![]() Philly won the 1983 title and the Rockets stumbled to 14 wins (and the first and third overall picks). THE MAKING OF THE TWIN TOWERSīefore the 1982-83 season, Philadelphia signed reigning MVP Moses Malone to a $13.2 million offer sheet, with Houston receiving Caldwell Jones and Cleveland’s 1983 no. That’s how it played out for the “Twin Towers.”Īll those quoted are introduced with the job titles they held or positions they played during the 1985-86 NBA season. Imagine today’s Oklahoma City Thunder never fulfilling their potential, getting sidetracked by injuries and drugs, wiping their roster clean, then winning championships with an aged Kevin Durant nearly a decade later. His premature demise opened the door for the Lakers to win two more titles, sabotaged the first decade of Hakeem’s brilliant career, and established Sampson as one of basketball’s ultimate “What if?” talents. 3 And Houston’s promising nucleus crashed because of injuries, drug abuse, suspicion, suspensions, and ultimately, Sampson’s stunning trade to Golden State.īy the time Olajuwon won consecutive titles in Houston, Sampson was long gone - he played his last meaningful game long before he turned 30. The Celtics were never the same after rookie Len Bias overdosed on cocaine two days after the 1986 draft. Little did we know those teams had already peaked. When the precocious Rockets lost to Boston in the 1986 Finals, the sight of McHale, Parish, Bird, and Bill Walton battling Sampson and Olajuwon appeared to be the dawning of a new basketball era. Teams drafted an astonishing eight centers with the first 17 picks in 1985 the following summer, four of the first seven lottery picks were centers. New York decided Patrick Ewing and Bill Cartwright could coexist. Their panicked rivals rushed to emulate Houston’s “Twin Towers” and Boston’s enviable tandem of Parish and McHale, and an arms race for bigs officially began. ![]() The Rockets happily selected Sampson first in the 1983 draft, then teamed him up with Hakeem (then spelled “Akeem”) Olajuwon after winning another no. Sampson stayed all four years at Virginia, leaving valuable earning years on the table (and never playing in an NCAA championship game), but winning three Naismith Awards and finishing as one of college basketball’s greatest centers ever. ![]() Ralph Sampson coming to Boston - there might not have been a Kevin McHale there or Robert Parish.” When Sampson stunned basketball by staying in school, 1 Auerbach traded that pick and the 13th selection to Golden State for Parish and the third overall pick (which would become McHale), creating the “Big Three” that would eventually win three NBA titles over the next six seasons. “Auerbach came to my house and said, ‘You can come and play for the mighty Boston Celtics.’ I gave it a thought. The Celtics, a 61-win team in the previous season, featured a transcendent rookie forward named Larry Bird and owned the first overall pick. And he was - and still is - 7-foot-4.Īfter Sampson averaged 14.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 4.6 blocks his freshman season, Boston Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach tried to convince him to enter the 1980 NBA draft. A franchise center who moved like Russell, passed like Wilt, and projected the same aloof immensity as Kareem? Yes. The sport had never seen anyone with Sampson’s potent blend of height and athleticism. ![]() How indeed?ĭuring Sampson’s first season for the University of Virginia 33 years ago, Sports Illustrated trumpeted his arrival with a cover story and screaming headline: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING THE ONE AND ONLY RALPH SAMPSON! HE DUNKS! HE BLOCKS SHOTS! HE DRIBBLES BEHIND HIS BACK! HE’S 7-FOOT-4 - AND STILL GROWING! That’s five exclamation marks, one less than the number of times Sampson appeared on the magazine’s cover over the next four years. “How could a 7-foot-4 person disappear?” he asked. He mentioned hearing people say that he’d disappeared of late. Ralph Sampson spoke briefly at a press conference one day before being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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