioner Walter Kennedy voided the pick, calling it a publicity stunt by Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli and also noted that high school players weren’t eligible at the time. Mieuli brought Long and other female players in to play before Warriors home games.

Other notables in the draft: Lew Alcindor (No. 1 overall by Milwaukee); JoJo White (No. 9 by Boston); Mack Calvin (187th by L.A. Lakers).

DAVE WINFIELD (Atlanta Hawks, 1973) – It wasn’t just the Hawks who were trying to get their talons on one of the greatest all-around college athletes ever with their fifth-round pick. He was also drafted by the Utah Stars of the ABA and the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, but went to baseball when the San Diego Padres chose him as a pitcher. In college at Minnesota, Bill Musselman once called him the best rebounder he ever coached. But Winfield did quite well in baseball, a 12-time All-Star with 465 career homers.

Other notables in the draft: Doug Collins (No. 1 overall by Philadelphia); Kermit Washington (No. 5 by L.A. Lakers).

BRUCE JENNER (Kansas City Kings, 1977) — Before face lifts and the Kardashians, there was a time when Jenner was known as the “world’s greatest athlete” after taking the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and the Kings made him a seventh-round draft pick. He never played in college and the closest Jenner ever got to basketball stardom was when he sank a shot during the singing of YMCA in the 1980 movie Can’t Stop the Music, which starred the Village People.

LUSIA HARRIS (New Orleans Jazz, 1977) – Here’s the real forerunner to Griner. A 6-foot-3 pioneer of the women’s game who led Delta State to three consecutive national titles, Harris was the second female ever drafted by an NBA team when the Jazz made her a seventh-round pick. Just imagine the show if she had been given a chance to team up with Pete Maravich in the backcourt. Harris showed little interest in her selection and declined a tryout invitation from the Jazz. It was later revealed that she was pregnant at the time.

Other notables in the draft: Bernard King (No. 7 overall by New York Nets); Jack Sikma (No. 8 by Seattle).

TONY GWYNN (San Diego Clippers, 1981) — After he set the San Diego State assist records for a game, season and career, he was hardly a reach for the Clippers in the 10th round of the draft. Gwynn said that dribbling strengthened his wrists and helped with bat speed and his on-court quickness made him a better base-runner. It all added up to a Hall of Fame baseball career with 3,141 hits and eight N.L. batting titles.

YASUTAKA OKAYAMA (Golden State Warriors, 1981) — Tallest player ever drafted by an NBA team? Not Yao Ming or Gheorge Muresan or Manute Bol. Try Okayama, who was 7-foot-8. He earned a second degree black belt in judo in his native Japan and began playing basketball at age 18 at Osaka University of Commerce. Okayama attended the University of Portland (Ore.), but did not play there. He was a member of the Japanese national team from 1979 to 1986. He never signed with the Warriors or attended a camp.

Other notables in the draft: Mark Aguirre (No. 1 overall by Dallas); Isiah Thomas (No. 2 by Detroit).

CARL LEWIS (Chicago Bulls, 1984) — It might have been the year when Michael Jordan earned his first gold medal, but Lewis was definitely the biggest star of the L.A. Olympics, tying Jesse Owens’ record of four track and field gold medals. Though he never played basketball in high school or college, a West Coast scout recommended drafting Lewis in the 10th round because he was “the best athlete available.” That same year the Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the 12th round as a wide receiver. Lewis stayed with sprinting and the long jump to become arguably the greatest track and field athlete ever.

Other notables in the draft: Hakeem Olajuwon (No. 1 overall by Houston); Michael Jordan (No. 3 by Chicago); Charles Barkley (No. 5 by Philadelphia); John Stockton (No. 16 by Utah).

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25 Years Ago: Pete Maravich Dies At 40

January 5, 2013  ·  2:38PM

 

The best anniversaries get celebrated. Others get commemorated, observed or simply remembered. This is one of those.

Twenty-five years ago on this date, “Pistol” Pete Maravich died suddenly after a pick-up basketball game in Pasadena, Calif. He was 40 years old.

