jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
From today's N.Y. Post:
A MUST read !
http://nypost.com/2013/09/07/an-overdue-honor-for-late-nyc-aba-legend/
A MUST read !
http://nypost.com/2013/09/07/an-overdue-honor-for-late-nyc-aba-legend/
ABA, NYC Legend Roger Brown
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beast of the east
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JSJ,
Great article. Thanks for posting this.
Not only is it horrible that Roger Brown never got to play in the NBA, but in the pre-cable TV days, it wasn't possible to watch him on TV. I would pour over box scores daily as a kid, so I knew who he was, but feel cheated that I didn't get to see him play.
Great article. Thanks for posting this.
Not only is it horrible that Roger Brown never got to play in the NBA, but in the pre-cable TV days, it wasn't possible to watch him on TV. I would pour over box scores daily as a kid, so I knew who he was, but feel cheated that I didn't get to see him play.
I SAW HIM PLAY AT THE Garden Against myy High School We had a 1st team all city player and a friend of mine who was drafted by Philadelphia but he broke his ankle prior to camp and that was that The 1 st 10 min he was killing him until he picked up his 4th foul early in the 2nd half then Brown had a field day and was unstopable He was a great player IMO Tony Jackson was better
beast of the east
Active member
Interesting commentary and thanks. I think it's very hard to judge a player on one game. For example, anyone who saw Marcus Hatten drop 44 (or whatever it was) against Rutgers woul dhave thought he was an NBA 1st rounder for certain, or Bootsy's 40 point game.
On the other hand, those of us who watched Artest at SJU knew he was a special player.
You wonder if the HOF is overcompensating for the NCAA and NBA barring players with no solid evidence of cheating, some (like Hawkins) who never played a varsity game, thus never even having the chance to cheat. I know there were many great African American baseball players who never made it to the bigs who are in the HOF. That may be slightly different, because the evidence is that the old NEgro baseball leagues were loaded with major league caliber talent. Even so, both are placing players in the HOF who never played in the highest league based on speculation or records that suggest they would have done well.
I would rather the NBA realize that they wronged a lot of guys, and make voluntary monetary compensation (perhaps a partial pension) to make up for it, but not a worthless enshrinement (especially posthumously) in the HOF.
Interesting, the NBA was formed in 1946 by 1950 there were several African Americans in the NBA
Tony Jackson,yes SJU Tony Jackson was barred from the NBA for not reporting an attempted bribe. The question who approached Jackson Hawkin, Brown, or Molinas. Molinas a Columbia grad and an attorney would be expected to use an intermediary so who approached Jackson. Hawkin received a settlement from the NBA, I'm not sure if Brown also received a settlement. Jackson was 4 years older then either Brown and Hawkin so he was 4 or 5 removed from competative basketball when the ABA was formed Another question who dropped the dime on Molinas?
Tony Jackson,yes SJU Tony Jackson was barred from the NBA for not reporting an attempted bribe. The question who approached Jackson Hawkin, Brown, or Molinas. Molinas a Columbia grad and an attorney would be expected to use an intermediary so who approached Jackson. Hawkin received a settlement from the NBA, I'm not sure if Brown also received a settlement. Jackson was 4 years older then either Brown and Hawkin so he was 4 or 5 removed from competative basketball when the ABA was formed Another question who dropped the dime on Molinas?
beast of the east
Active member
Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier certainly had a carry over effect to other sports, which explains why the NBA color line was broken by 1950. Just as a side note, could you even imagine what basketball would be like today without African American players?
I'm not a fan of the steroids era in baseball, but is it possible that the same broad brush that took away college and pro basketball careers in 1960 are being applied by baseball HOF voters? With or without merit, some guys are being accused simply by their statistics. I'd have to guess some may be totally innocent of PED allegations.
beast of the east
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If you are interested in Connie Hawkins, there are two must read books - one is entitled "Hawk", which is a biography, the other is "The City Game", which chronicles the very best players to come out of the city at the time of writing. Hawkins was prominently mentioned.
Hawkins may have one of the top 10 talents ever to play the game. He went to University of Iowa, when Iowa was led by Don Nelson and ranked #1 in the nation. Freshman were ineligible, so he played on the freshmen team. When the freshmen scrimmaged the varsity, it was anything but a lighthearted scrimmage, and the Hawkins led freshman squad destroyed the #1 team in the nation Iowa Hawkeyes.
Hawkins was such a huge talent, I don't think we ever had a shot, but those older may know better.
Iowa used to be the Jayhawks?
beast of the east
Active member
Thanks for the correction. It's one of those things. I used to travel frequently to Iowa City to a client. When my kids were really small, the first time I was there I bought them the black sweatshirts, with the cool Hawkeye logo. Iowa City is totally a college town, surrounded by an entire state (it seems) of corn.
Nebraska must have beat them too it
Actually, SJU went after Hawkins & Brown. There was a territorial rule in the NBA back then where NBA teams could get first shot at drafting a kid who played at a college in their location. The NY schools really wanted to keep these guys & the Knicks sent Willie Naulls to speak with both of them. Red Auerbach went one step further. He visited Boys High & offered to put Hawkins on the payroll if he chose a New England school, preferably Providence. Wilt Chamberlain said that Auerbach went after him the same way. In David Wolf's book "Foul" about Connie (fantastic book for anyone who follows basketball) Hawkins, there is an entire chapter about his recruitment. Louie was mentioned in that chapter. He asked the Boys High coach (Mickey Fischer) to gather all of the offers for Hawkins, tell him who offered the most & St Johns would beat it. One day Hawkins showed up for practice wearing a brand new SJU warmup suit. Joe Lapchick said that he watched Hawkins play against DeWitt Clinton & couldn't sleep for a week.
Tony Jackson & Doug Moe were both 3 years ahead of Hawkins & Brown. They had finished their senior years at SJU & North Carolina, both were drafted & ready to join their NBA teams in the fall of 1961, but the scandal broke, and both players were barred from playing because they didn't report bribe offers. Its really incredible what went on with these guys & how the NBA acted without looking into anything.
Tony Jackson & Doug Moe were both 3 years ahead of Hawkins & Brown. They had finished their senior years at SJU & North Carolina, both were drafted & ready to join their NBA teams in the fall of 1961, but the scandal broke, and both players were barred from playing because they didn't report bribe offers. Its really incredible what went on with these guys & how the NBA acted without looking into anything.
beast of the east
Active member
Great post. And thanks for again correcting me. The Hawkins book, indeed, is Foul. In one of the books, there is a great chapter on Hawkins vs. Chamberlain in the Rucker league.