(no subject)
Q. As someone with some maturity, can you lend some perspective to the debate between Bob Pettit, Tim Duncan, Karl Malone as the greatest power forward ever?
COACH LARRY BROWN: I love Bob Pettit. You know, it's amazing, and I always talk to these players about this, half the guys, if a player played three years ago, they don't even know who the hell they are. So I always point to the rafters when we go into buildings and ask some of the guys, do you remember this guy, do you know who he is.
But my thing with a lot of them, they always tell me how good they are, all the young players when I talk to them. I said, "Well, do you realize when I was coming out of college, or just a short time before, we only had 90 NBA players?" I remember when there were nine teams, ten guys on a team when Bob Pettit played, and every single night, they were coming up against a super player. And they played each other so many times, I mean, the familiarity there made it even more difficult.
And I said, at the time we had 29 teams, I said, we've got 145 starters in our league. That means 55 of you guys wouldn't even have a job. Do you understand that? And no, they don't even comprehend that.
But it's hard to compare one era to the next. Those players back then in my mind really knew how to play, because I don't think they all were quite as athletic. I think they had a great appreciation and respect for the game because obviously the money wasn't great. Most of them had two jobs. And they had to play against a guy every single night that earned the right to play. You know, rookies never played. I think the significance of that and the contribution they made is something we take for granted.
COACH LARRY BROWN: I love Bob Pettit. You know, it's amazing, and I always talk to these players about this, half the guys, if a player played three years ago, they don't even know who the hell they are. So I always point to the rafters when we go into buildings and ask some of the guys, do you remember this guy, do you know who he is.
But my thing with a lot of them, they always tell me how good they are, all the young players when I talk to them. I said, "Well, do you realize when I was coming out of college, or just a short time before, we only had 90 NBA players?" I remember when there were nine teams, ten guys on a team when Bob Pettit played, and every single night, they were coming up against a super player. And they played each other so many times, I mean, the familiarity there made it even more difficult.
And I said, at the time we had 29 teams, I said, we've got 145 starters in our league. That means 55 of you guys wouldn't even have a job. Do you understand that? And no, they don't even comprehend that.
But it's hard to compare one era to the next. Those players back then in my mind really knew how to play, because I don't think they all were quite as athletic. I think they had a great appreciation and respect for the game because obviously the money wasn't great. Most of them had two jobs. And they had to play against a guy every single night that earned the right to play. You know, rookies never played. I think the significance of that and the contribution they made is something we take for granted.