Lots of great things in NBA history happened on Jan. 5. Wilt Chamberlain scored 50 or more points on that day for four consecutive seasons (1960-1963). Magic Johnson dished 22 assists against Philadelphia on Jan. 5, 1983, then Nick Van Exel (1997) and Rajon Rondo (2011) pushed that to 23. Hall of Famer Alex English was born on Jan. 5, 1954 and four-time All-Star Spencer Haywood made his NBA debut on that day in 1971.

Maravich’s plans for Jan. 5, 1988, though, were hardly memorable, his expectations low, as Bill Dwyre writes in the Los Angeles Times:

Everything seemed normal that morning in the gymnasium at the First Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena. Maravich had flown in from his Louisiana home to do some radio work with James Dobson. Maravich had become a born-again Christian. Dobson was the nationally known head of Focus on the Family …

Dobson, 6 feet 5, was then 51, loved sports, was once captain of the tennis team at Pasadena City College and put together morning pickup basketball games at Nazarene on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This was a Tuesday, but it was a special day.

The guy with the scraggly hair and floppy socks was joining the game.

Maravich had been out of the NBA for eight years, his dazzling professional career curtailed after 10 seasons by knee injuries. But when he played, and particularly when he felt healthy, there was no better show and few more effective scorers: Across seven seasons – from his third with Atlanta through his fifth with the New Orleans Jazz – the scrawny, 6-foot-5 gunner averaged 26.1 points with 4.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 38.7 minutes.

He also averaged 23.1 field-goal attempts – a significant drop from the 38.1 he launched in three seasons at LSU, when he set the NCAA career scoring mark of 44.2 points. Maravich was a five-time NBA All-Star who became the youngest person elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1987, and he still ranks among the NBA’s top 100 in several career categories (field goals, shots, free throws, assists per game), including 20th at 24.2 ppg.

None of that, however, even scratches the surface of the showmanship Maravich brought to the court as a ball handler and passer. “A white Globetrotter,” Dwyre called him. And there was this:

He could spin the ball on his fingertip and dribble between his legs and behind his back as routinely as he could walk. His shooting range was anywhere inside the gymnasium.

A recent article by Yahoo.com’s Jeff Eisenberg quoted former Georgia guard Herb White on the challenge of guarding Maravich, especially with the myriad screens set by LSU teammates.

“It was like trying to catch a housefly in a really dark room full of refrigerators,” White said.

No one harbored ambitions like that when Maravich, Dobson, former UCLA center Ralph Drollinger and three others picked sides for some 3-on-3 action in Pasadena.

“Pete was the same,” says Drollinger, who was 34 at the time. “Droopy socks, floppy hair. I always said you couldn’t guard him by watching his hair. It always went the opposite way of his body.”

They played three-on-three for about 20 minutes and took a break. Drollinger walked to a drinking fountain and then Maravich — standing near Dobson, and just after proclaiming “I feel great” — collapsed. There were a few seconds, Drollinger says, “when we all thought he was faking, just joking.”

You can’t fake foaming at the mouth, and soon, Dobson and Drollinger were doing CPR.

Maravich was gone. The trip to St. Luke’s Hospital and two-hour wait was a formality. An autopsy, Dwyre wrote, revealed that Maravich, that whippet-thin court magician, had racked up all those minutes and highlights without a left coronary artery in his heart. His right coronary enlarged and ultimately gave out.

When the NBA named its Top 50 players in 1996, all of the league’s legends were alive – George Mikan, Dolph Schayes, Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Chamberlain and on and on – and most of them showed up at the 1997 All-Star Game in Cleveland. Except for Maravich, who was represented by his sons.

The Top 50 team was linked to the NBA’s debut a half-century earlier (1946-47), part of an anniversary that truly was celebrated. The one on this day in 2013 is better off commemorated or simply observed: “Pistol” Pete Maravich, R.I.P. (June 22, 1947 – Jan. 5, 1988).

