[Crackie Onassis]

Cooper could jump out of the gym and those high white socks were stylin.

[surfnli]

ran into big z on bleecker a month back, large is an understatement, what a mammoth human being.  i can't comprehend playing bball with him. 

[Harry Balzsac]

As a child of the Lakers-Celtics era rivalries, I'll never understand how people hated those Lakers teams.  I guess its just the difference between being a fan of the game and a fan of a team.  I've always been a Knicks fan, but how can you not appreciate just how awesome those Lakers teams were? 
 
Great point, Ed, about how the all-time "greatness" of those Lakers teams underscores just how terrific a team the Celtics were.  On the basis of individual talent, even as great as they were, I don't think the best of the Celtics squads were even really in the same league as the Lakers, yet somehow they played on the same level.  Which is not to denigrate in anyway those Lakers teams.  They never underacheived in the way that, say, the Kobe/Shaq Lakers did.  They never had that disfunction/chemistry issue, they just faced off against a squad that played with incredible determination and found a way to win despite being, in my view, totally physically overmatched. 

[Crackie Onassis]

Hmm. I see Mr. McOldensack's point but I also think that he underestimate's a few things. First, is that Celtic team's ablility to play defense and slow down the Laker fast break. Second, is Kevin McHale's sweetness in the low post. Third, Larry-effing-Bird. I may get hung out to dry for this one, but I'll take Larry Bird over any player of his era (including Magic). He was unguardable, was the best 3pt shooter around, played defense, moved withouth the ball, rebounded on both ends and he passed the ball like a point guard.

[HydroGlide]

I wish I could find the magazine article (don't have time to look) but it was quoting this very athletic NBA player (can't remember who) who described how he was getting bent (watching on the bench) as Bird burned starter after starter from his team (I think Barkley was one of the starters).  He says he was cursing at them in the huddle calling them out because they couldn't guard a slow white guy.  So they finally say you guard him - and this rookie describes (my memory can't do the details of his profanity laced descriptions justice) how Bird said welcome to the league rookie and proceeded to taunt him mercilesssly -  telling him exactly what he was going to do next - then doing it and scoring every time while the rookie tried as hard as he could to guard him - from outside, inside, wherever he wanted.   Bird scored on this guy at will - the rookie said he literally lost his mind (said his mind was "fucked" if I remember right) when Bird was done scorching him and they pulled him back out of the game - he couldn't sleep for days and he couldn't get Bird out of his mind for weeks - he said he was like a zombie after that game - classic stuff.

[Harry Balzsac]

Look, I take nothing away from the Celtics teams and Bird's freakish abilities.  My point was that, in sum, the Lakers were a better team.  I guess maybe, with Lakers the parts may have been greater than the whole, while in the case of the Celtics, the whole was greater than its parts.  Or whatever.  Both teams were amazing for fans of the game.  I'm a Knicks fan, but I love basketball because of the Celtics and the Lakers. 
 
p.s. Crackie, McHale's low post circus act was ridiculous. 

[Fat Occy]

Being a kid in LA in the 80s meant one thing. You hated the celtics. I remember one year there was a rumor that Mchale and his family went to disneyland after one of the playoff games and were harassed by one of the guys dressed up as mickey, supposedly wouldnt leave Kevin alone kept playing mock basketball against him...as kids we were all pretty excited about that kind of stuff. In retrospect the Celtics were an amazing team, and byrd was a freak.

[ez_ed]

He didn't look it, but Bird was one of the hardest workers in the league. He'd run the arena steps after practice and shoot more jumpshots than anyone else.
He also talked more trash than Gary Payton but only the opponent could hear it. Chuck Daly finally figured out how to use guys like Rodman and Salley to guard him and intentionally foul him away from the basket and send rookie legs on him. Not that it stopped him but it slowed him slightly and eventually it was the Pistons taking over in the East.

[Swell Killer]

not just a self-obsessed jock, either.

not sure about that.  Remember reading many a story about how he was a big douchebag to us commoners.
 
Anyways, my mom, living in Rosedale when she was a kid) used to say you would know everytime he came back home to Queens to visit.  the buzz in the 'hood was quite the scene.  Definitely has a freakish presence about him.

[HydroGlide]

Dr. J never seemed like a dooshbag.  He used to play at Centenial Park in Roosevelt pre-ABA Nets and had a place at those apartments next to one of the beach clubs (I think it was the Sands) in Lido  during his ABA Nets tenor.  He always seemed so cool and not in a self obsessed way - and of course he was just incredible to watch play.  he may have been a giant doosh though because seeing him "live" once in a while and watching him on TV of course does not equate to knowing him as a person in any way shape or form.