[msb-alumni] Wes Unseld, Hall of Famer was instrumental in Washington's only NBA title, Dies on June 2, 2020 at 74
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2020 15:41:09 -0400
BlankHall of Famer was instrumental in Washington's only NBA title . Dave
Sheinin.
Big, physical center led Washington to its only NBA title Wes Unseld's calling
card
during a Hall of Fame career in the National Basketball Association was not a
majestic jump shot or a slick crossover dribble or a thunderous dunk -- it was
the
precise, bone-crushing picks he set on opposing defenders, inevitably freeing
up one
of his teammates to score. His impact was measured less in points and rebounds
than
in bruises.
"I don't know of anybody who ever set a meaner screen," former shooting guard
Doug
Collins of the rival Philadelphia 76ers once said.
Mr. Unseld, who died Tuesday at 74, was the most important figure in the
history of
the franchise that morphed from the Baltimore Bullets to the Washington Bullets
to
the Washington Wizards. The cause was complications from pneumonia, the team
announced. No other details were immediately available.
Mr. Unseld's name is virtually synonymous with the Bullets. As an undersized
but
legendarily tenacious center, he was the team's foundation during its greatest
run of
sustained success - the 12-year stretch beginning with his rookie season of
1968-69,
during which the team made 12 straight playoff appearances and won its lone
championship, over the Seattle SuperSonics, in 1978. He played 984 games, the
entirety of his NBA career, for the Bullets (the team changed its name to the
Wizards
in 1997), remains the franchise's all-time leader in rebounds and was No. 1 in
assists until being surpassed by John Wall in 2016. After his playing career
ended in
1981, he served the franchise for 22 more years as an executive, broadcaster,
head
coach and general manager. Listed officially at 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, Mr.
Unseld
frequently gave up four to six inches in height to the opposing center, but he
nonetheless packed remarkable physical force into that body through raw
strength and
willpower. He also possessed deceptive athleticism, at least as a younger
player,
occasionally stunning teammates during practice with a unique trick: He would
jump to
pluck a rebound from the glass and, before touching the floor again, fling an
outlet
pass downcourt that would hit the backboard at the other end. Tales of Mr.
Unseld's
toughness and selflessness are legion. His arthritic knees became so bad, he
often
skipped a week's worth of practices, as well as pregame warmups, because he
could
tolerate the pain only for the two hours of game time. Once, he suited up just
minutes after having 200 cubic centimeters of fluid drained from his left knee.
"The
most amazing thing to me is how effective he was with those bad knees,"
teammate
Mitch Kupchak told The Washington Post in 1996. "Any time he stepped on the
floor,
whether it was for practice or a game, he was in pain. It wasn't comfortable
for him,
but he saw it as part of his job. He knew his teammates were watching him and,
if he
didn't do it, they might not do it. We always talk about leadership in sports,
but
you don't designate yourself a leader. You just lead. That's what Wes did. Mr.
Unseld
averaged just 10.8 points per game during his 13-year career, or about 14
points
fewer than his contemporary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Milwaukee Bucks and Los
Angeles Lakers. Mr. Unseld was a prolific rebounder, averaging 14 per game for
his
career and leading the NBA in 1974-75, but his biggest contributions were
invisible
on the stat sheets: his pinpoint outlet passes to start the offense back down
the
court, his suffocating defense against opposing centers such as the Lakers'
Wilt
Chamberlain and the New York Knicks' Willis Reed, and - of course - those
devastating
picks, in which he used positioning to block a defender from covering a
teammate open
for a shot. "People ask me how tough [Bill] Russell and Chamberlain were," Reed
said
at Mr. Unseld's Hall of Fame induction in 1988. "They don't understand how much
this
man [Mr. Unseld] abused your body. Asked once about his modest stats, Mr.
Unseld
replied: "It's not my job to look good. It's my job to make other people look
good.
Another time, he explained to The Post his approach on the court: "I know that
night
in and night out the guy I play against will have more physical ability. But I
feel
like if I go out against a guy and play him 40 or 48 minutes, toe to toe, head
to
head, he is going to get tired or beat up or bored for two or three minutes.