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Offended By Needless ‘Big Mac’ Points? Find A Way To Stop ‘Em Earlier

November 8, 2012  ·  10:00AM

CHICAGO – The problem with the end-of-game, scoreboard-related promotion at United Center isn’t that fans can turn their ticket stubs into Big Macs after any game in which the Bulls score 100 points.

The problem is that a giveaway more in line with the team’s character would be better suited. Say, fans qualify for said burger whenever coach Tom Thibodeau‘s hounds hold the opponent to 85 points or less.

But we live in a big-round-numbers world, so scoring 100 points it is. Which, in the aftermath of the Bulls’ 99-93 home victory over Orlando Tuesday, shouldn’t be any problem at all – or source of controversy — for Chicago or center Joakim Noah. Or, for that matter, any Magic personnel who have their shorts in a bunch.

So Noah launched a needless 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the victory (he explains what went wrong with it above), rather than letting the clock run out. So he was embarrassed, maybe, over missing a free throw 20 seconds earlier that could have clinched the fast-food menu item for the 21,216 sellout crowd – and the fact that teammate Kirk Hinrich missed two foul shots with 10 seconds left to further disappoint the fans.

So the Orlando Sentinel sought out Magic players like J.J. Redick, who felt Noah’s heave was “unnecessary.” And Ish Smith, who said the Orlando players “noticed.”

So what.

Noah apparently got an earful from Thibodeau, though the coach wouldn’t tell reporters after practice Wednesday what was said. After the game, Noah — who plays passionately and connects with fans in ways many of his peers do not — already was sounding more sheepish, as per an ESPNChicago.com report:

“I got caught up in the moment,” Noah admitted after the game.

Despite the fact the Bulls had won, many fans booed the team as the final buzzer sounded.

“I regret it a little bit,” Noah said. “It wasn’t a good shot.

“You have to respect the game because you never know what can happen in a game. I just got caught up in the moment and I was trying to get the people a Big Mac. They really wanted a Big Mac [judging by how loud the crowd was getting] and I felt like, not only did I take the shot and miss the shot, we didn’t even get the Big Mac. Next time, I won’t take that 3-pointer.”

That’s fine. That’s a personal call or might even qualify as a team rule — though some fans surely will boo and go home grumpy after that decision, too.

What isn’t needed is scolding or chiding of Noah or any other player who similarly “goes for it” at such a silly scoreboard threshold. Management cut that 100-points sponsorship deal for a reason. The revenues it brings in from McDonald’s all go in the big pile of money of that NBA owners, staff, coaches and players divvy up. This isn’t anything new, by the way; this correspondent attended a Suns-Jazz game in New Orleans in 1977 where the Superdome crowd began chanting “FRENCH fries! FRENCH fries!” when Pete Maravich & Co. got close to what back then surely was 120 points or so as the goal.

It gives fans who pay royally for tickets something extra for which to cheer — especially in games where injuries keep Derrick Rose or Jameer Nelson and other names out.

In this case, it all backfired, as noted in The Point Forward blog on SI.com:

The funniest part here: Noah goes home with everyone mad at him. The Magic think he’s a poor sport. His coach thinks he should know better and show more professionalism. And, perhaps most importantly, Bulls fans go home upset that he didn’t even hit the shot to deliver the goods. Brutal.

Enough, though, with these so-called “unwritten rules” designed only to save face for the losing team. They stop trying, so the winners are required to stop trying as well? Yeah, that’s great competitiveness.

If a team puts such a promotion in — and cashes the checks — it ought to honor and go for it. Keep the fans’ feeling a part of things, and throw ‘em a burger for their troubles. As for the Magic or any other losing side getting all sideways, they’d do well to heed the view of a longtime respected NBA coach.

Asked how he felt about the alleged insult of a late 3-pointer in a lopsided game – or any perceived attempt to run up a score that no longer matters – his response was: “Stop ‘em then. You ought to feel worse about the points that got them there.”

Orlando lost again 24 hours later in Minnesota. It got beat by 15. But at least the Timberwolves only got to 90.

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Wilt Stamp Takes Lickin’, Keeps Tickin’

January 4, 2012  ·  1:05PM

***

It probably would be seen as a cheap shot to write something like, “Contrary to NBA Hall of Famer Karl (The Mailman) Malone, the United States Postal Service is failing to deliver …”

Those of us here at the Hideout never would want to (ahem) antagonize any situation by assigning blame for anything. So let’s just say that, like a lot of husbands who wind up sleeping a few nights on their couches, the USPS is about to let an anniversary slip by without acknowledgement.

Less than two months from now, the NBA and hoops enthusiasts around the globe will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the most astounding single performance in league history: On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain led the Philadelphia Warriors past the New York Knicks on a neutral court in Hershey, Pa., 169-147. Al Attles and the other Warriors combined to score 69 points. Chamberlain got the other 100.

It is a record that stands to this day – a grand, round number for one of the biggest performers ever in sports (never to have run in the Kentucky Derby, anyway). The Dipper’s Herculean feats and outsized personality seemed ripe for him to be honored by casual fans and the culture at large, and what better way than to put his image on a first-class U.S. postal stamp?

That was the passion that moved Donald Hunt, longtime sportswriter at the Philadelphia Tribune in Chamberlain’s hometown, to throw his support into a campaign to get the big fella so honored. An online petition sprang up to lobby the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee at the USPS’s own hideout in Washington, D.C. Stories appeared here at NBA.com, as well as in USA Today, the mainstream Philadelphia media and elsewhere.

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Wolves Set Up To Howl Once Again?

June 17, 2011  ·  10:33AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – If you put your ear against the wall outside the Target Center, you can still hear the calliope music coming from inside. The Timberwolves’ merry-go-round continues.

Ricky Rubio is coming and Kurt Rambis might be going and that means the latest redevelopment project in downtown Minneapolis is back on track, assuming that general manager David Kahn doesn’t take another point guard in the Draft.

But seriously, after two years of running in a knee-deep snow with back-to-back records of 15-67 and 17-65, is it possible that Kahn’s vision for the Wolves comes from some place other than acute hypothermia?

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Greatness: Is a ring the thing?

May 31, 2011  ·  10:35AM

Admittedly it’s a fun topic, if for no reason than to poke a stick at our big cuddly bear of a buddy Charles Barkley and listen to him growl.

In fact, of all the great comedy routines ever done on TNT over the years, my favorite has always been Kenny Smith manning the velvet rope outside the “Champions Club” and laughingly taunting the well-known partier Sir Charles about his lack of credentials to get inside the door.

Occasionally, Smith would push open the door to let the sounds of dance music come and poke his head inside.

“Hey, Charles!” he would call out. “Look, it’s Mark Madsen! And Zan Tabak! Oh, Charles, look! It’s Jack Haley! Can you believe it? Jack Haley!”

It was a fantastic skit and all Barkley could do was shake his head and laugh, because, of course, after 16 often-mind-blowing seasons, he left the NBA ringless.

So here we are just hours from the start of the 2011 NBA Finals that feature LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki as unfulfilled stars, pondering again the question for the ages: Does greatness require a ring?

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Mavericks Prepared For Anything

May 12, 2011  ·  3:57PM

DALLAS – As they filed off of the court Thursday afternoon the Dallas Mavericks looked like they had just been through a training camp practice.

They’ve had so much time off since clinching their spot in the Western Conference finals, with last Sunday’s win over the two-time defending champion Lakers, the Mavericks have had to lock back down and get into training camp mode as they wait.

They know they’re going to face a team in either Oklahoma City or Memphis that poses far different challenges than what they saw from either Portland in the first round or the Lakers in the conference semifinals. Neither team can match the Mavericks’ collective experience, but they’re young and more athletic, for whatever that might be worth at this stage of the season.

“In many ways all that stuff is out of the window when you get to this point,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said after the practice ended. “Whatever teams gets to the third round will have won two series to get to this point. They will be a in a groove and they will have a lot of confidence, so at this point I don’t believe those teams will be thinking about how inexperienced they are. They’re going to keep playing.”