That
will be enough to make sure he doesn't win the game for his team. From
Louisville to
Baltimore Westley Sissel Unseld was born in Louisville on March 14, 1946, and
was one
of nine children, including two who were adopted. His father was a factory
worker and
a former semiprofessional baseball player and boxer. His mother was a school
lunchroom manager. Mr. Unseld led Louisville's Seneca High to a pair of state
championships in the mid-1960s. In the days before most athletes lifted
weights, he
worked in a steel-supply business as a teenager, perhaps helping account for
the
strength he displayed as an NBA center. Coming out of high school, he was
recruited
by the University of Kentucky's Adolph Rupp, one of the winningest coaches in
college
basketball, who was being pressured to integrate the school's all-white team.
Mr.
Unseld, who reportedly received racial threats, said he instead attended the
University of Louisville in part to be closer to his father, who had suffered a
heart
attack. He was twice named an all-American at Louisville, graduating in 1968.
The
Bullets, then playing in Baltimore, made Mr. Unseld the second pick of the 1968
NBA
draft - behind only Elvin Hayes of the University of Houston. Mr. Unseld's
arrival
changed the trajectory of the franchise almost overnight - the Bullets jumped
from
sixth place in their division to first place in his rookie season. He was just
the
second player in history, following Chamberlain, to be named rookie of the year
and
most valuable player in the same season. By 1971, the Bullets had made it to
the NBA
Finals, where they were swept in four games by the Bucks, who were led by
Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, a future Hall of Fame guard. Afterward,
Bullets
management decided the team needed an elite scorer and acquired Hayes from the
Houston Rockets. It took six more years and a handful of playoff flameouts
before the
Unseld-Hayes Bullets finally secured the franchise's first - and still only -
NBA
title, beating Seattle in seven games in 1978. Before the decisive Game 7, Mr.
Unseld, 32 at the time, gathered his teammates in the locker room. "This is my
10th
year, and this might be the last chance I have to win a championship," he told
them,
according to The Post. "I just want everyone to know I'll be there for you
today. I
don't care what it is. You don't have to worry about anything. After the
Bullets
prevailed, an emotionally exhausted Mr. Unseld said, "What I feel is relief.
Back on
the court as coach After retiring three years later, Mr. Unseld immediately
shifted
to an executive position in the Bullets' front office, one he held until team
owner
Abe Pollin asked him to become the head coach midway through the 1987-88
season.
Those Bullets teams were short on talent and wins, and Mr. Unseld struggled to
instill his brand of work ethic and professionalism in younger players. Once,
when
Mr. Unseld thought 7-7 center Manute Bol wasn't giving enough effort, he
confronted
Bol in the locker room at halftime, lifted him off the floor and jammed his
head
through a ceiling tile, The Post reported. When Mr. Unseld stepped down from
the
coach's job after the 1993-94 season - with a career mark of 202-345 in just
under
seven years - he went back to the front office, eventually becoming general
manager
in 1996. Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan came out of retirement to serve
as
president of basketball operations, then played his final two seasons for the
renamed
Wizards, but the team did poorly and failed to make the playoffs for six years
in a
row. Mr. Unseld stepped down in 2003. "For seven years, he had more than his
share of
knuckleheads, louts, losers and prima donnas," former Washington Post sports
columnist Michael Wilbon wrote of Mr. Unseld's checkered tenure as head coach.
"Unseld's biggest misfortune," Wilbon added, "was not being able to coach a Wes
Unseld at any position. Survivors include his wife, the former Connie Martin,
and two
children, Kimberly and Wes Unseld Jr., who has been an assistant coach with
several
NBA teams. His wife operated a private elementary school in a poor Baltimore
neighborhood for many years. After retiring from the Wizards, Mr. Unseld often
mowed
the grass, mopped the floors and shot baskets in the gym with students at the
school.
"When I retired from basketball, I was interested in what my wife and daughter
were
doing at the school," he told Washingtonian magazine in 2015. "Every morning, I
sit
at the front. I make sure the kids [as they come in] make eye contact, say
hello,
take their hats off. Be ladies and gentlemen. If a kid does get out of hand,
they're
sent to me. But we have a great group of kids. Do they know who I am? Some
Google me
and are all surprised. The little ones, they don't know basketball from Dr.
Seuss.
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