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The Big Shaqtue!

May 12, 2011  ·  2:51PM

DALLAS – Shaquille O’Neal has sported many nicknames throughout his colorful career, most of them products of his own, entertaining imagination.

We wonder what the “Big Statue” sounds like to him? (Click here to see the what the proposed statue would look like.)

The four-time NBA champion and self-proclaimed “Most Dominant Ever” will get his own bronze statue outside of LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center’s new practice facility on the campus in Baton Rouge, per a report in The Advocate.

From the sound of it, this could be one of the best statues of a former player to be erected anywhere.  A 900-pound statue of Shaq smashing like he did during his LSU days … classic:

The tentative plan is to unveil the statue during the NBA off-season, said LSU associate vice chancellor for communications Herb Vincent.

… At age 39, O’Neal is currently the oldest player in the NBA and is likely near retirement, having struggled with injuries much of the season. He ranks fifth all-time in points scored in the NBA and fourth in postseason points scored.Vincent said the four-time NBA champion was a natural selection to be LSU’s first statue of an athlete because he is an “iconic figure” worldwide. O’Neal also is the only LSU student athlete in any major sport to win a national player of the year award in college and an MVP award in the pros.

“We’re honoring him for his accomplishments … and it’s a good recruiting tool,” Vincent said.

The $70,000 project is privately funded, he said.

“It’s already been done,” Vincent said. “It’s in storage.”

Not even Pistol Pete got a statue at LSU, so that should tell you what sort of esteem O’Neal is held in by the LSU faithful, as passionate a group fans as there is anywhere.

Since no one in Los Angeles is talking about adding a Shaq statue outside of the Staples Center, he might as well get bronzed where he can.

And you remember collegiate Shaq, don’t you? He was an absolute monster:

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All-Time All-Star Team

February 11, 2011  ·  1:56PM

ATLANTA – Please join me as I take a step down fantasy lane wearing hi-top Converse and also a sleeve on my shooting arm. Yes, this is about combining the old with the new and coming up with the Ultimate All-Star Game, pulling players from the past and present.

Not every great player makes a good All-Star Game participant, though. I put a premium on the entertainers: the passers, the leapers, the dunkers of course and the improvisers. There are dozens of Hall of Famers that I don’t want near the game. Mainly, the gravity-challenged centers. I’d want Bill Russell, for example, if I’m trying to win a championship, but wouldn’t even give him a ticket to watch my Ultimate game, let alone play in it.

That said … here are my two squads, with some choices fairly obvious.

West Team:

Pete Maravich. The Pistol is, quite simply, the model All-Star Game guy, worth any price of admission. It would be fun just watching him pull up his floppy socks.

Magic Johnson. How about Pistol Pete and Magic on the break together? That’s a match made in YouTube heaven.

Kobe Bryant. It’s the only game where Kobe passes the ball.

David Thompson. Perhaps the ultimate finisher the sport has ever seen.

George Gervin. Because that’s how we finga-roll.

Connie Hawkins. Here’s the progression: Hawkins>Dr. J.>Michael>everybody else.

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Blogtable: Ray Allen — NBA’s best shooter?

February 9, 2011  ·  1:03PM

Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.

Ray Allen: Best pure shooter the NBA has ever seen? If not, who’s your favorite?

David Aldridge: I never thought I’d say anyone was a better pure shooter than Dale Ellis — when Dale was on, the net didn’t move — but Ray is. Reggie was a great, great shooter but I think Ray has him beat, too. Everyone has their favorite spots on the court but it seems like Ray is more comfortable in more places than anyone I’ve seen (and I didn’t see the likes of Jerry West or Sam Jones in person).

Steve Aschburner: I’m always leery of superlatives in a public forum, because the moment you proclaim anyone or anything to be the “-est” in some category, someone or something pops up whom you neglected. Also, our culture’s collective memory goes back approximately 37 minutes, so it’s easy to forget or underrate someone from way back when. I can’t say with certainty that there’s anyone who was a better pure shooter than Allen, but I can produce a list of fellows who’d be in the discussion. Such as: Drazen Petrovic, Jeff Hornacek, Peja Stojakovic, Glen Rice, George Gervin, Ricky Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, Rick Barry, Chris Mullin and of course Reggie Miller. Then there’s my favorite, especially as the stakes went up: Larry Bird.

Fran Blinebury: Jerry West, Rick Barry, Pete Maravich, Bob McAdoo, Freddie Brown, Dale Ellis, Reggie Miller and Ray Allen are one helluva hallelujah chorus when it comes to making the nets sing.  But front man will always be Larry Bird — for the form, the clutch makes, for the cold-blooded confidence.  At the 1988 All-Star Weekend in Chicago, he walks into the locker room prior to the 3-Point Shoot-out and asks: “Who’s going to finish second?”  ‘Nuff said.

Art Garcia: Since I can’t include Jimmy Chitwood — the question does specify NBA — I’ll go through some of my favorite marksmen over my years watching the grand game. In no particular order other than rough chronology, I’d throw these guys into my list of faves: Larry Bird, Dale Ellis, Mark Price, Steve Kerr, Allan Houston, Glen Rice, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic. But above all, I’m going with Ray Allen. The release, the timing, the fundamentals, the temperament. All pure.

Scott Howard-Cooper: I’m not sure he’s even the best in the game now, never mind ever. Part of the debate is defining “pure shooter.” Does that mean strictly a catch-and-shoot guy? Dirk Nowitzki is a special talent, but with a repertoire that spans from the dangerous range of a spot-up shooter to fall-aways. Steve Nash is historically good as a perimeter threat, but never will never be among the scoring greats because so much of his focus has been getting the ball to other people. Allen definitely has the pure-shooter element, though, with the lightning release and feathery, arcing shot. He’s definitely very high in the discussion, along with Reggie Miller and others. I’m just not sure he’s ahead of Larry Bird.

Shaun Powell: Strictly from a visual standpoint, Allen’s form is so perfect, it should be a logo. The levitation, the soft yet secure grip, the fingertip release and follow through, so velvet. Best pure shooter? Best I ever saw. I notice you didn’t say best all-around shooter, though. While Ray could probably knock a tangerine through a loop earring, give me Steve Nash, whose career numbers are 90 percent from the line and 43 from 3-point, all the more impressive because of the added burden of ball-handling. And his hair often obstructing the view.

John Schuhmann: When I was covering the Heat-Celtics series last April, I showed up a few hours early for one of the games at American Airlines Arena. When I got there, I walked out to the court and encountered the Heat dancers warming up to my right and Ray Allen shooting to my left. And when it came to deciding which of the two to sit down and watch, the former NBA.com Dance Team Bracket champions were no match for the greatest shooter ever. His form is perfect, he’s shooting better than ever, and he’s been ridiculously clutch since arriving in Boston.

Sekou Smith: I’d love to hand Ray the crown since I’ve watched his entire (future) Hall of Fame career play out. But someone I know and trust, someone who has seen roughly 40 more years of basketball than I have so far in my life, warned me against calling anyone the “best ever” without careful examination. It’s easy to hand Allen the title right now because all of the other contenders can’t make a live impression upon us, since they’re no longer playing in the league. Allen is no doubt the best pure shooter of his era and certainly in the conversation for the best pure shooter the league has ever seen. And there is no doubt that he will finish his career as the most prolific 3-point shooter in NBA history. But I think this is a question that requires more than just a casual conversation. We’d need to slice and dice this topic in so many different ways (best from distance, best from the mid-range, best off the dribble, on the run, etc.) before we could come close a conclusion. There have been too many great pure shooters to come through the NBA for me to hand the title to Ray Allen, or anyone else, right now. As far as my favorite, I’ve always felt like Larry Bird’s stroke was sweeter than anything I’ve seen.

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